The governor joins the People's Park litigation

Since last summer when protests and a court decision halted work on building student housing in Berkeley's People's Park, litigation has continued. Now the governor is involved. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to let UC Berkeley take over the historic People’s Park and build housing there for more than 1,000 students and 100 homeless people, challenging a lower-court decision that the university had failed to consider alternative housing sites or the impact on local residents of noise from students’ parties.

 

“Solving the housing crisis is one of the Governor’s top priorities, and the State is making substantial progress,” but the lower court’s ruling “threatens to disrupt that progress, opening a door for opponents of housing development to delay or block essential new projects,” Newsom said in a filing with the court. He is represented by Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office and private counsel. 

The University of California and the city of Berkeley have also asked the state’s high court to grant review and overturn the Feb. 24 decision by the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco that would put the project on hold while the UC Board of Regents conducted a new environmental study on alternative housing sites and measures to control excessive noise. The governor is president of the Regents...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/newsom-berkeley-peoples-park-17920749.php.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

Also from the San Francisco Chronicle: For 54 years, People’s Park, a scraggly 2.8-acre patch of land a block off Telegraph Avenue on Berkeley’s south side, has been the site of violent clashes between police and protesters, unsuccessful development plans and legal disputes. But on Sunday, it was the scene of a birthday party, a mellow gathering with music, lots and lots of speeches, and about 100 people — from students to longtime activists and protesters — enjoying the spring sunshine. In addition to celebrating the more than five decades that People’s Park has remained undeveloped, Sunday’s festivities served to keep the fight of preserving the park as open space alive and to honor the park’s vibrant history. “For 54 years, the park has been a part of Berkeley,” said Harvey Smith, a park historian with the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group. “It’s been a wonderful place. And it needs to stay that way.”...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/people-s-park-berkeley-birthday-17909834.php.