The Supreme Court of California will hear oral arguments in Los Angeles on April 3 in a case that will likely decide the fate of UC Berkeley’s student housing project at People’s Park.
The last of three lawsuits aiming to stop the project, the complaint filed in 2021 by the group Make UC a Good Neighbor argues that the university didn’t consider alternative sites for the 1,100-bed student and 100-bed supportive housing project, and that student noise from the project could impact Southside.
The university has been trying for decades to develop the land, which is revered by many because of its significance in the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s, and as a hub for mutual aid and community-based homeless services.
During the pandemic lockdowns, the site became a homeless encampment with about 50 residents. In August 2022, the university attempted to begin construction, prompting a 12-hour standoff and large demonstrations, where protesters ultimately tore down fencing and began an occupation.
The university appealed the case to the Supreme Court last May after the state appellate court sided in favor of Make UC a Good Neighbor.
Merrill Balassone, Supreme Court spokesperson, said next month’s hearing was set for Los Angeles over a local court in San Francisco or Sacramento due to the court’s scheduling process. She said cases are heard in Los Angeles in April, June and December.
Both parties can appear in court virtually if they choose to, and the hearing will be broadcast for the public online.
The plaintiff and defendant in the ongoing case filed briefs in the case beginning last summer, with UC Berkeley rejecting the plaintiff’s claims that the university was violating requirements under the state’s environmental process for building housing.
At the time, plaintiffs said the student housing project would create a noise problem in the Southside neighborhood, and that UC Berkeley should have considered alternative sites to the housing project.
The university has received support from the Berkeley City Council, which is under the terms of a $82.6 million settlement to support the university’s housing plans, intended to address a student housing shortage in the city with 1,100 new beds, and a planned supportive housing element. Gov. Gavin Newsom also approved a bill last September aimed at easing UC Berkeley’s path to building the project.
Both parties said on Wednesday that they would save their arguments for court.
Awaiting the court’s decision, People’s Park is under a heavy barricade of double-stacked shipping containers, erected by the university in a $6.6 million operation that involved mass police presence in early January.
Protesters say officers created unsafe conditions when they tore down a makeshift kitchen using power tools while people were still in the facility on the night of Jan. 3, when the park was being closed off with shipping containers. The kitchen was built and operated by activists.
Members of the UC Berkeley student government, which passed a resolution against the university’s approach earlier this year, held a press conference with park advocates on Tuesday afternoon outside the barricade.
ASUC President Sydney Roberts said she and other Black and brown students have had a negative experience with the ongoing security presence in the area, which at times included mandatory ID checks for people in the neighborhood.
“I really don’t want the (UC) to set a precedent for using that amount of police … in a student-centered area,” Roberts said. “I don’t want any campus affairs to be handled that way. I want … the university to know that this isn’t something they can do again.”
Dan Mogulof, the campus spokesperson, said everyone’s ID was checked in the days after the park was closed. He said the university took extreme steps to “minimize the risk of conflict and violence,” which occurred in August 2022 when Cal attempted to build on the park.
Correction: This story was updated on April 8, to clarify the complaints protesters had of UC police on Jan. 3. The original story quoted protesters saying they endured police brutality and mistreatment on the night of the UC police action. The protesters were referring to what they said was law enforcement’s disregard for them as they tore down the activists’ makeshift kitchen.
