Cal Neighbors

As a century-old partnership struggles through hard times, the university’s 15-year development plan lands in court

Following nearly two years of discussion with the campus community, city officials, and Berkeley residents, UC Berkeley’s 2020 Long Range Develop- ment Plan won unanimous approval from the UC Board of Regents on Jan. 20. The plan will guide campus development over the next 15 years as the university meets the challenges of state-mandated growth to accommodate California’s expanding student-age population and the changing requirements of teaching and research.

“This is a sound and carefully thought- out plan that will allow UC Berkeley to continue conducting cutting-edge research and providing a world-class education to California’s next generation of leaders,” Chancellor Robert Birgeneau told the regents in January.

But quality of life is important too, he noted. “We care about the quality of the city and its environs as much as any resident,” Birgeneau continued. “In order to ensure that UC Berkeley continues to play its world-leading role, we must be able to attract the very best faculty, students, and staff from around the world, and that relies on having a livable city.”

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, however, has characterized the plan as “a blank check” for the university, insisting that the campus must be more specific about future development. The mayor also contends that the city currently provides services to the campus for which it is not adequately compensated.

In February, the City of Berkeley filed a lawsuit against the UC Regents and the Berkeley campus. The suit claims that without court-mandated changes to the plan, the city “will be left to absorb the increased demands on its infrastructure and services.” And it asks for a ban on all development until the university provides more detailed plans and agrees either “to pay for the impacts in city services” or “to lessen those impacts through effective mitigation measures.”

“As a proud alumnus of the University of California, I’m dismayed that we have to be here today,” Mayor Bates said at a news conference held to announce the lawsuit, filed under the California Environmental Quality Act.

“We greatly benefit from UC Berkeley being in the heart of our great city,” he acknowledged, but added that the university plan “falls short” in addressing potential impacts on parking and traffic congestion, and in the fees it currently pays for fire, sewer, and other services provided by the city. “The community must have a meaningful say in how, where, and when” development occurs, the mayor said.

University officials counter that the community has not only had a meaningful say concerning the shape of future development but will continue to have significant input as individual projects — such as the renovation of Memorial Stadium — progress from broad concepts to more specific proposals and undergo environmental review.

Like the city’s own General Plan, the university’s plan establishes baseline standards for land use, design, and protection of environmental and architectural resources. However, the university does not know and cannot predict with certainty every project that may occur during the 15-year period. Campus planners point out that most of the anticipated new construction will take place on the central campus or on the blocks immediately adjacent and will be consistent with the city’s General Plan and Southside Area Plan.

Responding to the city’s lawsuit, the university noted the extensive public comments on the draft plan and the changes it has made in response to those comments (notably the elimination of plans for 100 units of faculty housing in the hills above the campus and a reduction of 500 parking spaces, contingent on progress toward implementation of a rapid-transit bus line to the campus).

Acknowledging the financial challenges facing the city and its residents, campus officials point out that the university — which is under severe budget constraints of its own — spends an estimated $70 million annually on goods and services from local businesses and generates more than $230 million each year in salaries to Berkeley residents.

Expenditures by the campus, students, faculty, staff, visitors, and vendors produce millions in local tax revenues. These revenues, they say — as well as a vast array of public-service programs and resources — add up to community benefits that outweigh the city’s costs in providing services. In addition, the campus offered to significantly increase its direct payments to the city, earmarking funds for city services and neighborhood improvements, but the offer was rejected by city officials.

The ongoing controversy be-tween UC Berkeley and the city is a classic town-gown issue in which common goals are, at times, overshadowed by divergent interests and concerns over growth. Despite this conflict, both Chancellor Birgeneau and Mayor Bates point to the many partnership programs the university and city have developed that benefit the Berkeley community.

Adds Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley director of community relations, “We understand that we’re not an island. The campus and the city are interdependent, and we work best when we work together.”