Chancellor Denton extends 'comment' period for LRDP's Draft EIR

Chancellor Denice D. Denton announced today (November 30) that UC Santa Cruz will extend to January 11 the time in which the public may comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report of the campus's proposed Long Range Development Plan. Responding to a request made by the City of Santa Cruz, the extension emphasizes UCSC's intent to engage as fully as possible with the City in addressing future challenges together.

Addition of more than three weeks underscores commitment to collaboration with the City of Santa Cruz

"We greatly value our partnership with the City of Santa Cruz and have decided to further augment the public comment period to accommodate the City's request. We understand that there is a turnover in the City's planning staff, and we want to be certain that the City has enough time to review this important document," Denton said. "At the same time, by nearly doubling the amount of time legally required, we want to make it clear that the university welcomes and values comments from everyone in our community."

The extension adds 23 days to the comment period, for a total of 83 days, almost double the legal minimum of 45 days specified by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The comment period now ends at 5 p.m. on January 11, 2006. All interested parties can submit written comments anytime before that deadline.

The Draft EIR was released by UCSC in mid-October, beginning what had been a 60-day comment period. The original deadline was 5 p.m. on December 19.

UC Santa Cruz is holding two public hearings on the Draft EIR. The first was held on November 16; the second is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. today (November 30). CEQA requires one public hearing.

Written comments may be e-mailed, mailed, or hand-delivered to UCSC anytime before the new deadline.

The Draft EIR may be reviewed at no cost at three local libraries; it can also be ordered for purchase at two area copy centers.

For detailed information on accessing the Draft EIR and for details on how to submit a comment, please go to the project web site at: lrdp.ucsc.edu.