Clark Kerr Campus Sports Facility Improvements Project
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ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 1 of 6 UC Berkeley Capital Strategies A&E Building Berkeley, CA 94720 capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu September 20, 2018 Landmarks Preservation Commission c/o Fatema Crane, Secretary City of Berkeley, Land Use Planning Division 2120 Milvia Street Berkeley, California 94704 Subject: Clark Kerr Campus Beach Volleyball Facility Project Overview Intercollegiate Athletics (“IA”) at the University of California, Berkeley (“UC Berkeley”) needs to upgrade the facilities that it provides to its women’s Beach Volleyball program. The proposed Clark Kerr Campus Beach Volleyball Facility would create a new practice and competition facility for IA, as well as provide new, modern recreation facilities for the community. The project addresses provisions of Title IX compliance and provides equitable facilities for its women and men student athletes. The project would meet the following objectives: • Preserve the IA women’s beach volleyball program fully; effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of its student athletes. • Provide student-athletes with access to facilities they need for training and competition. • Sustain a commitment to gender equity and the provisions of Title IX. • Evaluate a full range of alternative solutions in capital investment decisions and implement the best alternative that addresses critical facility deficiencies. • Preserve and provide access to modern recreation facilities for the campus community. Project Location and Description The UC Berkeley campus proposes the conversion of the Clark Kerr Campus (“CKC”) softball field from a recreational softball field into a recreational beach volleyball facility (“proposed project” or “project”). The CKC softball field site, approximately 50,000 square feet, is located at the northern edge of CKC on the southwest corner of the Dwight Way and Sports Lane intersection. The site is surrounded by an existing UC Berkeley residential hall (CKC Building 4) to the east, UC Berkeley maintenance and archives (CKC Buildings 23 and 24) to the south, the Golden Bear Recreation Center (CKC Building 25) to the southeast, UC Berkeley’s former and vacant Smyth Fernwald residential site to the north and east, and private residential buildings to the northwest (See Attachment 1). UC Berkeley’s IA beach volleyball team currently uses two existing sand volleyball courts located behind CKC Building 22. The proposed project would include converting the existing grass and dirt playing surface into four sand volleyball courts, construction of a new support building for restrooms and locker rooms, storage space, a lawn area for spectator seating, replacement of existing field lights with new lights, and site fencing. The total amount of new built space would be approximately 3,000 square feet (sf). The proposed project would fit fully within the existing softball field, though some of the existing trees that surround the site may be trimmed or removed for safety; the campus’s landscape architect, in consultation with an arborist, have reviewed site trees and will implement the campus’s Specimen Tree Policy as appropriate. The CKC is a designated City of Berkeley Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places as a District with 20 contributing structures. The new Beach Volleyball facility would not alter contributing structures or landscape features. Use of the site (“the proposed site program”) would be similar to the uses that occur at the existing CKC sand volleyball courts and the existing CKC softball field. The new facility would be used for IA Beach volleyball practice and match play, UC Recreational Sports programming, archery clubs, occasional youth programs, and the community recreation. The IA Beach ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 2 of 6 Volleyball program’s competitive season occurs January through May and would host approximately six or seven, non- ticketed, competitive matches, the same as they do at the existing courts. These matches typically occur on Friday and Saturday afternoons. There may be three or four post-season or other special matches (e.g., invitational, multi-team regional competitions) throughout the year that are hosted by the team and occur over multiple days. During the summer (June to August), the site would be used for youth campus operated by Rec Sports and/or IA. Except for the special matches, all of these proposed programs currently occur at other CKC sites today. Typical attendance at Beach Volleyball matches is expected to be about 50 people, similar to the attendance at the existing courts. The new facility could accommodate up to 400 people for special matches; however, no fixed seats are proposed and peak attendance is expected to be infrequent, such as during the three to four special invitational or post-season matches. All spectators would be expected to use the new green lawn, or grass berm, for viewing; no fixed seating is proposed. The existing beach volleyball courts would remain open for community use after construction of the new facility. Construction is expected to take up to 12 months and the campus currently anticipates beginning in Spring 2019 after project approval. Community Discussion Information about the project has been shared with the community via the Capital Strategies website, as well as through press releases from the campus and Intercollegiate Athletics. This information can be found at the following web link: https://capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu/beach-volleyball-facility The campus hosted an open house on August 13, 2018 and invited the neighbors that surround the Clark Kerr Campus. This open house was to solicit feedback from the nearby community on the project. A summary of written comments received at this open house, as well as the campus’s preliminary responses, have been posted online at the project website. The campus has also responded separately to other formal letters sent to Campus Counsel. Environmental Review The campus anticipates adopting findings declaring that the proposed project would be categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Quality Act (CEQA, Public Resources Code 21000) pursuant to Section 15303 of the CEQA guidelines (“New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures”).The project meets all the requirements for an exemption. Furthermore, the project complies with applicable best practices and mitigation measures of the UC Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan EIR. Approval Process The campus intends to consider the project for final approval (Budget, Design, CEQA) no sooner than November 2018. The project would be considered and approved by Chancellor Christ. Other Issue As part of its on-going seismic capital program, the University has identified at least two buildings on the Clark Kerr Campus that pose serious seismic risk and are slated for demolition – Buildings 21 and 22. Both buildings are vacant, serve as archives and storage, and are identified as contributing structures to the Clark Kerr Campus National Register listing. The 2020 LRDP EIR discussed potential significant and unavoidable impacts to cultural resources; the potential demolition would be consistent with 2020 LRDP EIR Impact CUL-3, and the campus would implement 2020 LRDP EIR Mitigation Measure CUL-3. ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 3 of 6 The CKC Covenants provide for replacement of buildings removed due to hazards or infeasibility of rehabilitation, and the proposed 3,000 sf beach volleyball building would replace some of the demolished space. If you have any questions about the project, please contact me at (510) 642-1173 or [email protected]. Sincerely, Todd T. Henry Senior Planner, Physical & Environmental Planning University of California, Berkeley Exhibits: Location Map: Current and New Beach Volleyball Facilities Project Site Plan Project Rendering (Conceptual) CC: Director Bhargava, Counsel Robinson, Counsel Connor, Senior Associate Athletic Director Hummel, Director Gibson ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 4 of 6 Location Map: Current and New Beach Volleyball Facilities ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 5 of 6 Project Site Plan ITEM 10.B LPC 10-04-18 Page 6 of 6 Project Rendering (Conceptual) .