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| We're out of here |
For blog readers who recall this ongoing tale:
Disputed UC Berkeley Land Next to Albany’s Gill Tract Farm
Gets Green Light For Sprouts Grocery
The disputed UC Berkeley land next to Albany’s Gill Tract is
in contention no more. Last week, the California Court of Appeals ruled in
favor of the university to build a senior housing development and Sprouts
Farmers Market grocery store on San Pablo Avenue in University Village.
The development, on a long-vacant lot next to the Gill Tract
research field, has been the site of protests since April 2012 on the part of
Occupy the Farm, which has stated that UC Berkeley’s plans would “pave over a
rare natural resource” and that the Gill Tract is “public farmland that belongs
to the people.”
Stefanie Rawlings, of Occupy the Farm, originally filed a
lawsuit against the city of Albany and UC Berkeley that alleged that the city’s
approved Environmental Impact Report was deficient. When Rawlings lost the
suit, she filed an appeal on the grounds that the report did not lay out
appropriate alternatives for the building plan, and that the city did not
appropriately consider the alternatives listed.
In a statement, Occupy participant Vanessa Raditz, a
public-health student at UC Berkeley, said the city’s “failure to explore
alternatives is a severe public health threat to the community. This area has
long been known for its dangerous air pollution from the 580 and 80 freeways
and the Pacific Steel Casting factory, which has led to high levels of asthma
in the community. The EIR highlights that the proposed development would be
bringing in 6,500 new cars per day on Monroe Street, right next to the village
daycare center, the little league fields, and Oceanview Elementary School. The
EIR even states clearly that these traffic impacts cannot be mitigated. The
only solution is a smaller project or none at all.”
The courts disagreed and rejected the appeal June 16...
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