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Opponents of the move of Berkeley’s Adult School to the vacant Franklin School site will file a legal challenge to the Berkeley Unified School District today, said Tim Arai, lead plaintiff for the group. 

“We are challenging the district’s traffic plan,” Arai said, “and we are filing suit under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA]. It is our contention that the environmental review and the traffic impact analysis the district filed are faulty.”  

Arai said the plaintiffs, neighbors of Franklin School, are represented by attorney Rose Zoia of Santa Rosa, who specializes in environmental law. 

“We have to file suit [today] because we can only bring action within 30 days of presenting our objections to the plan,” Arai said. 

“We met with city traffic manager David Hillier [Thursday] to discuss major traffic issues, and the city seems to agree with us that the district” hasn’t taken adequate measures to mitigate traffic dangers to the neighborhood. 

Arai and his fellow neighbors want parking lot access on San Pablo Avenue, which CalTrans has opposed because the avenue is a heavily traveled state highway. 

Without the access to San Pablo, the main access to the school is via an entrance across from Kains Avenue and an exit onto Francisco Street. 

Arai met with fellow opponents Thursday night at Cedar Rose Park to discuss the litigation. 

—Richard Brenneman