ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES

A number of organizing principles have influenced the allocation and configuration of the land uses that appear on the LRDP Land Use Map. These principles are discussed below.

CONFIGURATION OF CORE AND COLLEGES

As was the case in the original LRDP and its subsequent revisions, the general development pattern of the campus will continue to be a core of administration and science buildings surrounded by an arc of colleges and other student housing facilities. This configuration minimizes travel time between the core and colleges and creates stronger connections between adjacent colleges.

INFILL AND CLUSTERING OF CAMPUS COMPONENTS

The 1988 LRDP will, to the maximum extent feasible, rely on infill and clustering of facilities in order to allow efficient land use, support pedestrian and shuttle travel, facilitate servicing of buildings, promote interaction among affiliates of various colleges and disciplines, avoid a sprawl of buildings throughout the campus, and allow retention of valuable visual and environmental amenities. [29] New development in the campus core will follow a pattern of careful infill, with further concentration of existing uses in the area. New colleges will be built in clusters within the college arc, and expansions of existing colleges will be built adjacent to existing buildings. Connections between the colleges and the campus core will be short, easily located, clearly defined, and, most importantly, minimally obstructed by streets and parking areas. Notwithstanding the desirability of infill and clustering, a reasonable separation should be provided between new buildings and major roads.

In both the campus core and in the colleges, efficiency in land use should be achieved, in part, by reducing building footprints and increasing building height. However, buildings built in forested areas should not generally protrude above the surrounding tree canopy, and in all areas unduly monumental or rigid development patterns should be avoided because they are unsympathetic to the natural environment.

PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION

The central campus should function as much as possible as a pedestrian campus, where people find it possible and desirable to walk from one side of the campus to the opposite side. To make the campus as "pedestrian friendly" as possible, improvements to the pedestrian system will be pursued, a vehicle-free "pedestrian spine" will be developed through the center of the campus along Steinhart Way, and pedestrian activity centers will be defined and developed.

COMMUNITY ACCESS AREA

The UC Santa Cruz campus is a resource not only for students and faculty but also for the surrounding community. Most of the community-oriented events on campus take place in facilities at the southern boundary of the campus core. These facilities include: the East Field House, the Performing Arts complex, McHenry Library, University House, and the Baskin Visual Arts complex. The Student Center and University Club are also planned for construction in this area, which the LRDP recognizes as a Community Access Area.

The campus will attempt to site new buildings that are important destinations for off-campus visitors in the Community Access Area. Adequate signage, parking, and pedestrian pathways will be developed to serve these facilities. The construction of the Meyer Drive Extension is another important component of a campus design that would make this area easily accessible to the public. The Community Access Area, however, includes important visual and ecological amenities. Therefore, buildings located there will be carefully sited to preserve wildlife habitats, natural vegetation, and views to and from the area.

AREAS NOT PLANNED FOR DEVELOPMENT

A consideration of the natural attributes of various parts of the campus was an important criterion in determining which lands could be developed and which would remain largely or wholly undeveloped. The following principles were utilized as guidelines in making this determination:

• protect slopes of greater than 20 percent from substantial development;

• protect ravines and canyons from disturbance;

• maintain extensive contiguous grasslands by concentrating necessary development at the perimeter of these areas, where the forest can form a backdrop;

• protect major springs and seep zones;

• protect areas of underdrained depressions;

• protect year-round streams;

• protect representative stands of dwarf redwoods and giant chinquapins;

• protect the plant communities associated with springs, seeps, and underdrained depressions;

• protect the limited occurrence of riparian vegetation;

• preserve raptor roosts and extensive foraging areas;

• preserve significant nesting areas of the burrowing owl; and

• retain the continuity of wildlife corridors.

Based on these principles, certain areas of campus have been assigned to one of three special land use designations that greatly restrict development. The Campus Environmental Reserve is established to protect natural features with teaching and research value to the campus. Protected Landscapes are established to maintain special campus landscapes and to protect environmental resources (including wildlife corridors and vegetation with ecological or aesthetic importance [30]). Campus Resource Land, located primarily in the northern campus, is established as an area that may be developed in the future but is to be maintained almost entirely in its natural state under this LRDP.

 

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