Neighbors Not Appeased by Smaller CSUN Project

If Cal State Northridge officials held any illusions that reducing the size of a shopping center planned for the north end of the campus would appease angry neighbors, those hopes were erased before a public hearing on the new proposal even got underway Monday.

“There are going to be garbage trucks driving by my house at 5 a.m.,” one woman grumbled as a crowd gathered around large artist’s renderings of the proposed University MarketCenter, a third smaller than originally planned.

“Skateboarders,” another woman predicted. “Graffiti.”

“They’re trying to trick us,” one man declared angrily.

Said builder John D. Hopkins a short while later, after being heckled by the crowd: “This is a tough audience.”

Indeed, CSUN officials provided coffee, an air-conditioned meeting space and a proposal that cut the retail project by 70,000 square feet, to a total of 150,000. They told the audience of 60 that in doing so, they would earn about $400,000 a year for the university, instead of the nearly $1 million the larger version would have provided.

But almost without exception, those in attendance--mostly neighbors and people who own businesses near the university--made one thing clear: They still aren’t happy.

Not even close.

“I’m glad to see you’re coming to your senses and starting to reduce the retail space somewhat,” Mark Franklin said into the microphone. “Maybe by next year you’ll get rid of all of it.”

The audience cheered.

With tax dollars covering less and less of the cost of public education, California’s state universities have been ordered to search for ways to make money on their own, including partnering with private enterprises or beefing up endowments and investing them wisely.

Two years ago, CSUN decided to build a shopping center on a 18-acre swath of land on Devonshire Street between Zelzah and Lindley avenues. The center would provide the university with income from the leaseholders.

While many state higher-education officials have praised the idea, many neighbors have complained loudly that they moved next to a university--not a shopping mall--for a reason.

The Cal State Board of Trustees is slated to evaluate the scaled-down proposal at a meeting Sept. 17.