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Public meetings to further dialogue on Student Housing West

May 25, 2018

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Student Housing West's Heller site
As proposed, the view of Student Housing West's Heller Drive site, viewed from Porter College.

In an effort to further discussion on Student Housing West, UC Santa Cruz will hold two information sessions next week and two public hearings the following week.

The information sessions will be held:

  • 6–7:30 p.m., May 30 at the Louden Nelson Center’s multipurpose room, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz.
  • 6–7:30 p.m., May 31 at the Merrill College Cultural Center

The information sessions will provide an overview of the project and additional information learned since release of the draft EIR, including information regarding costs.

The public hearings to receive public comments on the draft EIR will be held:

  • 5–7 p.m., June 6 at the Merrill College Cultural Center
  • 6:30–8:30 p.m., June 7 at the Louden Nelson Community Center,

As proposed, Student Housing West—spread over two sites, Heller Drive and Hagar Drive—will provide housing for 3,000 students. Most of the new housing units will support upper division undergraduates and graduate students at the Heller Drive site, though the project will also create new housing for students with families on Hagar Drive as well as a child care center that will serve campus employees and students.

Chancellor George Blumenthal and Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor Marlene Tromp announced May 15 that they decided to extend the comment period to 5 p.m., June 27 and hold additional meetings so that the campus can have a more robust discussion on the proposed project and alternatives to the proposed project.

Following the end of the extended public comment period on June 27, the campus will evaluate all comments, from both the original comment period and the extended one, bearing in mind the project goals, which include providing affordable housing for students, and mitigating the displacement of students with families, and the goals of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to identify and avoid or reduce environmental impacts, to the extent feasible.

Written comments on the draft EIR may also be emailed to eircomment@ucsc.edu and submitted to Alisa Klaus, UC Santa Cruz, Physical Planning & Construction, 1156 High St , Mailstop: PPDO, Santa Cruz, CA 95064,