Judge issues injunction against UC stadium plan {Tree-sitters win in Berkeley}

Bay City News via SFGate ^ | 1/29/7

[SmithL]

A judge issued a preliminary injunction today stopping the construction of a $125 million athletic training center and other facilities near the University of California, Berkeley's football stadium.

The order by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller keeps in force a stay that was issued on Dec. 22 and temporarily prevented the university from going forward with the project.

Miller held a daylong hearing on the issue last Tuesday and her ruling was made public today.

The UC Board of Regents Grounds and Building Committee voted 7-0 on Dec. 5 to approve the project, which calls for 451,000 square feet of new construction, including a sports training facility and a four-story underground parking lot with more than 900 spaces.

It also calls for building new facilities for the university's law and business schools.

A total of four plaintiffs have filed suit seeking to stop the project on various grounds. Among the allegations is that the project violates environmental laws and that it's unsafe to build the facilities near a major earthquake fault, as the Hayward Fault runs through the middle of Cal's Memorial Stadium.

[bondjamesbond]

That'll teach the Bears to fold at the end of the season! At least they kept the Axe!

[SomeoneNeedsToSayIt]

It looks like the State of California is still busy as ever involving itself in things it has no business being involved with.

One day in the not too distant future, the folks that are left in California are going to wake and discover all the doers have gone and nobodies left to actually pay the bills.

I'm looking forward to the melt down, they know this crap doesn't work.

[Lx]

Gee, a university that thrives on this kind of environmental activism is thwarted by it. Sweet!

Eventually they'll find the right judge and sanity will prevail and it will go forward necessitating the activists to find their own judge who will stop it and meanwhile, the attorneys make out like the bandits they are.

[Michael.SF.]

I love it. UC Berkeley deserves to get cooked in the stew of their own creation.

This is the school that let that naked guy attend classes.

[RGSpincich]

I love it. UC Berkeley deserves to get cooked in the stew of their own creation.

Maybe but the athletic department has always been scoffed at by the elite. Now if the loonies had stopped construction on a cultural arts building or a diverse student union building then we'd really have something.

[Mr. Jeeves]

They should relocate the entire campus to Dublin, and let the city of Berkeley twist in the wind. ;)

[ReignOfError]

It looks like the State of California is still busy as ever involving itself in things it has no business being involved with.

Things like running a state university? I don't see what you're getting at here.

[Publius6961]

Among the allegations is that the project violates environmental laws and that it's unsafe to build the facilities near a major earthquake fault, as the Hayward Fault runs through the middle of Cal's Memorial Stadium.

This is an interesting reason for an objection. Does that mean that there should be no building along the fault?

If "maybe", how close is too close? And if it is truly a valid reason, does that mean that any residences that burn down or are proposed to be replaced can not be allowed?

[Publius6961]

They should relocate the entire campus to Dublin, and let the city of Berkeley twist in the wind. ;)

How close is Dublin to the fault?
FWIW, Stockton's last (3.5) earthquake was in 1932...

: )

[Mr. Jeeves]

How close is Dublin to the fault?

Well, it's about fifteen miles east of the Hayward Fault - far enough to avoid major damage. And UC's Lawrence Livermore Laboratories are just a few more miles east of Dublin on 580, so there is some logic to moving the whole campus - not that it will ever happen. But it would be funny to watch the whole Berkeley City Council go into convulsions if they threatened it. ;)