Environmental Impact Report

California lawmakers are attempting to bypass ongoing litigation in the state Supreme Court to directly approve UC Berkeley’s student housing plan on People’s Park.

An appellate court ruled Friday that UC Berkeley may not proceed with plans to build student and low-income housing at People’s Park, prompting calls from local and state officials to reform the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, at the heart of the lawsuit.

The First District Court of Appeal released a tentative decision Dec. 22 regarding the lawsuit filed by Make UC a Good Neighbor against the UC Board of Regents’ Environmental Impact Report for long range developments and student housing on People’s Park.

The Berkeley City Council unanimously approved proposed zoning at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations during a special meeting Thursday that extended into Friday, setting the building height limit at both stations to seven stories.

BC4BP filed a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents over UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan on Aug. 19.

City Council members and Berkeley residents expressed opposition to UC Berkeley’s proposed Long Range Development Plan, or LRDP, at a special council meeting Tuesday.

After attempting to develop 1900 Fourth St. for more than four years, West Berkeley Investors ultimately decided to not develop the site Aug. 23.

From Emeryville to Berkeley, the Ohlone tribe, one of the dominant Native American tribe in the Bay Area, has protested development on what they believe to be sacred land. But according to Phenocia Bauerle, director of the Native American Student Development, they have yet to be federally recognized.

For Corrina Gould, a member of the Ohlone tribe, the site at 1900 Fourth St. is more than a parking lot — to her, the site is a sacred burial land and the first inhabited village of the first people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A set of maps from the United States Geological Survey website has sparked debate about the development of affordable housing on the Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto’s parking lot, because of information gleaned about the site’s environmental history.