Letters to the Editor: Don’t blame CEQA for the fight over People’s Park in Berkeley

To the editor: People’s Park in Berkeley, with its storied past, is no typical park. It’s also not a typical CEQA case. (“Berkeley’s People’s Park is again in a fight for the ages, now over UC student housing,” Jan. 12)

The California Environmental Quality Act requires decision makers to evaluate and mitigate environmental harms when making major land-use decisions. In a state this large and diverse, with a law of such wide applicability, we’re bound to see a few outlier cases.

For decades, CEQA has been extremely effective at improving development projects and minimizing their environmental harms. CEQA is the reason why new industrial development must consider the public health harms to adjacent communities, and why new communities must incorporate solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.

Thanks to CEQA, we have preserved the Santa Monica Mountains, Mono Lake and key wildlife habitat across the state. Whatever becomes of People’s Park, let’s not use it as the reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater and eliminate the core environmental protections that have made California an enviable place to live.

Hallie Kutak, Los Angeles

The author is an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.