Jul 26, 2008 12:00 pm US/Pacific
Cal Oak Grove Appeals Trigger Construction Delay
BERKELEY (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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The cluster of oak trees where UC Berkeley plans to build a sports training center on campus.
AP
The University of California, Berkeley has to wait a little longer to start building the campus sports center that spurred an 18-month-long tree-sitting protest and several lawsuits delaying the project.
Two civic groups have appealed a Superior Court judge's ruling this week to lift her previous injunction blocking construction. UC Berkeley was preparing to move forward on July 29, but the appeal means the injunction would be extended for at least 20 days to give the appeals court time to decide whether to take the case.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Friday that the delay until at least Aug. 13 "was completely expected" as a result of appeals filed on Thursday by the groups seeking to stop the university's 158,000-square-foot project, which is projected to cost $140 million.
The new sports training center would be built next to Cal's football stadium, which sits on an earthquake fault. A UC Board of Regents committee approved building it on Dec. 5, 2006.
Shortly afterward, a group of people began living in a grove of oak trees next to Memorial Stadium to protest the project because it calls for tearing down most of the trees.
Mogulof said campus officials were negotiating Friday with the four remaining tree-sitters still perched in the oak grove that would be felled to make way for the project
In addition, the Panoramic Hill Association, which represents people who live near the stadium, the California Oak Foundation and the city of Berkeley filed suit against the project.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a preliminary injunction on Jan. 29, 2007, which temporarily stopped the project.
But Miller issued a ruling on Tuesday that allowed the project to go forward, stating that the university has addressed most of her concerns about the project. However, Miller kept her injunction in place for another seven days to give the plaintiffs in the case time to file an appeal.
Otherwise, work on the project could have started on Wednesday..
The Panoramic Hill Association and the California Oak Foundation filed a joint appeal of Miller's ruling on Thursday. But the Berkeley City Council on Thursday night couldn't muster the five votes necessary for it to file an appeal at this time.
Mayor Tom Bates said after the meeting that the city still had 57 days to file an appeal if it chose to do so, but he was hopeful that the city and the university could reach a compromise that addresses the city's concerns without further litigation.
Bates said the city's biggest concerns are public safety, noise and parking.
"We're pleased with the city's decision not to file an appeal at this time and we look forward to having collaborative discussions with them," Mogulof said.
Mogulof said the state Court of Appeal would decide sometime after Aug. 13 whether to keep the injunction against the project in place while the appeal is litigated.
The appellate process could take up to 15 months.
"This is a really important case, so any time the process slows down that's good," Michael Kelly, the president of the Panoramic Hill Association, said Friday.
"It's always good for things not to happen in a rushed way," he added.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
Complete Coverage: Cal Oak Grove Dispute
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