CSUN Development Not Home Free : $150-Million Project Must Gain Community Acceptance, Pass Further Review

A $150-million plan to develop the little-used north campus of California State University, Northridge got the go-ahead from state university trustees last week, but the plan still faces more detailed review and a possible fight from nearby residents.

“The real hurdle will be acceptance of the plan by the community,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, whose district includes the campus.

The university, in conjunction with a private developer, plans to build over the next 16 years several education-related and commercial facilities, including an athletic stadium, hotel, restaurants and student dormitories. The project will rise on the 100-acre site bounded by Devonshire and Plummer streets and Zelzah and Lindley avenues.

First announced in April, 1983, the project is one of the first in California to combine a private development with a university capital-improvement plan.

‘Avant-Garde Proposal’

“It’s a very avant-garde proposal,” CSU Assistant Vice Chancellor Sheila M. Chaffin said. “It provides a lot of physical improvement without the taxpayer having to foot the bill.”

Bernson predicted that residents would have no problem with certain parts of the plan, such as the student housing, but would object to other projects they fear would create traffic congestion in nearby neighborhoods.

“The biggest problem will probably wind up being the stadium,” Bernson said.

Proposal Was Scaled Back

But, he said, the university “seems anxious and willing” to respond to residents’ concerns.

Community members and university officials have met several times since the project was proposed.

Chaffin said the university scaled back some of its plans in order to satisfy residents.

Some buildings originally planned with seven or eight stories now have no more than four stories, she said. Also, the stadium site was moved closer to existing parking lots to minimize parking problems.

Elliot Mininberg, CSUN’s vice president for administration and university advancement, said the recreation center now planned was part of a compromise between the community and the university.

“We will continue to work with the residents and try to accommodate them whenever it’s possible in relation to the best interests of the university,” said Charles A. Manley, director of facilities planning for CSUN.

Unlike a development on private land, which would have to be approved by the city Planning Commission and the City Council, the city has no control over the use of the state-owned land, Bernson said.

City Could Sue to Stop

But Bernson said the city or residents could file suit to stop the development of parts of the project if it believed it could prove they did not fill any educational need.

However, university officials asserted that even those portions of the project that are not directly linked to class work are related to education. The conference center, hotel and restaurants, for example, will be used by conferees attending education meetings, Manley said.

There has been little community opposition to the project. Chaffin said no residents protested at the CSU trustees’ meeting in Long Beach Wednesday, when the panel approved the project and the environmental impact reports.

However, Bernson said he did not think many people in the area were aware of the project. “There will be more interest and more concern” now that the project is closer to being started, he said.

Input From Residents

University officials say residents will have opportunities for input on the project. Chaffin said each development in the project will undergo an environmental impact study presented along with detailed drawings to the trustees, who will conduct public hearings.

Other negotiation and review steps must be undertaken as well, Chaffin said. Before ground breaking can begin, the school must hammer out a lease agreement with a private developer, which then must be approved by the state Department of General Services. A bond issue must be approved by the university trustees.

Even so, said Mininberg, construction of student dormitories could start as early as this fall, with the first 200 units ready for occupancy a year later.

The project is to be built in six phases. Construction has been planned so income from finished projects can be used to begin new ones, Chaffin said.

75-Year Lease

The school plans to grant a lease of up to 75 years to the developer, North Campus Associates.

Under the plan, the developer will keep part of the income from the commercial developments and use the rest to pay for construction of school projects. Other financing would include a bond issue authorized by the trustees and money from the land lease, Chaffin said.

After the leases expire, the buildings will revert to the school system. Chaffin said the office buildings might then be used as classrooms and the hotel for student housing.

In a “precise development plan” submitted to the trustees, the university has described the projects and set a tentative construction schedule.

Among the projects:

A 17,500-seat athletic stadium to be constructed in two stages of 10,000 seats and 7,500 seats, respectively. Construction of the first stage begins in July, 1992, and will be completed by late 1993. The second stage is scheduled for completion in the middle of 1996.

The stadium, which may be used for commencements, concerts and public addresses, will have a playing field for football and soccer.

Six hundred units of housing for students, faculty and employees. Housing will be built in three stages of 200 units each through September, 1989, with the first units for students ready for occupancy by 1987. The apartments, as well as nearby parking, will be in the area immediately south of Lassen Street, bounded on the east by Zelzah Avenue and on the west by Lindley Avenue.

A pedestrian bridge over Lassen Street, which bisects the campus. The bridge will be ready for use by September, 1987.

Three acres of botanical gardens with a variety of plants and trees. Development begins in mid-1987 and ends by July, 1988.

An eight-acre botanical belt snaking through the developments with a pedestrian walkway and jogging path with benches and lighting. Development of the belt begins in the second half of 1987 and will be complete by June, 1988.

A 20,000-square-foot conference center for seminars, workshops, conferences and conventions. Construction begins in July, 1987, with completion expected in December, 1989.

A 10,000-square-foot aerospace/advanced technology center for research and experimentation by the university in cooperation with private industry. It will be ready for use by December, 1989.

A recreation center. Available for use by March, 1996, it will house an open-air, Olympic-size swimming pool and deck, as well as locker and recreational rooms, basketball and volleyball courts and athletic fields.

An art gallery with 10,000 square feet of space. It will be built in 1993 and 1994 at the south end of campus along Nordhoff Street.

A 2,050-seat auditorium which will include a full-size stage and proscenium. It is expected to be completed in 2001.

A 500-seat theater and recital hall for smaller productions, to be completed by July, 1996. As with the auditorium, funds are available only to build the facility, not furnish it. The university says it may seek donations to complete it or alter its design to make it cheaper.

The commercial projects include:

A 200-room University Inn on the southwest corner of Devonshire and Zelzah, designed around a courtyard. It will be built in two stages, with 125 rooms ready for occupancy by June, 1989. Construction of the remaining rooms may begin as early as July, 1991.

Two 7,500-square-foot restaurants on Devonshire, with construction of one to begin in July, 1988, and be completed in June, 1989. The second is expected to be ready a year later.

Six low-rise office buildings to be constructed through 1995. The first stage, with one or two three-story office buildings, will be constructed at the southeast corner of Devonshire and Lindley. The buildings have office area of 120,000 square feet and will be available for occupancy in the second half of 1990.

The rest of the buildings, consisting of four three-to-four story structures with 320,000 feet of available space, will be constructed between the last half of 1990 and the first half of 1995.

One or two commercial research and development buildings available for occupancy in the second half of 1991, with 100,000 square feet of space.

A seven-acre media/entertainment center with three buildings constructed over two years beginning in July, 1993.

The three buildings will house offices, laboratories and production facilities. University officials hope that these commercial centers will provide employment and training to CSUN students.

Parking lots with a total of 5,200 spaces are included in the overall project.