March 2, 2023
How California Came to Treat UC Berkeley Students’ ‘Noise’ as a Dire Environmental Threat
Los Angeles Times
West Coast Land Use and Environmental attorney Jennifer Hernandez published an article for the Los Angeles Times discussing how she believes that a recent court ruling blocking the University of California, Berkeley's efforts to build campus housing in People's Park can create a worrisome precedent.
This dispute is a result of the residents of People's Park citing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires public agencies and local governments to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of developing projects or other major land use decisions. Residents are demanding that they receive protection against 'social noise' that will be caused by adding college students to their neighborhood. Ms. Hernandez believes that using 'social noise' as a reason to prevent campus housing can have a drastic impact on the prospects of creating additional affordable campus housing for students and on incoming occupants of any unbuilt housing.
READ: How California Came to Treat UC Berkeley Students’ ‘Noise’ as a Dire Environmental Threat (Subscription required)
This dispute is a result of the residents of People's Park citing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires public agencies and local governments to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of developing projects or other major land use decisions. Residents are demanding that they receive protection against 'social noise' that will be caused by adding college students to their neighborhood. Ms. Hernandez believes that using 'social noise' as a reason to prevent campus housing can have a drastic impact on the prospects of creating additional affordable campus housing for students and on incoming occupants of any unbuilt housing.
READ: How California Came to Treat UC Berkeley Students’ ‘Noise’ as a Dire Environmental Threat (Subscription required)