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Editor's Note: A map is available upon request from Lisa Lapin at lalapin@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-9842.

A new, more compact alternative for a proposed residential neighborhood on campus land will be presented Wednesday, Oct. 16, during the regularly scheduled Davis City Council meeting. The council will convene at 6:30 p.m. in Community Chambers, 23 Russell Blvd., with proceedings televised on Davis cable channel 7.

The new alternative would encompass about 200 acres of land, compared to two earlier proposed alternatives of 380 and 260 acres, and would still be based on a transit-oriented, bicycle-friendly community.

"We think this new plan for providing housing for students, faculty, and staff presents a sound framework for partnership discussions with the city of Davis," said John Meyer, vice chancellor for resource management and planning. "The community influenced this approach through constructive criticism of our earlier plans. We think this option responds to many of those suggestions."

Last spring campus planners presented draft neighborhood plans on land west of Highway 113 and south of Russell Boulevard, encompassing approximately 380 acres of land. This plan -- no longer under consideration -- would have provided housing for about 3,900 students, and about 1,150 faculty and staff units. In combination with an additional 2,000 students to be housed within the core campus, this level of development would have accommodated approximately 90 percent of new students, 70 percent of new faculty, and 40 percent of new staff growth projected during the next decade.

A smaller-scale alternative that identified Olive Tree Drive as the neighborhood's western boundary was also developed. This plan covered about 260 acres, largely by reducing staff and faculty housing by about 500 units.

During public workshops in May, members of the community suggested a number of different approaches to accommodating the projected growth. Among other ideas, the campus evaluated orienting the neighborhood north and south along Highway 113, increasing the overall density of the neighborhood, maximizing housing within the core campus, and distributing housing among multiple sites, including other sites within the city.

Campus planners spent the summer analyzing these suggestions, and have incorporated some of them into the new approach.

"We heard loud and clear concerns from the community about the need to employ multiple strategies for student, faculty and staff housing," said Bob Segar, assistant vice chancellor for campus planning. "It also appears that the city of Davis is willing to look at more residential development, especially for students, than initially assumed in our planning process."

On Sept. 25, the Davis City Council directed its planning staff to develop criteria to enable development of about 250 residential units per year starting in 2004. City staff estimated that approximately 900 units of residential capacity remained in the city General Plan through 2010.

"To the extent that housing in the city serves campus growth needs, we can reduce the scope of the neighborhood," said Segar.

The new alternative identifies a core neighborhood composed of about 200 acres of land. Within this core, a range of 2,200 to 2,700 students could be housed, and 400 to 600 faculty and staff units could be built. The campus also plans to build housing for approximately 2,000 students east of Highway 113.

"The range of units is intentional," Segar noted. "It will allow us more flexibility in the future to respond as circumstances change."

The campus will hold a public workshop from 3 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, in Freeborn Hall to provide additional information about the Long Range Development Plan update and the new neighborhood alternative, and to solicit input from the campus and community about issues to be analyzed in the draft plan's Environmental Impact Report.

The environmental review and the proposed plan are expected to be submitted to the UC Board of Regents for approval in the fall of 2003.