The new law UC Berkeley breathing space from the recent court ruling limiting admissions. But it would also change the nature of analysis on campus Long-Range Development Plans. And it's unlikely to slop over into General Plans.
In response to the Berkeley enrollment case, the Legislature is likely to do something. Exempting student and faculty housing would weaken CEQA -- but Justice Goodwin Liu laid out another path that could truly reform it.
The University of California tried to finesse the fact that Berkeley had blown past its enrollment target without doing additional CEQA analysis. And maybe the judge didn't have to "go nuclear" on this case. But the question of whether population growth in and of itself demands lengthy environmental analysis holds major implications for general plans in cities and counties throughout California.
As the recent fights over housing show, there are not "progressive" and "conservative" cities. There are just cities open to change and cities closed to change.
In ruling about new building, trial judge says UC can't "analyze an increase in student enrollment without admitting that increasing student enrollment is a project subject to review."
For Sacramento and Berkeley, the hard part is still coming: How to create a development code that will encourage rather than block other small-scale housing products.
The council vote was unanimous, but now comes the hard part: Implementing an upzoning in a city with strong homeowner advocacy and fire-prone hillside neighborhoods.
