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The False Narrative of People’s Park

by the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group

An analysis of the nonfactual presentation in UC Berkeley’s flyer “A Renewed People’s Park for All” reveals the irrationality of the People’s Park project and the venality of UCB administration in pursuing it. This is amplified by the undercutting of park proponents’ win in the State Court of Appeal by AB 1307 and its subsequent impact on the recent State Supreme Court decision reversing that win.

Moreover, an immediate concern is whether UC has done an adequate archeological investigation of the park. Given a recent official filing with the Northwest Information Center of the State Office of Historic Preservation showing evidence of Native American artifacts in or near the park, UC should present information to the public describing what steps it has taken to ascertain it will not continue its long history of destruction of historic Native sites, graves and objects.

AB 1307 was nothing more than a sweetheart, backroom deal concocted by Assemblyperson Buffy Wicks. She had absolutely no contact with the plaintiffs in the court case or with any park proponents in the district she purportedly represents. There were no legislative committee hearings to air arguments on the bill, either pro or con. The bill can only be described as a piece of special interest legislation with the special interest being none other than UC.

This outcome is disappointing because the nonprofit, community-based organizations were only asking for a public process under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Court of Appeal clearly saw that UC pursued a private process in determining it had no alternative other than to build on People’s Park. Our groups hired legal representation at great expense to advocate for transparency from UC. They played by the rules, and when UC did not like the outcome, it got the rules changed.

This begs the question – Is the project about student housing or about destroying the park? This is particularly evident when the millions of wasted dollars of public funds are considered due to delays, legal and police costs, and the shipping container wall with razor wire.

In order to meet its housing goal, UCB has claimed that it wants to build as much student housing as soon as possible. However, as an indication of its outrageously poor planning to reach the goal, UCB chose People’s Park as Housing Project #2 and then admitted early on that it would certainly experience delays due to the controversial nature of the project. Anchor House, Housing Project # 1, is nearly completed. If any of the many alternative sites had been chosen for Housing Project #2, it would likewise be nearly complete.

Cal claims extensive public engagement and input on the project. However, it was only earlier this year that teach-ins were held on campus that included student groups, faculty and community groups that provided an open and balanced analysis of what it would mean to destroy People’s Park. In 2021, People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group circulated an Open Letter with nearly 150 signatures that includes Berkeley residents, UCB professors, three former Berkeley mayors, three former Berkeley city councilmembers, many former Berkeley commissioners, Cal alumni and students, attorneys, architects, historians and many others who are concerned about the threatened destruction of People’s Park. Their representative views were never considered by campus administration.

Additionally, several student groups support preservation of People’s Park – Pay Your Workers Campaign, Historic Preservation Club, Cal ACLU, and Suitcase Clinic. Add to that, two resolutions from the ASUC opposing destruction of the park, the Berkeley Faculty Association’s questioning of the project, and the many editorials in support of the park in the Daily Cal. Support has also come from the country’s leading preservation organization – The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Cal touts that 1.7 acres of the park would remain open space after development. However, the increasingly densely populated Southside needs probably at least three times the acreage of People’s Park to meet urban green space standards at the international, national, state or city level. Stripping much-needed open space from students and the community is particularly perverse because it is unnecessary.

Cal states it has “secured housing vouchers from the City of Berkeley for this project” neglecting to explain that housing vouchers come from the federal Housing and Urban Development voucher program. Vouchers would only be available if UC completed an environmental impact report in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, a requirement UC refused for its original supportive housing project. Since UC has destroyed a site on the National Register of Historic Places, this will likely be a major deterrent for any potential nonprofit housing developer.

Not only are the proposed buildings out-of-keeping with the area, they overshadow a National Landmark (Bernard Maybeck’s First Church), a building by famed architect Julia Morgan, the Anna Head complex by the founding member of Berkeley’s Ratcliff architectural dynasty, and many other historic structures that surround People’s Park.

The university claims to honor the historic importance of the park but does so by destroying a place that is an official city landmark, recognized by the State Historic Resources Commission. And People’s Park is also listed on the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places as a site of such national importance that it’s worthy of preservation. So UC’s idea of honoring this historic place is to destroy it.

Many who consider themselves part of the Cal family honor fact-based research and support social justice. We think of these values as having been strengthened by experiences at Berkeley. Therefore, it pains most Cal-affiliated people when UC Berkeley behaves like a greedy and abusive corporation without a conscience.

Corporations can make expensive miscalculations, e.g., Ford’s Edsel. UC campuses likewise have made costly planning errors, e.g., UCSB’s “Dormzilla.” However, both of these mistakes were recognized and the projects were terminated. Harm only comes when a bad decision is stubbornly sustained at the cost of institutional integrity.

Learn about The People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group and make a donation here.
https://www.peoplesparkhxdist.org/donate-now/

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People’s Park Last Stand? The Struggle Continues! Save the Heart and Soul of Berkeley – Panel Discussion, June 19, 2024

The Struggle Continues! Save The Park!
PANEL DISCUSSION
June 19, 2024, 7pm
1939 Addison Street, Berkeley

Featured Speakers Include:
Jovanka Beckles – State Senate Candidate
Joe Liesner – People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
Margot Smith – State Assembly Candidate
Moni Law – Affordable Housing and Police Accountability Activist
Jonah Gottlieb – office of District 7 Councilmember Lunaparra
Aidan Hill – Longtime People’s Park Gardener

Video of the Panel Discussion
https://fb.watch/sQvoIa2bEY/?mibextid=cr9u03

This event is available in person and via Zoom link
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81963341496
Meeting ID: 819 6334 1496

Join us for a panel discussion and community meeting to confront the impending UC destruction of Berkeley’s most iconic landmark. Speakers will expose state manipulation of the housing market, suppression of information about the archeological significance of People’s Park, collusion of elected leaders in the theft of the land and discuss the legally required and urgent need for open space in the Southside area.

People’s Park supporters cry “Foul!” in response to the California State Supreme Court’s recent ruling to allow the University of California (UC) to destroy the park. We pledge to continue the fight to save it.

Native American site of significance: People’s Park sits in Huichin, the name given the land by indigenous inhabitants of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan (local Ohlone nation). Derby Creek, which ran through the Park site, was filled in and culverted about 1901. The creek’s location suggests that an indigenous village was located in this area, and that significantly more recent remains or artifacts could be found during excavation. This would be grounds for another California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) challenge to UC’s construction plan. Many have suggested UC cede the Park to the Sogorea Te Land Trust as part of rematriation of lands lost to settler colonialism. UC “owns” the most real estate in California, all stolen from indigenous peoples. Adding insult to injury, after decades of struggling to fulfill commitments to more easterly native peoples, the US government refused to recognize any tribes in California so it would not have to provide any previously promised benefits, minimal as they were.

Desperately needed open space: Although the park has served as a place of last resort for unhoused and poor people, what the community desperately needs is open park space. Reducing People’s Park violates Berkeley’s Measure L, passed in 1986, which requires preservation and maintenance of the public parks and open space which exist in Berkeley, and acquisition of more open space in neighborhoods having less than the minimum amount of open space relative to population. People’s Park is the only public green space in the densely populated Council District 7, often referred to as Southside. It has served as refuge for many immigrants, starting with African-Americans in the 60’s and 70’s.

Historical Legacy: People’s Park was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2022, recognized in the letter of designation “as nationally significant for its association with student protests and countercultural activities during the 1960s.” In addition to this over half-century legacy of political and cultural events, the historical, architectural and environmental assets of this irreplaceable open space include a bio system of flora and fauna and a surround of highly significant architecture. Despite this, the current University administration remains intent on destroying the Park as one more part of making Berkeley unlivable for most.

Corrupt decision: UC has tried to avoid or undermine the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process for its proposed People’s Park housing project. When noise impact was identified as a likely disqualifier, it sought and won a special exception via having the Legislature amend CEQA to allow UC to proceed. UC is making profit from student housing while there is NO actual low-income housing to help the displaced people. There are over 3,000 vacant units in Berkeley, many held off-market for speculation. And hundreds of dorm rooms are vacant due to the high price. UC plans to increase enrollment by 20,000 students over the next decade, with no agreement from the City or its residents, who will suffer most.

People’s Park Community
We Ain’t Going Anywhere!

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PRESS RELEASE: Delay in Revealing Potential Findings of Native American Significance in the Vicinity of People’s Park

For Immediate Release
May 12, 2024

Contact: Harvey Smith, peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com, 510-684-0414

People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group and Make UC A Good Neighbor submitted on April 29, 2024 a Public Records Act (PRA) request to UC Berkeley due to the recent registration of a Native American site adjacent to People’s Park (listed on the National Register of Historic Places). UCB hasn’t disclosed any of the information about this site. Results of any subsequent investigation, subsequent discussions, or writings about it within UCB have not been shared with the public. 

In response to the PRA request on May 7, 2024, UC Berkeley acknowledged it was holding responsive documents, but did not plan to produce this potentially highly significant information for 10 weeks. 

There is urgency in the request because UCB is awaiting a State Supreme Court decision that could come at any day allowing initiation of construction at People’s Park. Before any construction begins at the park, the nature of the Native American site must be determined by appropriate and thorough archeological investigative techniques and testing.

Within the immediate vicinity of People’s Park, the Native American site was recently registered at the California Historical Resources Information System’s Northwest Information Center (NWIC). The site location is said to be within about one block from People’s Park, deemed to be sizable and significant, containing important habitation and dating evidence not found in any other Berkeley site. 

There may be other Native American sites, including burials, close to People’s Park that have records submitted and are awaiting assignment numbers at the NWIC.  

The potential that the People’s Parks site holds cultural remains and information not found in any other Berkeley site is most credible. The open landscape of the park affords a unique opportunity to explore not only the potential for on-site and immediate resources, including burial sites, adjacent to a flowing creek (Derby Creek), but also an opportunity to incorporate, predict, and understand the wider area. The site could be vitally important to understanding the Ohlone history in Berkeley and the East Bay.  

Finding a native site near the park wouldn’t prevent the university’s needed housing project from being built, since there are several alternative university-owned sites, including one just a block and a half from the park, on which the project could be located.

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Supreme Court Oral Argument April 3, 2024 – Session One – Make UC A Good Neighbor v. Regents of University of California, S279242

Supreme Court Oral Argument April 3, 2024 – Session One, Apr 3, 2024

This is a recording of the oral argument for Make UC a Good Neighbor et al. v. The Regents of the University of California et al. (Resources for Community Development et al., Real Parties in Interest), S279242.
Heard by the Supreme Court of California on April 3, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.

Make UC A Good Neighbor v. Regents of University of California, S279242. (A165451; 88 Cal.App.5th 656, mod. 88 Cal.App.5th 1293a; Alameda County Superior Court; RG21110142.)

Petition for review after the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment in a civil action.

This case presents the following issues:

  1. Does the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) (CEQA) require public agencies to consider as an environmental impact the increased social noise generated by student parties that a student housing project might bring to a community?
  2. Under CEQA, when a lead agency has identified potential sites for future development and redevelopment in a programmatic planning document, is the agency required to revisit alternative locations for a proposed site-specific project within the program?

Supreme Court Oral Argument April 3, 2024
NEWS RELEASE: Video/Photos: Make UC a Good Neighbor v. The Regents of the University of California

The California Supreme Court today heard the case during oral argument in Los Angeles.
By Merrill Balassone, April 03, 2024

https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/news-and-events/videophotos-make-uc-good-neighbor-v-regents-university-california

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Condensed Review of the Supreme Court Briefs for Housing Project #2 at People’s Park

(links to the numbered briefs follow below).

Of the five points that were appealed to the Court of Appeals NOISE and ALTERNATIVE SITES were reversed in our favor and on April 3, 2024 the Supreme Court will be reviewing those two points as requested by UC.

Documents 1-6 are the different requests to the Supreme Court for review of the Court of Appeals (COA) Opinion.

In UC Opening Merits brief (Document 7) they claim that noise generated by occupants of a residential project should not be considered in CEQA as an environmental impact. UC asserts that such noise would open the flood gates for discriminating against residents. UC further claims that noise complaints have existing city laws governing such complaints. On the alternative sites claim UC states that the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) provides adequate analysis of alternative sites for Housing Project #2 and no more specific site specific analysis is required. As stated UC asserts their right to prioritize People’s Park as their choice on which to build student and supportive housing.

Make UC a Good Neighbor and People’s Park Historic Advocacy Group’s (OUR) answer to UC Merits brief (Document 8) argues that it is an abuse of discretion by UC to not consider sites that are potentially feasible locations for Housing Project #2; that UC’s feasibility criteria have been changed during the appeals process for their legal convenience; and that UC administration had considered alternatives and rejected them without treating them in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). OUR argument to the noise issue is that noise is already recognized as an environmental impact in CEQA; and that both UCB and the City of Berkeley have been dealing with serious undergraduate noise problems for years.

Next in UC’s reply to OUR answer (Document 9) UC cites case law (Goleta) in which alternative sites for a project that are analyzed in a programmatic document, such as an LRDP, need not be re-analyzed in site specific project analysis. In the current case that would mean no EIR was necessary for the People’s Park project regarding alternative sites.

Then on September 7, 2023 Governor Newsom signed AB 1307 (Document 10) thereby creating the new CEQA statutes 21085 and 21085.2. 21085 struck noise made by human beings as occupants of a residential project from consideration as a significant environmental impact. 21085.2 changed CEQA so that a housing, or mixed use, project of an institution of higher education need not consider alternative sites in a project EIR if alternative sites were treated in a higher level programmatic EIR.

As stated by UC attorney Jeremy Rosen (Document 11) “The Legislature passed this urgency legislation to overrule the Court of Appeals opinion in this matter with respect to People’s Park.

In Documents 12 OUR attorney objects to UC’s request that the Supreme Court examine the legislative history of AB 1307 to determine aspects of its intention.

In Document 13 OUR attorney requests that supplemental briefs, requested by the Court for argument regarding the effect of AB 1307 on the COA’s Opinion are not submitted simultaneously.

In UC’s Opening Supplemental brief (Document 14) UC asserts that AB 1307 confirms the merits (correctness) of their briefs. Without much argument or referral to case law they state that CEQA should not be expanded to allow noise of residential projects occupants to be considered an environmental impact (21085), and that Housing Project #2’s EIR need not consider alternative locations for that residential project since is student housing for an institution of higher education, and since alternative locations were discussed in the LRDP (21085.2).

Document 15 is another request for the Court to examine the legislative history of AB 1307.

In what may turn out to be the most critical filing for the preservation of People’s Park, Document 16 is OUR answer to UC’s supplemental brief. In that answer brief we concede that, being a residential project, both the noise (21085) and the alternative site (21085.2) changes in CEQA legally apply to Housing Project #2 at People’s Park. With those two new CEQA statutes in effect both claims on which we had prevailed in the COA are moot, i.e. no law exists under which the Supreme Court can rule for relief on OUR claims.

In that same answer brief (Document 16) OUR attorney builds a detailed case supporting OUR noise claim as an environmental impact in CEQA law. OUR assertions stem from the fact that 21085, as written, applies to residential projects. OUR noise claim arises from an LRDP project of increased enrollment for UCB. As explained, it is the increased number of students partying on the streets, and other locations in the Southside (not in student residences), that creates a negative environmental impact.

Should the Supreme Court concur with OUR argument on the noise issue the EIR could be returned to the Superior Court for modification.

The Justices of the Supreme Court may question the attorneys on issues dealing with background and structure of AB 1307 or how the new statutes effect previous court rulings.

Documents 18 thru 24 are amicus briefs from various government institutions and one other request for consideration of legislative history which I will not cover.

As this summary of 1/3 (Supreme Court only) of our attorney’s efforts indicates this has been a costly law suit. We are indebted to them for excellent representation of People’s Park, but also simply indebt to them for a large sum of money. Please donate whatever you can using this QR link below to our Venmo account or go to peoplesparkhxdist.org for our GoFundMe donation link. THANK YOU from PEOPLE’S PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT ADVOCACY GROUP

Venmo QR code

Viewing the Oral Arguments at April 3, 2024 Supreme Court session opens at 8:30 am here:

https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/case-information/oral-arguments/webcast-library

S279242 – MAKE UC A GOOD NEIGHBOR v. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT)

(Links to the numbered briefs follow below)

  1. Respondents’ Petition for Review Filed on March 28, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/1-40-s279242-resps-pet-rev- 032823.pdf
  2. Appellants’ Petition for Review Filed on April 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/2-90-s279242-apps-pet-rev- 040423.pdf
  3. Appellants’ Answer to Petition for Review Filed on April 12, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/3-100-s279242-apps-answer- pet-rev-041223.pdf
  4. Respondents’ Answer to Petition for Review Filed on April 24, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/4-115-s279242-resps- answer-pet-rev-042423.pdf
  5. Respondents’ Reply to Answer to Petition for Review Filed on April 24, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/5-120-s279242-resps-reply- answer-pet-rev-042423.pdf
  6. Appellants’ Reply to Answer to Petition for Review Filed on May 3, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/6-160-s279242-apps-reply- answer-pet-rev-050323.pdf
  7. Respondents’ Opening Brief on the Merits Filed on June 16, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/7-400-s279242-resps- opening-brief-merits-061623.pdf
  8. Appellants’ Answer Brief on the Merits Filed on August 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/8-530-s279242-apps-answer- brief-merits-080423.pdf
  9. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, Reply Brief on the Merits Filed on August 24, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/9-570-s279242-resp-regents- univ-ca-reply-brief-merits-082423.pdf
  10. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, Request for Judicial Notice Filed on August 24, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/10-580-s279242-resp- regents-univ-ca-req-jud-notice-082423.pdf
  11. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, September 8, 2023, Letter Filed on September 8, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/11-590-s279242-resp- regents-univ-ca-090823-ltr-090823.pdf
  12. Appellants’ Opposition Filed on September 8, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/12-600-s279242-apps-opp- 090823.pdf
  13. Appellants’ September 8, 2023, Letter Filed on September 8, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/13-610-s279242-apps- 090823-ltr-090823.pdf
  14. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, Supplemental Brief Filed on September 20, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/14-665-s279242-resp- regents-univ-ca-supp-brief-092023.pdf
  15. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, Request for Judicial Notice Filed on September 20, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/15-670-s279242-resp- regents-univ-ca-req-jud-notice-092023.pdf
  16. Appellants’ Reply to Supplemental Brief Filed on October 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/16-695-s279242-apps-reply- supp-brief-100423.pdf
  17. Appellants’ Opposition Filed on October 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/17-710-s279242-apps-opp- 100423.pdf
  18. Appellants’ Request for Judicial Notice Filed on October 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/18-720-s279242-apps-req- jud-notice-100423.pdf
  19. Amicus Curiae Brief of City of Berkeley Filed on October 4, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/19-760-s279242-ac-city- berkeley-100423.pdf
  20. Respondent, The Regents of the University of California, Reply to Supplemental Brief Filed on October 9, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/20-780-s279242-resp-reply- supp-brief-100923.pdf
  21. Amicus Curiae Brief of The Two Hundred for Homeownership Filed on October 16, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/21-810-s279242-ac-the-two- hundred-for-homeownership-101623.pdf
  22. Amicus Curiae Brief of League of California and California State Association of Counties Filed on October 16, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/22-850-s279242-ac-league- ca-cities-et-al-101623.pdf
  23. Amicus Curiae, The Two Hundred for Homeownership, Notice of Errata Filed on October 20, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/23-870-s279242-ac-two- hundred-homeownership-notice-errata-102023.pdf
  24. Appellants’ Response to Amicus Curiae Brief Filed on October 25, 2023 https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/24-880-s279242-apps-resp- ac-brief-102523.pdf

PDF of this document
https://www.peoplespark.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Review-of-Supreme-Court-Briefs-for-Housing-Project-2024-04-02.pdf

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Supreme Court of California hears arguments on People’s Park CEQA case April 3

The Supreme Court of California will hear the Oral Arguments in our People’s Park CEQA case in Los Angeles on April 3, 2024 at 9 am. The attorneys will make points and respond to questions posed by the justices.

An important area of discussion is how the new CEQA regulations (21085 and 21085.2) created by AB 1307 affect the decision of the Court of Appeals (COA) that the Supreme Court is reviewing. For one example, 21085.2 can be seen as making the return of the EIR for Housing Project #2 at People’s Park back to the trial court, as the COA has ruled, a moot point. On another point it could be argued that the criteria for enactment of 20185.2 was not met and the COA decision is still enforceable. The issues in the case are quite complex due to AB 1307.

See the People’s Park Documents archive for information on the case.

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PRESS RELEASE – People’s Park Teach-In at UC Berkeley on February 26, 2024

For Immediate Release
Contact: Harvey Smith, peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com, 510-684-0414

“What’s Going On?”

A Teach-In on People’s Park

7-9 p.m., Monday, February 26, 2024
Maud Fife Room – 315 Wheeler Hall, UCB

People’s Park is currently barricaded by stacked shipping containers topped with razor wire and guarded round-the-clock, following a midnight raid in early January by combined police forces from UC, CSU, Alameda County, San Francisco City and County and the California State Highway Patrol, organized by the UC Berkeley administration. Why? “The existing legal issues will inevitably be resolved, so we are taking this necessary step now to minimize the possibilities of conflict and confrontation, and of disruption for the public and our students, when we are cleared to resume construction,” said Chancellor Carol Christ (The Berkeleyan, January 16, 2024). Like others in the flood of official campus public relations communications with which students, faculty and staff have been inundated since the Chancellor’s 2017 announcement of plans to build student housing on the park, this response falls short of explaining why there is such fear of “conflict and confrontation” and such strong opposition to these plans, even from students whose interests the plans are supposed to serve.

For a broader range of perspectives on what was and is going on at People’s Park, Teach-Ins have been organized by UC Berkeley students (January 24) and by community groups (February 4). Please join us for the next one. There will be ample time for Q and A. Fiat Lux!

Presenters:

  • Harvey Smith, organizer of the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group and project advisor for The Living New Deal, UC Berkeley Department of Geography
  • Tom Dalzell, labor lawyer and author of The Battle for People’s Park, Berkeley 1969
  • Tony Platt, author of The Scandal of Cal: Land Grabs, White Supremacy and Miseducation at UC Berkeley and affiliated scholar at Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Law and Society
  • Steve Wasserman, publisher of Heyday Books and park activist since 1969
  • Sylvia T, recent UC Berkeley graduate, independent archival researcher and People’s Park defender
  • Sara Pech, Historic Preservation Club, a UC Berkeley student group
  • Representatives from the Suitcase Clinic, a UC Berkeley student group

Moderator:

  • Kristin Hanson, Professor of English, UC Berkeley

Please note that although masking is no longer required on campus it is much appreciated.

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People’s Park National Trust Letter – December 22, 2023

National Trust for Historic Preservation®

December 22, 2023

Harvey Smith
People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
P.O. Box 1234
Berkeley, CA 74701-1234

Re: People’s Park, Berkeley, CA, and Make UC a Good Neighbor v. Regents of the University of California, No. S279242

Dear Mr. Smith,

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (“National Trust”) wishes to express our support for the preservation of historic People’s Park in Berkeley, California. People’s Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as nationally significant for its association with student protests and countercultural activities during the 1960s. The National Register of Historic Places is fundamentally a land-use planning tool that is intended to help prevent the loss of and harm to historic resources, and People’s Park’s inclusion on it should encourage just such a positive outcome. The National Trust is committed to advocating for significant historic places like People’s Park, and we hope that our support helps emphasize the national significance of People’s Park and the importance of exploring all possible opportunities for its preservation.

The National Trust was chartered by Congress in 1949 as a private charitable, educational, and nonprofit organization to “facilitate public participation” in historic preservation, and to further the purposes of federal historic preservation laws. See 54 U.S.C. § 312102(a). With over one million members and supporters, the National Trust works to protect significant historic places and to advocate for historic preservation as a fundamental value in programs and policies at all levels of government. In addition, the Chairman of the National Trust has been designated by Congress as a member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (“ACHP”), which is responsible for overseeing federal agency compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, id. §§ 304101(8), 304108(a).

One of the National Trust’s core areas of advocacy is the defense of local, state, and federal historic preservation laws. We understand that the People’s Park Historic Advocacy Group is currently involved in a lawsuit challenging, among other things, the inadequate analysis of alternatives under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The National Trust wishes to express our support for the full exploration of all potential alternatives that result in the preservation of People’s Park. The exploration of alternatives is a core protection provided to historic places by CEQA. For projects that are not dependent on a single location, such as the proposed construction of student housing, a robust alternatives analysis can often identify superior win-win solutions that allow both preservation and new construction. We hope that just such a solution can be identified that enables both the construction of new student housing in Berkeley and the preservation of People’s Park.

The National Trust would be happy to work with the People’s Park Historic Advocacy Group to help envision historic preservation opportunities at People’s Park and to advocate for its preservation. People’s Park is a unique historic place that is integral to the story of both Berkeley and the nation, and the National Trust supports the work that the Advocacy Group is doing to prevent its destruction. Please feel free to share this expression of our support in any way that may be helpful, and we look forward to continuing to work with your organization.

Sincerely,

Rob Nieweg
Senior Vice-President
Preservation Services & Outreach

Elizabeth S. Merritt
Deputy General Counsel

Chris Cody
Associate General Counsel

600 14th Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005
E law@savingplaces.org P 202.588.6035 F 202.588.6038 SavingPlaces.org

View the PDF version of the letter

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Alert to Defend People’s Park – December 30, 2023

The People’s Park Council sent out a text alert today, December 30, at 1:30 pm. It is a “heads up” for imminent attack on People’s Park. (Background info: Several sources have warned the call is out for a large number of police to be at the Park, 5 am, Tuesday January 2.) The People’s Park community refers people to the www.peoplespark.org web site, and also announces a December 31 Noon meeting at People’s Park for all to organize for park defense. Note: Please keep your phone ringer on especially on the night of January 1, 2024.

Text SAVETHEPARK to 41372 — and share this number! If possible, disable your phone’s “Do Not Disturb” for the first week of January to ensure you get nighttime alerts.