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Berkeley Continues Suit Against UC Facility Plans

Judith Scherr
Tuesday September 04, 2007

The city will pursue its lawsuit against the University of California.  

The 7-1-1 vote came in a closed-door session Tuesday night with Councilmember Gordon Wozniak voting in opposition; Councilmember Kriss Worthington abstained.  

The decision came after a heavy day of lobbying, with the newly formed organization Stand up For Berkeley holding a 1:30 p.m. press conference-rally with about 60 people—including former mayor Shirley Dean and singer-activist Country Joe McDonald—at City Hall in favor of continuing to fight university plans to build an athletic training facility adjacent to its football stadium. The active Hayward fault passes beneath Memorial Stadium.  

A two-hour public comment period before the closed-door vote drew an overflow crowd to the Council Chambers, with some 65 people speaking, more than 70 percent in favor of continuing the lawsuit.  

An Alameda County Superior Court judge will hear the lawsuit Sept. 19, with the Panoramic Hill neighborhood and the Save the Oaks Foundation arguing with the city that the university's environmental study of the project was inadequate.