By Tim Redmond : 48jills – excerpt

The battle over People’s Park has been raging since I was in sixth grade, and we could spend a huge amount of time talking about the role of the three-acre lot in the history of Berkeley. It’s been a point of contention representing so much and so many issues, and it’s back in the news now that UC Berkeley once again is trying to build a dorm on the site as part of a much larger campus expansion plan.

And this week, the Court of Appeal for the First Circuit of California issued a ruling on what started out as a technical legal issue around the project but has now, potentially, changed the way environmental law applies to cities in Northern California.

Specifically, the tentative court ruling holds that gentrification and displacement are issues that have to be analyzed under the California Environmental Quality Act.

That would, among other things, justify the Board of Supes decision on 469 Stevenson Street and force the city and developers to do an entirely new type of analysis before they put luxury housing projects in vulnerable communities.

This isn’t final: The opinion is still in draft form, and won’t be finalized until after the court hears oral arguments Jan. 12. Even if the court sticks to its tentative ruling, the Supreme Court could take up the case.

But if it holds, development-friendly folks are already freaking out. From today’s Business Times… (more)

Alameda Court cases are not always predictable and this case proves that point. Will this become a precedent setting case or only a blip on the radar? Stay tuned.