Officials OK CSUN Development Plan

State university officials Wednesday approved a 65-acre development plan for Cal State Northridge that excludes a controversial 15,000-seat football stadium.

The multimillion-dollar development plan for the university’s North Campus includes a biotechnical park, an entertainment complex and academic buildings.

The California State University board of trustees voted in favor of the plan unanimously at a meeting in Long Beach.

The development is part of CSUN’s master plan, which university President Blenda J. Wilson submitted to the trustees Tuesday.

The development proposal approved by the trustees does not have a longe-range plan for a football stadium. A 15,000-seat stadium proposed at Lindley Avenue and Halsted Street was removed from the master plan last week after local homeowners threatened to sue the university to block construction.

The board’s go-ahead for the biotech park, which will include 720,000 square feet in four office buildings and a conference center, was the latest step in a long-running debate over the future of the North Campus. The area was given to the university by the state in 1967 for educational purposes.

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A plan for a retail center on the land was abandoned last year after neighbors objected. Alfred Mann, the Sylmar businessman who is financing the biotech park, hopes to start construction of the $18-million first phase by mid-June.

The plans must be approved by city officials in Los Angeles.

CSUN administrators have said the park may generate as much as $800,000 annually for the school.

In addition to the North Campus development, the master plan--which encompasses the entire 353-acre campus--includes the construction of several buildings to replace those damaged in the 1994 earthquake.