UC Santa Cruz To Host Second ‘inclusion Area D’ Public Workshop On Thursday, May 24

SANTA CRUZ, CA–The University of California, Santa Cruz, will host a public workshop on Thursday, May 24, to discuss a master plan that the campus is preparing in order to build faculty and staff housing on campus land known as "Inclusion Area D."

The workshop, following one that took place on April 5, will focus on three topics:

• Alternative housing configurations for the site.
• Vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian routes related to the development of the site.
• Options for expansion and relocation of organic-farming research plots.

The public workshop will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in La Feliz Room, Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz.

The master plan is considering development options for 28 acres designated as Inclusion Area D in UCSC’s Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP). Inclusion Area D is located between UCSC’s main entrance, Arboretum, and Farm.

Anyone interested in this topic is urged to attend the workshop and ask questions, share information, or provide input, said Charles Eadie, UCSC’s director of campus and community planning.

The campus’s LRDP, which provides a blueprint for campus growth, set aside several inclusion areas, including "D," to accommodate nonacademic, university-related activities such as faculty and staff housing.

UCSC has hired a Santa Monica architectural firm–Moore, Ruble, Yudell–to develop a master plan for Inclusion Area D.

Representatives of the consulting firm will be in attendance at the May 24 workshop to present planning approaches for the three topics scheduled to be discussed.

"The purpose of these workshops is to involve the public in our development of a master plan for Inclusion Area D," Eadie said.

Public comment doesn’t typically occur until a specific project is proposed and a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is in its review phase, he noted. "The campus has laid out a process for the development of Inclusion Area D that involves the public much earlier."

UCSC has a critical need for faculty and staff housing on campus, Eadie said prior to the first workshop, adding that UCSC expects to recruit 300 new faculty and replace 300 retiring faculty during the next 10 years.

"By the end of the master planning phase, probably in June, we expect that the consultants and a campus building committee will have narrowed their focus and will provide–at a schematic level–a project proposal," Eadie said.

That project will then be the subject of an Environmental Impact Report, which will receive public scrutiny after a draft EIR is prepared. Ultimately, the project that is proposed and a final EIR will need to be approved by UC’s Board of Regents.

Preliminary planning schedules indicate that if housing is built on Inclusion Area D, it could be occupied as early as 2003.