Presentation of Long Range Development Plan Postponed

Campus officials have delayed the submission of Berkeley's new Long Range Development Plan to the UC Board of Regents.

The plan's presentation was originally scheduled for this November's Regents meeting but has now been re-scheduled for January.

It contains several controversial measures, including a large increase in parking spaces and the construction of faculty housing near the campus.

The LRDP is the policy framework that theoretically will guide campus development for the next 15 years.

Analysis: Community members have been particularly worried about parking issues and this delay could perhaps allow time for a compromise to be reached. Other issues of concern have been mostly environmental, mainly how new development will affect the surrounding landscape.

Parking on campus is already anemic and the LRDP does not really address any concrete transportation issues besides the increase in parking. Adding 2300 parking spaces sounds like a lot, but not so much if you take into consideration that these spaces will come online during the next 15 years. Also factor in an increase of almost 2900 new campus jobs and you end up with more parking shortages.

The city of course would like to push public transit instead of adding additional parking. But how realistic that is depends on individual choices. Namely, how many will forgo the comforts of their personal automobile for the not so comfortable amenities of public transportation?

Some of the LRDP's other proposals are very interesting. The first concrete plan to be implemented will be the construction of the new Tien Center for East Asian Studies. Other proposals include an expansion of student housing by another 2600 beds and an expansion of building space by about 2.2 million square feet. Email This Post!