Bill that would remove construction roadblocks for People's Park housing hits Newsom's desk
BERKELEY -- The next step in the fight surrounding a plan to build housing at People's Park is expected Tuesday as a bill that would allow the University of California to build that housing is now on Governor Gavin Newsom's desk.
The bill cuts out the requirement to study noise effects and passed the state assembly unanimously Monday.
If signed by Newsom, the bill will also eliminate the need for colleges and universities to consider, in an environmental impact report, alternative housing sites for a residential or mixed-use housing project if certain requirements are met.
According to a recent appeals court ruling, the need to mitigate noise by undergraduates and to consider alternatives must be considered under the California Environmental Quality Act, regulations that must be met by developers like UC Berkeley.
"We write to express our strong opposition to AB 1307," said leaders of both the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group and the group Make UC A Good Neighbor in a letter last week to assemblymembers.
"This legislation effectively rewards the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) for its blatant failure to comply at the most basic level with the heart of the California Environmental Quality Act: the evaluation of alternatives for a project," leaders of the two groups said in the letter.
While Newsom supports the housing project, protesters have been adamant in their opposition. In August of last year, police arrested seven protesters during a melee at People's Park that also left two officers injured, according to university officials.
Last May, a developer pulled out of an agreement with the University of California at Berkeley to build housing for the homeless at the national landmark People's Park.
Resources for Community Development was to construct 125 units of permanent supportive housing in conjunction with the university's plan for student housing at the park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.