REVIEWS
One of the important concerns of the University is the impact of future campus development on the surrounding community. This is not a concern that will end with the adoption of the campus LRDP. In any highly complex project planned for development over a multi-year period the impacts of development are extremely difficult to forecast with certainty and precision. As the LRDP is translated into specific facility plans, elements of the plan may be implemented more quickly or slowly or in a different form from that originally envisioned as a result of unforeseen program needs or the effects of exogenous factors. Moreover, the capacity of major infrastructure systems, such as water supply, wastewater disposal facilities, and roads, could change and unforeseeable changes in local general plans and in the economy could alter the availability of new housing.
So as to assure that the environmental impacts on the community associated with the development of the campus as envisioned in the LRDP and its EIR are fully assessed and reviewed in the light of current conditions, it is the University's intention to consider carefully the impacts of growth, project-by-project and cumulatively, as the campus grows. To this end the University will, with the adoption of this LRDP, institute a broad and ongoing program of consultation and review with the City of Santa Cruz and engage in an extensive process of environmental review that will permit members of the Santa Cruz community to submit any and all relevant comments and information as part of the environmental review process. The environmental reviews associated with individual projects undertaken within the context of this LRDP will provide opportunities for community input and, where appropriate, assess such relevant issues as housing, traffic, water use, sewage generation, and available mitigation measures. This extensive review process should assure a thorough appraisal, at numerous intervals throughout the term of this LRDP, of the impacts of campus growth on the surrounding community. Specifically, the campus will:
- Schedule annual meetings for the duration of this LRDP between the Chancellor and the Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz to review the University's capital program and to discuss potential community effects of upcoming projects. In these meetings the schedule of achieved mitigations associated with projects anticipated in this LRDP will be reviewed as well as the potential environmental or resource implications (housing, traffic, water, sewer, etc.) of the anticipated capital projects and associated campus growth. The purpose of these meetings will be to ensure closer coordination in the planning processes of the University and the City and to provide an early opportunity for City input to University plans.
-
Prepare
focused Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) on
all
future major capital
projects of the campus (defined as new construction projects of
greater than two million dollars in construction
costs in 1987 dollars as measured by the Engineering
News Record index).
These EIRs will provide numerous opportunities for
thorough campus and community appraisal of the cumulative
impacts of campus growth
on the surrounding community. Such a process will permit informed and
reasoned decisions to be made by the campus and The Regents as to
whether existing infrastructure and
adopted mitigation measures described in the LRDP EIR
or the individual project EIRs are sufficient to support the
continued phased development
of the campus.
The individual project EIRs will include public hearings where the University will receive public comments on the environmental or resource implications (housing, traffic, water, sewer, etc.) of the projects under study. Comments received in these hearings or in writing from the City of Santa Cruz or from members of the general public during the EIR review period will be given serious consideration by the University prior to the time that final decisions are made on the projects. University officials will respond to these comments as part of the review process.
-
Establish detailed
baseline data
for community housing stock, on-campus housing, and infrastructure (traffic, water,
sewer)
in
the EIR associated with this LRDP.
Each successive individual project EIR (new colleges, laboratories, theatres, etc.)
will assess the incremental and cumulative effects of the continued
development of the campus on these
services, and maintain updated baseline data for subsequent
EIRs. Such a process will aid the community and the campus
in assessing the incremental and cumulative impacts of campus growth and the
extent to which the goals and mitigation measures of the LRDP are being achieved over
time.
To assure that as the campus develops the community is apprised of all significant environmental impacts of campus development, if, in the course of preparing a project EIR, it is found that the overall environmental impacts exceed those addressed in the LRDP EIR, those impacts will be addressed in either the project EIR or in a new EIR with full public notice and review.
- Establish an Environmental Assessment Unit staffed by qualified environmental professionals for the purpose of conducting and/or reviewing environmental impact documents independent of the building project managers. The purpose of this Unit will be to ensure that EIRs on future University projects are of a consistently high quality, meeting or exceeding the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act. This unit will be responsible for monitoring community reactions to campus growth, encouraging and soliciting community input on growth-related issues, and ensuring that community views are considered at early stages of the planning process. The Environmental Assessment Unit will also be charged with the responsibility of providing background information to City staff to inform the annual meetings between the Chancellor and the Mayor concerning the University's capital plan.
-
Submit preliminary drafts of sections of individual project EIRs
to the appropriate City departments for
informal review, comment, and consultation with regard to the adequacy
and accuracy of technical
information prior to completion and
publication of
Draft EIRs.
The numerous opportunities for public comment and the regularly scheduled consultations between the University and the City of Santa Cruz concerning the development of the campus will offer the opportunity to reassess the impacts of University growth on the critical issues of water consumption, sewage effluent, housing use both on and off the campus, and traffic generation as projected in the EIR phase of the LRDP at various enrollment levels, as modified by more up-to-date information. Thus each review will allow for the assessment of the progress of UC Santa Cruz toward implementation of the mitigation measures adopted in the EIR phase of the Long Range Development Plan in the areas of housing, traffic, water use, and sewage generation as well as assessing the City's and County's progress in providing improved infrastructure to support the development of the campus. The regular scheduling of the review of the University's capital program will permit the City to include its projections, if available, of the incremental capital costs of local infrastructure expansion needed to support the next increments of University growth. The review process will also allow the Chancellor and the Mayor to address other issues of mutual concern in a structured context in which current information is available concerning the cumulative impact of University growth.