UC-Santa Cruz Enrollment Growth Lawsuit

Another environmental lawsuit against enrollment growth at UC, this one at UC-Santa Cruz, somewhat similar to one at Berkeley which led to legislative action to reverse a court decision. Could the same thing happen at Santa Cruz?

From Lookout Santa Cruz: A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge published a decision Monday in favor of the City of Santa Cruz in a lawsuit filed against UC Santa Cruz and the University of California Board of Regents. City of Santa Cruz attorney Anthony Condotti told Lookout the judge agreed with the city’s argument that the university’s environmental analysis of its enrollment growth was insufficient.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Timothy Schmal sided with the City of Santa Cruz on Monday in a suit filed against UC Santa Cruz over the impact increased student enrollment would have on housing affordability and other community issues. Schmal ruled that an environmental analysis UCSC submitted with its Long Range Development Plan was “deficient.” 

City Attorney Anthony Condotti said a hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday. Condotti expects the judge will lay out next steps, including likely calling on the University of California Board of Regents to rescind its approval of the environmental analysis, known as an environmental impact report, or EIR, and the Long Range Development Plan.

...In February 2022, the City of Santa Cruz filed a lawsuit against UCSC over the university’s plan to increase enrollment by an additional 8,500 students by 2040. The plan, called the Long Range Development Plan, or LRDP, and its environmental impact report were approved by the UC board of regents in 2021. After the approvals, the city, county and a local group filed lawsuits – since consolidated into one lawsuit – over potential worsening impacts on the region’s housing market.

They argued that UCSC’s plans don’t sufficiently analyze and consider the impact on the surrounding community if the university failed to create housing for all of its projected additional students...

Condotti said he thinks it’s likely that the UC board of regents will appeal the decision...

Full story at https://lookout.co/judge-uc-santa-cruz-failed-to-gauge-impact-of-enrollment-growth/.