Ruling on sports center may be delayed

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 28, 2008 | by Kristin Bender

A judge wants the University of California, Berkeley, to present expert testimony as to why the planned $125 million sport training center should be considered a separate structure from seismically unsound Memorial Stadium, which straddles the Hayward fault.

The order from Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller, handed down Wednesday, could delay until early June her final ruling on three consolidated lawsuits against UC Berkeley.

But a ruling could come sooner.

Expert testimony from both sides will be presented in an Alameda County Superior Court on March 7.

The sports training center for UC Berkeley's football team and 12 other sports teams has been held up for more than a year by an court injunction.

Under that order, UC Berkeley is not allowed to make any changes to the construction site, including razing a grove of trees where protesters have been living since December 2006.

A trial of the three lawsuits filed by the city of Berkeley, the Panoramic Hill Association and the California Oak Foundation was held before Miller in October, and a decision was expected this month.

The lawsuits stemmed from concerns about earthquake safety, neighborhood traffic impacts and environmental issues.

But in December, Miller came out with some preliminary findings. She issued an order rejecting UC Berkeley's claim that the Alquist- Priolo earthquake zoning act does not apply to its plan to build the student athlete center near the stadium.

For safety reasons, the act prohibits "alterations or additions" to existing structures to be built on earthquake faults where the cost of the alteration or addition exceeds

50 percent of the value of the existing structure.

That order says the university "never considered" whether the sports training center was an alteration or an addition to the stadium for purposes of compliance with the act, or whether the cost to construct the sports center might violate the act because it is more than 50 percent of the value of the stadium.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university welcomes the opportunity to provide the court with this expert testimony as to why the sports center is completely separate.

"From the very beginning, the campus knew it needed to build a separate structure," Mogulof said. "That was the task assigned to our architect, and that is exactly what they delivered. We are confident that engineering experts will confirm that the student athlete high-performance center is in no way, shape or form an addition or alteration to California Memorial Stadium."

The plaintiffs had tried to stop expert testimony from being presented, but Miller denied that motion Wednesday.

Stephen Volker, an attorney for the California Oak Foundation, said the plaintiffs too will present expert testimony showing that the sports training center is not a separate structure.

"We are confident that further evidence will show that the student athlete high-performance center is both an alteration of and an addition to the California Memorial Stadium and therefore is subject to the Alquist-Priolo earthquake zoning act," Volker said.

Contact Kristin Bender at kbender@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510- 208-6453.