UPDATE #3 ON LAND USE AND PLANNING
FROM
THE POLICY COUNCIL OF THE CLAREMONT COLLEGES1

Masterplan Model
Masterplan Detail

On March 5, 1997, The Policy Council of The Claremont Colleges met to address the issue of where to site potential new ventures in Claremont over the course of the next 15-20 years. Clearly, the most immediate issues facing the Council were the size and location of the property to be donated to the new graduate institute of applied life sciences which had been conditionally approved for admission to the consortium by the Board of Fellows of Claremont University Center at its meeting on January 17, 1997.

As part of its decision-making process, the Policy Council reviewed the analyses conducted by the land planning consultant (Gensler and Associates), the results of a study conducted by our field station consultant (Dr. Philippe Cohen of Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Field Station), the comments of the Steering Committee of the Bernard Field Station regarding Dr. Cohen’s report, the recommendations of the Academic Deans’ Committee regarding the Bernard Field Station, a report on likely habitat mitigation costs for any development on the field station, and estimates of the site preparation costs associated with development in the quarry. The Policy Council was also informed of the positions taken by various campus and intercollegiate groups regarding development on the field station.

After considering all available information, the Policy Council voted 10-1 (with 1 absent) to recommend to the Board of Fellows of Claremont University Center that the New Venture be provided approximately 11 acres of land on the western end of the Bernard Field Station (in the area bounded by Foothill Boulevard on the South and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden on the north) for its campus. The initial construction increment will be approximately 4.5 acres located in the very southwestern most corner of the field station. The remaining acreage is provided to handle anticipated growth over the next 15-20 years.

The Policy Council acknowledges that this decision was not an easy one. It involved a variety of complex elements including environmental issues, academic issues, legal issues, donor issues, community issues, and financial issues. Moreover, none of the three available parcels of CUC-owned land is without development challenges of one sort or another. Reasonable people may well differ with regard to what is the best course of action, but the Policy Council believes this option maximizes the potential for cooperative action between the New Venture, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, and the Bernard Field Station and enhances the potential for an educational synergy to emerge from having these institutions working within close proximity on different, but related, environmental issues. The Council also believes that this option preserves, for at least the immediate future, the academic viability of the field station and its value to The Colleges.

With regard to this latter point, the Policy Council strongly endorses the recommendations provided by Dr. Cohen in his report and suggests that interested member colleges take positive collective action to improve the resources and emphasis being provided to the field station.

In other, less immediate, matters, the Policy Council recommends that CUC seek entitlement to develop:

1. approximately 100 units of graduate/married student housing in a village environment on the land located at the base of the Indian Hill Plateau to the southeast of the Claremont Golf Course;
2. a future educational institution, to include a potential additional component of student housing on the area currently occupied by the golf course,
3. future education and education-related institutions and/or facilities on the northern and northwestern perimeter of the quarry;
4. a future undergraduate college in the center/eastern portion of the quarry.

Aside from the 11 acres mentioned above, no additional development is contemplated on the field station during this planning period. The Council presumes that the issue of future development on the field station will be reviewed from time to time.

In looking at longer-term development options, The Council also agreed that an action plan is needed for the quarry to ensure that it will be available for development at some point in the future. Included in this plan should be fill plans, excavation and recompaction of soil, slope stabilization, and other components of landscape and site preparation.

FUTURE ACTIONS

The recommendations of the Policy Council will be presented to the CUC Board of Fellows for approval at its meeting on March 21, 1997. If the Board of Fellows accepts the recommendations, the planning process will enter a more detailed Specific Planning Subphase.

Specific Plan Subphase. This subphase of the land planning process will feature the development of a "specific plan" to be presented to the City of Claremont for approval. This plan will provide the basic parameters within which the various parcels of land can be developed. It will also include the appropriate mitigation measures for any anticipated environmental impacts. Mitigation measures might include the acquisition and preservation of habitat similar to that impacted by any development or revegetation/enhancement of land already owned. To the extent possible, the Policy Council recommends that any required mitigation money be directed toward the improvement of the field station to help maintain, and perhaps even enhance, its academic value to The Colleges.

Entitlement Phase. This final element in the overall planning process begins with the submission of the specific plan to the City of Claremont. As part of its review, the City will likely require a formal Environmental Impact Review which will be conducted under City auspices separate and distinct from The Colleges land planning effort. The timing and length of this phase are difficult to predict since the process is not under the control of The Colleges.

The Policy Council would like to assure all those that took the time to express their views, that they were heard and their views were carefully considered in arriving at these decisions. In the final analysis, we believe we have reached the decision which provides the best overall course of action for the consortium as a whole.

Approved by:

1The Policy Council of The Claremont Colleges consists of the presidents and board of trustee chairs of each of the member institutions.