GOVERNOR SIGNS UNIVERSITY HOUSING BILL
With California facing a severe housing crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that makes it easier for universities to build housing and overcome lawsuits from local residents about potential noise problems.
Assembly Bill 1307 becomes law following a pitched legal battle between local residents and the University of California system about the noise made by residents of a proposed housing project at UC Berkeley where neighbors objected to the “unruly parties” that college students might host.
The bill, which was signed Thursday, was drafted following a February ruling by an appellate court in favor of the neighborhood group — Make UC A Good Neighbor — and changed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The passage of the bill means that the noise generated by project occupants will not be considered a significant effect on the environment.
“California will not allow NIMBYism to take hold, blocking critically needed housing for years and even decades,” Newsom said, using an acronym that stands for Not In My Backyard, referring to a popular sentiment among residents who oppose new projects in their neighborhood.
The legal imbroglio arose after UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ proposed repurposing the famed and controversial People’s Park into a space that provided dormitory housing for more than 1,000 students — as well as supportive housing for 160 formerly homeless people.
The People’s Park is a national symbol of political activism. The once vacant lot acquired by UC Berkeley in 1967 was turned into a flower garden and “freespeech zone” by activists shortly after. In 1969, after officers cleared the park, students marched down Telegraph Avenue to the site where they had a bloody confrontation with cops. A student was killed and more than 100 protesters were injured.
Neighbors challenged the recent proposal in court and the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled against UC Berkeley and found that the CEQA required the university to analyze and attempt to mitigate its project’s “social noise.”
The university did not adequately do that, the court said in its ruling in February.
The law sidesteps the court’s ruling and goes into effect immediately.
“AB 1307 reestablishes over 50 years of CEQA precedent, and reaffirms that people are not pollution,” said the bill’s drafter, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. “Just as importantly, AB 1307 provides more certainty for housing projects across the state, instead of more red tape and higher construction costs.”