Public Gets a Look at New Plan for CSUN

Cal State Northridge administrators presented their latest proposal to develop the school’s North Campus on Wednesday night at a public meeting attended by only about 50 people, most of whom appeared to accept the new plan.

The plan must be approved by the Cal State system’s Board of Trustees before it can be implemented.

In January, CSUN administrators endorsed a tentative agreement to transform almost half the university’s 65-acre North Campus into a biotechnical office park, saying the new complex could eventually generate up to $800,000 annually for the school.

That kick-started the development of the North Campus, which stalled last year after CSUN administrators, faced with opposition from neighbors and other groups, withdrew plans for a retail center on the site.

“Most of the [new] plan I am in favor of,” said Roger Waldbaum, a neighbor and vocal opponent of the university’s now-scrapped plan for a retail center, at the meeting at the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“If executed with thought and care, it can be a big benefit to the community.”

Under terms to be finalized in coming months, Sylmar businessman Alfred Mann will construct four office buildings and a conference center on 28 acres of the North Campus.

The negotiations are now “in the 11th hour,” said Art Elbert, CSUN vice president for administration and finance.

The university’s football stadium and North Campus library annex would have to be relocated to make room for the new buildings under the plan. The stadium probably would be relocated onto the main campus, administrators said Wednesday. In exchange, Mann’s company, MiniMed Inc., would provide internships and work study programs for students as well as job opportunities for graduates.

The biotech park is part of a broader plan for the North Campus. CSUN administrators also hope to attract film production companies and other entertainment industry businesses.

Some business and community groups that opposed an earlier plan for a North Campus retail center have expressed support for the biotech park because it would complement the academic mission of the university and would not generate the same amount of traffic as a shopping center.

Mann has said he plans to begin construction in May and relocate MiniMed--best known for a subcutaneous glucose sensor that helps diabetes patients regulate their blood-sugar levels--as early as the spring of next year. He said he also hopes to move other companies he owns to the site, and that the various enterprises could employ more than 1,000 people when the biotech park is completed in about five years.

CSUN spokesman John Chandler said Wednesday’s meeting, at which the university solicited public input on its draft environmental impact report, was part of a standardized process required under state law to revise the school’s master plan.

The report covers such issues as potential impacts on land use, aesthetics, transportation, traffic circulation, geology and air quality on both the main and north CSUN campuses. The school is still accepting written comments.

Chandler said public response to the proposed biotech park has been largely positive, a dramatic shift from the overwhelmingly negative reaction the school received over the proposed retail center.

“The retail plan, needless to say, drew a lot of concern from the community,” Chandler said. “Conversely, the notion of building the high-tech center has been out there for a couple of months and the feedback we’ve gotten has been really positive.”

Waldbaum said his primary remaining objection is that the football stadium might still be rebuilt on the North Campus, saying he and his neighbors would sue to prevent that from happening. He and others said they are still concerned about traffic levels.