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Numbers are off in UC Berkeley battle article
Editor:
Pam Reynolds’ excellent front-page article in the Friday, October 5 Planet, “Town prepares to battle university over growth plans,” errs in two important details about the construction planned for UC Berkeley's Northeast Quadrant (NEQSS).
Her claim that “the construction, planned for 2002 to 2005, would add 244,000 square feet and 400 new employees to the area” significantly understates the numbers proposed.
In fact, the NEQSS Draft EIR (pages 2-25, 2-28 & 3.4-19), gives considerably higher numbers: approximately 360,000 square feet (i.e., 8-9 acres) and 544 new employees (by headcount).
Moreover, the NEQSS projects are expected to draw some 895 existing employees from elsewhere on the UC Berkeley campus. What the Draft EIR doesn’t discuss is the “backfill” of additional employees who will eventually occupy those 895 newly empty spaces.
Daniella Thompson
Berkeley
