Long Range Development Plan Committee

July 20, 2004

Dear Marty and Peggy:

This is a report on the first year of planning activities intended to revise the 1988 UC Santa Cruz Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP). Campus faculty, staff, students, local officials and the public have dedicated much time and effort to pursuing a process that will update the LRDP and present a plan to you for your consideration and subsequent forwarding to The Regents by early 2006. Based on the recommendations of the Strategic Futures Committee, the Long-Range Development Plan Committee has been studying the physical implications of planning for a campus to accommodate a three-quarter-average on-campus enrollment of up to 21,000 FTE students.
 

Background

In April 2003, Chancellor Greenwood charged a Planning Task Force to recommend a process for revising the 1988 LRDP. The task force met in May and June 2003 and over the course of six meetings finalized their recommendations in a report titled UCSC Framework for the Future 2005-2020. Specifically, the task force proposed a committee structure, with charges and composition; a schedule and process resulting in an updated LRDP and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by Spring 2006; and an organizational chart showing the relationship and roles of the primary committees.

The following are some of the Planning Task Force specific recommendations:

• Set the planning horizon at 2020 to coordinate with the City of Santa Cruz General Plan
• Appoint and charge two committees: the Strategic Futures Committee (SFC) to recommend an enrollment and program directions; and the LRDP Committee to lead the LRDP-related planning. A Process Management Team composed of members from each of these committees would coordinate the work of the committees and facilitate the outreach process
• Establish an Executive Committee, chaired by the Chancellor, to set policy and make decisions regarding development of the 2005-2020 LRDP
   

Schedule and Process

In its deliberations last spring, the Planning Task Force outlined a phased schedule of planning activities and critical milestones, which would result in a revised LRDP and EIR in early 2006.

The planning process includes five phases of work over a two and a half-year period. To initiate the process, Chancellor Greenwood charged the committees as recommended and we conducted a national search for the planning consultant. In September 2003, we selected Cooper Robertson & Partners from New York. Alex Cooper and his team have been leading the planning effort.

Since last fall, Alex Cooper and his team have met with the full LRDP Committee nine times, as well as sub-committee Work Groups established to focus on key topic areas. The Cooper Robertson team has worked closely with campus staff, particularly in Physical Planning and Construction and Planning and Budget. In addition to internal meetings, the committee also sponsored four public meetings at the UCSC Inn & Conference Center to receive public input. During Phase Three, the LRDP Committee met jointly with the SFC to better coordinate the physical and academic planning efforts.

Phase One: Future Scenarios/Data Collection	July 03 - November 03
Appoint Strategic Futures and LRDP Committees Select a team of planning consultants Create Work Groups to support detailed work of LRDP Committee Collect and analyze baseline data by consultant and work groups Select enrollment scenarios for further study (SFC) Provide conceptual program direction (SFC) Public meeting
Phase Two: Select Preferred Scenario	November 03 - March 04
Pursue further technical analysis Develop potential physical planning options Recommend preferred enrollment scenario (21,000 students) (SFC) Public meeting
Phase Three: Develop LRDP	March 04 - June 04
Complete technical analysis Develop options for physical development Select planning direction for 2005-2020 LRDP Finalize Strategic Futures Report (SFC) Public meeting
Phase Four: Final Draft LRDP	June 04 - December 04
Complete refinements of physical development options Submit Administrative Draft LRDP for internal review Submit Interim Draft for Committee review Present LRDP Summary for campus and public input Final Draft LRDP for CEQA purposes Public meeting
Phase Five: CEQA Process	January 05 - Early 06
2005-2020 LRDP Environmental Impact Report Final 2005-2020 LRDP and Final LRDP EIR to Regents

Five Work Groups were established and met regularly to discuss and analyze these topics: Land Use and Environment, Housing and Student Life, Transportation and Circulation, Infrastructure and Technology, and Campus and Community. Each Work Group wrote a white paper describing the existing conditions as they relate to the current LRDP and possible approaches for further investigation in developing the 2005-2020 LRDP. A copy of each white paper is attached for your reference. Of particular note is the Campus and Community white paper, the result of very direct communication between the campus, local government representatives and members of the community.

As of June 2004, the LRDP Committee is on schedule and has completed Phase Three.
 

Preliminary UC Santa Cruz 2005-2020 Long-Range Development Plan

At the most recent joint committee meeting in June, LRDP Committee and Strategic Futures Committee, a preferred land use plan was selected to accommodate an enrollment of up to 21,000 students on campus, three-quarter average through 2020. The land use map is attached and is forwarded as a recommendation for further consideration and development during the final phases of the process.

As currently proposed, the 2005-2020 LRDP land use map:

• Maintains the existing physical relationship of the academic core surrounded by colleges and housing, recreation and other supporting programs
• Improves east-west campus circulation along the south edge of the academic core by extending Meyer Drive from Heller to Coolidge Drive
• Improves overall campus circulation by developing a north road, to the north of new academic core development, that would access sites for housing, recreation and academic facilities as well as a new entrance on Empire Grade
• Allows development of 70% of the program elements in the developed portion of the campus with 30% allocated to areas to the north
• Identifies locations for two new undergraduate colleges and a graduate housing complex
• Has land identified to accommodate a program of housing for 50% undergraduates, 25% graduates, 25% faculty, and 3% staff with land identified for expansion of the on-campus housing program
   

Next Steps

In the course of the year's work, several key issues have surfaced:

On-Campus

• The ultimate success of the 2005-2020 LRDP rests on a strategy for development of projects that do not typically have a clearly defined mechanism of funding such as the Meyer Drive bridges, Cave Gulch bridge and campus infrastructure to the north.
• The preferred option proposes development on and around land designated in the 1988 LRDP as Environmental Reserve. This poses a unique challenge as to how to best integrate development with outdoor research and teaching "laboratories".
• Selection of an appropriate location for employee housing and where to accommodate the proposed city affordable housing on campus.
• A recently completed storm water study identifies capacity concerns with our natural storm conveyance system which may influence development options in the core.

Off-Campus

• Traffic impacts, particularly for the campus's immediate neighbors, remain a source of great concern that can only be resolved through close cooperation with the neighbors, city and county.
• Housing of students and the potential for campus growth to take up any increased off-campus capacity is an issue that becomes increasingly difficult to mitigate as the cost of developing housing rises and demand beyond 50% of undergraduates diminishes.
• Water supply to the university is also a concern for the city, but may be manageable with on-going aggressive conservation measures.

Over the course of this first year, interest and excitement have been building as we look at new approaches to development, campus circulation and natural resource protection. It has been a large-scale process that has included extra efforts of faculty, students, staff, representatives of local government and the community. Cooper Robertson and their planning team have been very helpful to us, even as they realize the complexity of our natural environment and the unique challenges and opportunities of this site for a UC campus. Off-campus, despite the very real challenges we face as a "community" within a larger community, we have forged new relationships and improved old ones as we seek solutions to issues related to traffic, parking, housing, etc. In summary, the process of revising the existing LRDP is off to a very good start and we look forward to finalizing a draft 2005-2020 LRDP for your consideration this year with a complete set of documents complete in early 2006.
 

Sincerely,

Thomas Vani

Web resources:

• Documents referenced in this letter:
  • Printable (PDF) version of this LRDP Year One Report (July 2004)
  • Potential Preferred Plan (June 2004)
  • Campus Community Work Group White Paper (April 2004)
  • Land Use and Environment Draft White Paper (December 2003)
  • Housing an Student Life Draft White Paper (December 2003)
  • Transportation and Circulation Draft White Paper (December 2003)
  • Infrastructure and Technology Draft White Paper (December 2003)
  • Student Involvement Draft White Paper (January 2004)
     
• Contact the LRDP Committee: lrdp-admin@ucsc.edu
• LRDP Committee website: http://planning.ucsc.edu/lrdp/
• Strategic Futures Committee website: http://planning.ucsc.edu/sfc/

Maintained by Dean Fitch