Column: 2012 UC Gill Tract and University Village FAQ (SUPERSEDED)

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On May 15, wrote on Albany Patch about the frustration of trying – across thousands of comments on multiple threads – “to put an issue to bed successfully.” To help address that need, below is a FAQ to enable PATCH’ers to find substantiated facts easily. Much of the cited information is on the City of Albany’s website. Feedback and suggestions to this FAQ are welcome: The goals are accuracy and objectivity. 

1)     What and where is the Gill Tract?  Land currently referred to as the Gill Tract is about 10 acres in the northeast corner of UC Berkeley property in Albany. It’s bounded by Buchanan/Marin to the north, San Pablo Avenue to the east, Jackson Street to the west, and the fence south of Village Creek, parallel to Monroe Street, to the south.  

2)     Who owns the Gill Tract? The Regents (UC Berkeley) purchased it as part of a 104 acre parcel in February 1928 from the Gill family for $450,000.

3)     Is the Gill Tract accessible to the public?  No. It is fenced and locked to secure research projects, and UC structures and property on the Tract.

4)     What about rest of the original parcel purchased in 1928?  Some of the remaining 90+ acres are UC Village housing and related service buildings for faculty and graduate students and their families. Also currently on the original parcel are City of Albany civic, police and firefighter offices, Ocean View School, Ocean View park, community gardens (UC and City of Albany) http://www.ucvillagegarden.net/index.html, Albany Unified School District Offices, and the USDA facility on Buchanan.  During WW II, the US government rented much of the parcel to construct housing for shipyard workers.

5)     Is there any requirement for how the Gill Tract may or may not be used?  Under the State Constitution, the Regents has sole authority over use of UC property when the uses are UC mission related (including housing, labs, parking lots, etc).  Original property sales documents from 1928 show no use restriction.  

6)     How is the Gill Tract used now? The Gill Tract is an open air laboratory for UC’s College of Natural Resources, with agricultural research conducted by UC academics. Research is funded by government grants. During some months “cover” crops are grown to prepare the soil for research seasons.

7)     Does the research involve genetically modified crops or organisms? No, per UC open letter May 18, 2012

8)     What’s the difference between a farm and a garden?  Scale. Gardens are typically smaller than a back yard. Farms are bigger. Both may grow edibles. 

9)     What happened with the “Gill Tract Design Team” efforts in 2008?  “The efforts of the Design Team were to investigate possible options for this area when and if the College of Natural Resources were to move to another location.” Issues pending from the last 2008 session include .  

10)  What does UC say about a farm/community garden on the Gill Tract? In a May 18, 2012, letter UC’s Dean Gilless of the College of Natural Resources for urban agriculture.

11)  Where is the site of the proposed Whole Foods and Senior Housing?  This proposed development is south of the Gill Tract.  It fronts on San Pablo Ave, bordered by Codornices Creek (Berkeley border) to the south, and Village Creek to the north, straddling Monroe St.    

12)  How is the proposed Whole Foods/Senior Housing site zoned? Most of the area is zoned SPC (San Pablo Commercial), with the western edge zoned R-2 Medium Density Housing. This area was covered with barracks type housing for decades, until about 4 years ago. 

13)  How can UC put a Whole Foods and commercial Senior Housing on its property?  UC must go through City of Albany project review processes, because the grocery store, retail, and commercial senior housing are not UC mission-related.  This public process has been underway for 4 years; the proposal has changed dramatically due to public feedback. For instance, the grocery store and Senior Housing switched places, and the Senior Housing height dropped. Council endorsed the design concept in 2012 and directed staff and the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission to work out the details. 

14)  What is UC’s plan for the Gill Tract?  The 2004 Plan is the current planning document. One change affecting the Gill Tract since 2004 is that the Children’s Center has moved off UC land to Vista School (the Children’s Center is an AUSD program housed from 1943 through 2009 in the Village). Anther change is the increased probability that UC’s agricultural research remains on the Gill Tract, per Dean Gilless in a meeting on May 12. (.)