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Fifteen South Campus neighbors have won a $67,500 judgment against Le Chateau, a UC Berkeley student co-op they blame for years of strewn trash, late night noise and a plague of vermin. 

In a ruling issued Tuesday Berkeley Small Claims Court Judge Jon Rantzman wrote, the student co-op association “has permitted the growth of a rogue mentality” at Le Chateau. 

Rantzman awarded 12 of the 22 plaintiffs in the case the maximum damage award of $5,000 for, among other things, “the loss of the right to quiet enjoyment.” Three plaintiffs received smaller awards and five plaintiffs who did not testify received nothing. 

“I’m overjoyed to have some sort of resolution reached after all these years,” said Michelle Pellegrin, who lives just north of 82-person student cooperative located in three buildings at the corner of Hillegass and Parker streets. 

“It’s great to have a verdict from the court that they need to change,” she added. 

Le Chateau is reputed to be the most raucous student co-op operated by the student-run University Students’ Cooperative Association. 

USCA General Manager George Proper said his board had not yet decided whether it would appeal the ruling to Alameda County Superior Court. Monetary damages from small claims court are typically hard to collect, but Proper said the UCSA, with an annual budget of $8 million, planned to pay the plaintiffs should the ruling stand. 

“In one format or another, it’s going to result in higher rents,” he said. Currently all student co-op residents pay $2,586 a semester for their rooms. 

The ruling again raises questions about the future of Le Chateau. Last semester, the UCSA board rejected proposals to change its demographics to better fit into the surrounding neighborhood. Proposals included graduate student housing or all female housing. 

“The board will probably reconsider those alternatives, probably with enthusiasm,” Proper said. 

Le Chateau co-manager Ian Latta said the co-op would oppose any change to its use and said that it has done much to reform itself. “There’s such a gulf between the house’s reputation and what it is really like,” he said. “We’re walking on tiptoes most of the time.” 

Le Chateau neighbors charged that from 2001 through 2004 they were subject to ever-present noise including breaking glass, amplified rock bands, loud music, power saws and wild swimming pool parties, according to court records. They also attributed a neighborhood rat problem to the co-op, saying that rats had “so many places for nesting.” 

The neighbors’ claims were backed by a 44-page correspondence from the Berkeley Police Department, outlining calls for service to Le Chateau. In 2003, the BPD received 77 calls for service to Le Chateau compared to 28 for UCSA’s Cloyne Court, seven for Lothlorien and four for The Convent, other student co-ops.  

In his report to the court, BPD officer Steve Rego recalled a visit to the house: “I saw marijuana ‘bong’ pipes in plain view on a table...The overall cleanliness of the house was deplorable...There were piles of garbage stacked all over the place. There were empty bottles and cans left littered throughout.” 

The neighbors hired Oakland-based Neighborhood Solutions to handle their case. Recently the company won a nuisance case for neighbors against a homeowner at Ninth Street and Allston Way. 

Despite the legal action, neighbors and co-op residents agreed that a 2003 agreement between Le Chateau and neighbors had improved conditions. Under the plan, Le Chateau has moved its pool table and social room to the basement and reserved its back building for quiet study. The house also doesn’t hold parties and co-op managers have given their cell phone numbers to neighbors to issue complaints. 

Latta said he receives about two complaint calls a month, all from Pellegrin. “We’ve been working really hard with neighbors to enforce our contract,” he said. “We’re being good neighbors.” 

George Lewinsky, the lead plaintiff in the case, however, said that previously improved conduct at the house ended when different student managers took over. He reiterated the neighbor’s request that the UCSA install a permanent manager and assume greater responsibility for the house. 

“Now it’s up to them to figure out how they want to manage this thing so it’s not a nuisance to neighbors,” he said. “As long as it’s quiet and kept clean, we don’t care what they do.” 

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