Tentative Settlement of Strollers' Suit Announced

UC Berkeley and two groups that sued to block the Albany City Council approval of UC's development plan at University Village have announced a tentative agreement that would settle the suit.

The pact, which is contingent on City Council approval, would add language to the university's pledge to install solar panels "to the extent feasible" and to the plan's transportation elements.

The university has been seeking for several years to proceed with a mixed-use development plan to add retail and senior housing to the University Village graduate student family housing complex in Albany. The retail would be anchored by a large grocer, which until September was to be Whole Foods. The proposed grocer in the latest UC plan is Sprouts Farmers Market.

"I am pleased to confirm that the University of California, the City of Albany, Strollers and Rollers and the Carbon Neutral Albany have reached agreement on the resolution of a lawsuit filed after the City’s approval of the UC Village project last summer," UC Berkeley's director of property development, Kevin Hufferd, told Patch via email Tuesday.

A press release Monday from the two groups that sued the city – Albany Strollers & Rollers and Carbon Neutral Albany – said the two organizations "are pleased to announce agreement with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) on a proposed amendment to the global climate change mitigation measure regarding the University Village Mixed-Use Project in Albany, California. The parties hope the Albany City Council will adopt this amendment at its meeting this Monday, May 6th."

The press release quoted Strollers & Rollers representative Preston Jordan saying the agreement will provide "greater clarity" regarding UC Berkeley's commitment to include cycling facilities in the project.

On the solar panel language, the press release said, "C0A (Carbon Neutral Albany) spokesperson David Arkin said the group appreciates UC has committed in the proposed amendment to include solar power generation in the project."

Hufferd from UC described the promised changes as "modest amendments to clarify the language in the environmental documents associated with the project."

The two plaintiffs and UC also agreed to share the legal costs of the settlement, according to Strollers & Rollers and Carbon Neutral Albany. 

Their suit was filed in August, following the council's approval in July of the long-debated UC proposal for a development project at University Village to include a large grocery store, retail space and senior housing. The plaintiffs contended that the project's environmental impact report was faulty and that the plan did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

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