The (Endless?) People's Park Saga Continues

From the LA Times: Berkeley’s People’s Park, for half a century a symbol of Bay Area protest and counterculture and for years the home of numerous unhoused people, is one step closer to becoming student dorms and housing for low-income community members after a judge tentatively ruled Friday that construction can commence.

Alameda County Judge Judge Frank Roesch, in a decision that won’t become official until it is issued in writing, probably next week, ruled that UC Berkeley can begin clearing the historic park and starting site work because the university’s plan does not violate the California Environmental Quality Act. 

UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley proposed redeveloping the park in 2018, calling it a first-in-the-nation plan to build long-term supportive housing for homeless people on university land. The university would also build 1,100 units of badly needed student housing and retain some of the park as open green space, while also erecting a monument to its storied history... 

UC spokesperson Dan Mogulof said university officials are “pleased with the judge’s decision and look forward to the court making it official early next week, just as we look forward to starting construction sometime this summer.” But Harvey Smith, president of the People’s Park Historic District Advisory Group, said Friday that it plans to appeal the decision and ask for a stay preventing the university from launching work until a state appeals court weighs in...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-29/judge-rules-uc-berkeley-can-clear-peoples-park-site-of-1960s-protests-to-build-housing.