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November 10, 2003
UCSC begins process of updating its LRDP;
first
forum held
By Jim Burns
A forum that drew 65 people to a downtown conference room last week
publicly launched UCSC's multiyear effort to update its Long Range Development
Plan. The LRDP revision is expected to guide the campus's physical development
through the year 2020.
The meeting, which took place November 5 at the UCSC Inn, provided those
in attendance with a description of the LRDP project and an outline
of the project's process and time line.
But the session also served two other purposes: to introduce the project
team, including the consultants who will help UCSC develop the updated
planning document; and to provide the public with an early opportunity
to give the campus feedback about "issues and values that need
to be considered as we update our LRDP," said Charles Eadie, director
of campus and community planning at UCSC.
In an introductory presentation, Alex Cooper of the selected consulting
firm--Cooper,
Robertson & Partners--shared a number of initial observations about
UCSC and
the LRDP assignment:
- His firm has the experience to tackle this job, with a resume
that includes planning
work at Jefferson's Virginia home, Monticello ("comparable
topographically"
to UCSC), at UCLA (where they conducted a capacity study), at Yale
University (a
planning effort to better link the campus and its host city, New
Haven), and for
New York's Museum of Modern Art (a programming effort that required
that they mesh
the ideas of seven distinct curatorial operations).
- He and his team are ecstatic about landing the UCSC job.
"We've worked on
a lot of campuses, and we've never worked on one like this,"
he said of UCSC's
visual appeal. "We're really excited to work here and hope to
not screw it up."
- He is enchanted by the "enormous change of scale on
campus," adding
that in a moment's time one can go from a small, intimate area to a
wide-open space.
His early observation: The campus's "primary expression is the
verticality of
the trees."
- He found the combination of glass-sided buildings and their
location in the trees
to be inspirational. "That sort of dissolving of inside and
outside is miraculous
for the students."
- Transportation is a significant challenge, especially movement
in north-south
directions. Conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles are
problematic, and UCSC
is not bike-friendly, making the task of navigating the campus
daunting at times.
- The relationship between the city and campus, he said, is what
"fascinates
me the most" about this project. But he hasn't been on the job
long enough to
draw many conclusions about the symbiosis that exists or that's
possible.
Members of the public also used the forum as an opportunity to express
their initial
opinions about issues the LRDP should consider. Traffic and other
transportation
issues were chief among those concerns. Also mentioned were the protection
of historic
artifacts on campus, the campus's relationship to the open space that
surrounds it,
and the elements of sustainability needed in UCSC's building program.
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, Eadie noted at the forum.
A major influence on the new LRDP, he added, will be ideas that emerge from
a parallel
campus planning effort: the work of the Strategic Futures Committee,
charged with
identifying the range of academic and research programs that may emerge in
UCSC's
future.
Campus 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, in the process of also being updated.
The process that is just beginning 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.
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.
People who have questions or who have ideas that should be considered
as part of the LRDP process, may e-mail them to: lrdp-admin@ucsc.edu.
As the project proceeds, the project team will provide information on the
following
web site: www2.ucsc.edu/ppc/planning/lrdp-2005.html.
_____
Earlier press release on LRDP process:
press.ucsc.edu/text.asp?pid=412
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