February 2, 2004

Feb. 25 workshop to focus on Long Range Development Plan

By Jim Burns

UCSC will hold a second public workshop on February 25 as part of a multiyear effort to update its Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), a revision that is expected to guide the campus's physical development through the year 2020.

The workshop will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Sierra Room of the UCSC Inn, located at 611 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.

Designed to provide an overview of the current planning progress, the February 25 meeting will be facilitated by UCSC's long-range planning consultant--Cooper, Robertson & Partners--and will present preliminary enrollment scenarios for early testing. There will also be a discussion of how the LRDP will address sustainability. "This will be a real opportunity for the community to get a close look at the initial stage of our LRDP planning," said Frank Zwart, UCSC's associate vice chancellor for physical planning and construction.

Within the University of California system, LRDPs are drafted to support the academic goals of individual campuses; they also take into account projected statewide enrollment demand.

Upon their completion, the long-range plans define a building program and a land-use map that serve as a comprehensive planning framework for capital construction, infrastructure, and land-use programs. LRDPs, however, are not implementation plans, Zwart said, and adoption of an LRDP does not constitute a commitment to specific projects, construction schedules, or funding priorities.

The process that began this past fall will produce UCSC's fifth Long Range Development Plan, following plans that were adopted in 1963 (two years before the campus opened), 1971, 1978, and 1988.

A major influence on the new LRDP will be ideas that emerge from a parallel campus planning effort: the work of UCSC's Strategic Futures Committee, charged with identifying the range of academic and research programs that may emerge in the campus's future.

UCSC officials decided to use the year 2020 as the end of the planning horizon because that time frame will be aligned with the city of Santa Cruz's comparable planning document, its General Plan, also soon to be updated.

According to a schedule that has been developed by campus officials, during the current academic year the campus's academic vision will be updated and LRDP public workshops will take place. In the 2004-05 year, a draft LRDP will be completed and work will begin on a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the LRDP. In the 2005-06 year, the draft EIR will be presented to the public for comments, and the LRDP and EIR will be submitted to UC's Board of Regents for final consideration.

For more information, call (831) 460-3570. Information is also available on the following web site: www2.ucsc.edu/ppc/planning/lrdp-2005.html.

Return to Front Page