Housing for 3,000 students and families at the University of California Santa Cruz is on hold as the university battles lawsuits that contend the construction would be too close to an animal habitat.
Two of four lawsuits challenging the university's
Student Housing West plan have been dismissed, but two lawsuits still are pending and have delayed construction,
reportsSanta Cruz Local. The project, originally outlined in the university's 2005 Long Range Development Plan, calls for
- An upper-division undergraduate housing complex that would house about 2,700 students.
- A student family housing development that would have about 140 units.
- Additional graduate student housing would increase capacity by about 220 beds.
The lawsuits contend that constructing the housing at the chosen would cause potential harm to an animal habitat,
More than half of the university's 17,000 undergraduates live in university housing. But about 9% of its students say they lack safe, regular and adequate housing.
Opponents of the development say in the lawsuits that the project could disrupt a habitat for burrowing owls, California red-legged frogs, coho salmon and steelhead. The development also could affect local water supplies, the opponents assert.
