Suits fly over UCSC growth
Santa Cruz Sentinel 2/16/07
They want the courts to overturn last month's approval of the 92,000-square-foot Biomedical Science Facility by UC Regents — the first new construction planned under UCSC's controversial growth plan.
Local critics claim the university illegally took shortcuts when addressing the environmental impacts of the five-story building, slated to break ground in November. They say university officials pushed the building through on the coattails of flawed environmental studies from their long-range growth plan instead of assessing new burdens on traffic and water supplies. Since the courts have not weighed in on challenges to the growth plan, the critics say it should not be used to justify new projects.
"The city is in the middle of a lawsuit over the plan's environmental report, and we need a new analysis for this additional project to know what the full impacts will be," Mayor Emily Reilly said. "We're not opposed to the project. It's about having consistent and accountable process"
The suits, one filed jointly by the city and the county, and the other by local residents, were filed Thursday in Santa Cruz Superior Court, just in time to meet the 30-day deadline for challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Neighborhood groups that filed suit said they fear the new building would set a precedent for irresponsible campus construction under the school's growth plan, which could add more than 6,000 new students, faculty and staff by 2020.
"The Biomedical Sciences Facility propels the campus irretrievably down the Long Range Development Plan's road to over-development," said attorney Stephan Volker, who represents the Coalition for Limiting University Expansion, the Rural Bonny Doon Association and individual residents who live near campus.
Any new development on campus is too much for some residents.
Kaye Beth, who owns a boarding house near campus on High Street, joined the suit even though an influx of new students would allow her to raise rents.
"I'm sort of fighting against my pocketbook, but it's fighting for quality of life," said Beth, who cited concerns over added traffic and air quality.
UCSC acting Chancellor George Blumenthal said the environmental analysis for the building "was really quite significant" and included a public comment period where the university responded to concerns point-by-point.
The project has been delayed several times and university leaders said that money is the primary reason why they pushed for the building's approval from the UC Regents despite the threat of additional lawsuits.
"Every month we delay that building, the price tag goes up," Blumenthal said.
The university estimated it would save $1.5 million by moving up its target to break ground from February 2008 to November.
Blumenthal also pointed out that the facility also could become an "incubator" for much-needed local business development.
"Part of my frustration is that I think the city should be standing up and clapping," he said.
The proposed new labs would provide facilities for cutting edge research in several fields, including stem-cell research.