People's Park Bill Goes to Governor - Part 3 (signed)

We noted in a prior post that the legislature had sent a bill to the governor aimed at halting the noise objection to the construction of student housing in People's Park. From the LA Times:

With the state facing a severe housing crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that makes it easier for universities to build housing and overcome lawsuits from local residents about potential noise problems. Assembly Bill 1307 becomes law after a pitched legal battle between local residents and the University of California system about the noise made by residents of a proposed housing project at UC Berkeley where neighbors objected to the “unruly parties” that college students might host. The bill, which was signed Thursday, was drafted after a February ruling by an appellate court in favor of the neighborhood group — Make UC a Good Neighbor — and changed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)... 

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-08/newsom-signs-bill-that-paves-way-for-housing-at-berkeleys-peoples-park.

As we previously noted, the bill by itself doesn't halt the litigation. Nor does it answer the question of what UC will do if it gets a legal go-ahead but is met by protests, such as occurred last time it started construction.