Public Comment

Decision Comes on Heels of City of Berkeley’s Rejection of Cal’s Long Term Development Plans for Campus

Berkeley hills neighborhood group won a major court victory to hold UC Berkeley responsible for the impacts of a massive new softball stadium in the very high fire risk and environmentally sensitive Strawberry Canyon area.

The Alameda Superior Court ruled April 23 that UC’s proposed “Levine-Fricke Softball Field Improvements Project,” was so large and complex that it was not within the scope of any previous environmental review. As a result UC Berkeley is now required to do a full environmental analysis of the $26 million project, Judge Frank Roesch said in his ruling.

Panoramic Hill Association sued UC Berkeley alleging that Chancellor Carol Christ had approved the project without adequate environmental review and without properly evaluating the impacts of the project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

“Calling a $26 million project, with extensive demolition and construction, ‘improvements’ is like tearing a house down to the studs and calling it a remodel. Merely calling the project less than it was did not make it so,” said Janice Thomas, Vice-President for UC Affairs of the Panoramic Hill Association.

The project proposed a huge expansion of the field in the very highest fire risk zone designated by the state, with locker rooms, television quality lighting, 1,500 permanent seats, additional space for 1,000 temporary seats and a press box. 

“Intensifying use in a very high fire zone is folly given the destruction we’ve seen over the past few years,” said Thomas. “Adding thousands of spectators would increase the risk of wildfire and create evacuation issues that would endanger thousands of lives.” 

The Panoramic Hill Association’s victory follows several others by neighborhood groups against UC for failing to properly evaluate the impacts of its growth and development in the City of Berkeley. 

Just this past week, the City of Berkeley issued a scathing 75-page response to UC Berkeley’s 2021 Long Range Development Plan and accompanying draft environment impact report saying they are so flawed and inadequate that both must be revised. 

“Chancellor Christ’s aggressive overreach by approving projects that have not had sufficient environmental review does not well serve the people of California. We look forward to working with UCB to ensure that any development in Strawberry Canyon complies with state environmental law as well as new wildfire guidelines set by the state,” Thomas added. 

Panoramic Hill Association represents the neighborhood adjacent to the proposed softball complex that is designated a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) by the State of California