CSUN Master Plan Gets Preliminary OK

A 65-acre development proposed for Cal State Northridge’s North Campus won preliminary approval from state officials Tuesday as part of the college’s revised master plan.

The revised plan, which features a biotechnical park, an entertainment complex and academic buildings, does not include a 15,000-seat stadium opposed by some neighbors. CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson removed plans for the stadium late last week.

A final vote on the college’s master plan is expected today by the California State University’s board of trustees.

Plans for the biotech offices and conference center still must be approved by city officials in Los Angeles. Construction of the first phase of the park--estimated at $18 million--could begin by mid-June.

When completed, the biotechnical park--which is being financed by Sylmar businessman Alfred Mann--will include 720,000 square feet of space and could generate as much as $800,000 a year for the school, university officials said.

“I’m anxious to get started,” Mann said.

Last week, a group of homeowners had threatened to sue CSUN if the school did not drop the proposed 15,000-seat football stadium from the master plan. A lawsuit by local homeowners could have held up construction of the biotechnical park.

The existing 6,000-seat North Campus stadium is to be torn down within the next several years to make room for the offices. Last Thursday, Wilson pulled the stadium from the master plan, leaving the university, at least temporarily, with no long-range plans for a football stadium.

Mann had made it clear to CSUN administrators that delays in his project would cause him to look elsewhere for a site.

At Tuesday’s meeting at the chancellor’s office in Long Beach, the stadium remained an issue, despite being pulled from the agenda.

Dale Dye, president of a Northridge homeowners’ association, questioned why the university’s environmental impact report did not contain a study of traffic at Halsted Street and Lindley Avenue. He also reiterated objections to the stadium, which was to be located at that intersection.

But other speakers were disappointed that the stadium was removed from the plan.

Keith Richman, chairman of a CSUN task force on intercollegiate athletics, said he believes more local residents support the stadium than object to it.

“The community very much wants continued improvement in the athletic facilities at CSUN,” Richman said.