Gov. Gavin Newsom vows to change law banning new housing developments

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will work this year to reform the state’s landmark environmental law, which he says has been used by wealthy homeowners to block badly needed UC Berkeley student housing.

Newsom’s comments over the weekend followed a state appeals court ruling that the University of California “failed to assess the potential noise impact from loud student parties in residential neighborhoods near campus,” as required by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, when it planned new housing near the university.

Newsom said Friday’s decision by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals could delay construction of a complex at the historic Berkeley People’s Park, which is owned by the University of California, Berkeley, for years or even decades.

The residential complex will house approximately 1,100 UC Berkeley students and 125 former homeless people. Part of the park will be set aside to commemorate its importance to the civil rights movement, the university said.

University officials said in a statement Monday that they are dismayed by the decision and plan to appeal to the California Supreme Court, adding that their commitment to building the People’s Park project is “unwavering.”

The university called the appeals court decision “unprecedented and dangerous” because it could stop colleges and universities across California from building student housing.

The project has faced opposition since its inception, and last year two local organizations, Make UC a Good Neighbor and The People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group, filed a lawsuit against it, citing CEQA and saying that the university’s impact report on the environment was not taken into account The residential complex will bring more noise to the area.

The historic Environmental Protection Act of 1970 requires state and local agencies to assess and disclose the significant environmental impacts of projects and find ways to reduce those impacts. But in the decades since it was passed, critics say the environmental law has been used by opponents of development to block housing and public transportation projects.

Newsom said in statement posted on Twitter the law is “clearly violated”.

“This law needs to be changed, and this year I intend to work with legislators to make more changes so our state can build the housing we desperately need,” he added.

On Monday, his office provided no further details about what changes he wants to see or how soon. The environmental law is often cited as a nuisance, but revising it is considered politically dangerous. Often, the Legislature makes exceptions for specific projects, such as sports stadiums, to speed up development.

Last March, UC Berkeley said it would have to limit student enrollment after the California Supreme Court sided with angry neighbors who sued the school’s growth. State lawmakers have expedited a fix to allow the campus to enroll as many students as planned for the fall 2022 semester, but the law has done nothing to increase housing.

State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, called the appeals court’s decision “appalling” and will have major implications for California housing development as it classifies human noise as an environmental impact.

“It introduces the idea that humans are pollution,” Viner said.

According to him, the court decision will be used in many housing projects in the future.

He said he plans to introduce legislation in the next two weeks that addresses the court’s decision and ensures that “Pandora’s box remains closed.”

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