Make UC a Good Neighbor v. Regents of University of California

The California Court of Appeal rejected challenges to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the University of California, Berkeley’s long range development plan but directed the Regents of University of California to consider alternative locations for a student housing project and to assess potential noise impacts from student parties in residential neighborhoods. The court rejected the argument that the alternatives considered by the Regents should have included an alternative limiting student enrollment, which the petitioner characterized as major driver of environmental impacts. The court said this argument ignored the long range development plan’s “limited purpose and scope” and found that the petitioner did not point to deficiencies in the alternatives considered, which included an alternative with strategies to reduce carbon emissions by building more housing near campus, reducing parking, and increasing remote instruction and working.