Take a look, and give us your feedback.

That was the message behind UC Davis' community preview Monday of its Long Range Development Plan and draft Environmental Impact Report. The draft documents reflect how the campus will respond to growth through 2015-16 -- mainly by building new classrooms, lecture halls, research laboratories, infrastructure, offices and housing space.

Attendees at the workshop in Freeborn Hall filled out comment cards and browsed display stations highlighting key projects, such as the neighborhood master plan, research park master plan, the Robert Mondavi Institute, multi-use stadium complex and chilled water facilities expansion.

"Today is a chance for folks to see our long-range development plan in detail," said Karl Mohr, associate director of public and private partnerships.

A 60-day public review period of the LRDP and draft environmental impact report begins on April 28 and ends June 26, with a formal public hearing June 2.

Davis resident Don Harting, a visitor at Monday's preview, supports the idea of expanding the campus to meet its growth challenges. "It's necessary for the university to grow now," Harting said.

Harting moved to Davis in the late 1960s because it was a good place to live -- "I was always willing to pay more to live in Davis. I like the university environment, and the university hasn't hurt the city."

Jim Wellington, a Davis resident, is concerned about fast-rising UC enrollments and possible delays in opening the new UC Merced campus -- issues that may force even more students than anticipated to the Davis campus, he said. "They need to plan for even more building," he said.

The LRDP will guide UC Davis land use through 2015-16, during which time the campus will add an estimated 5,130 new students and 2,500 new faculty and staff above the 2001-02 academic year totals. That projects to a total campus population of more than 50,000.

In the decade ahead, the campus is planning to build more than 50 new buildings, renovations and utility upgrades at a cost of $1 billion.

Barbara Molloy, a lecturer in the environmental design department, came to the workshop to learn more about the residential neighborhood and what the criteria are for faculty and staff members to live there. "It's good that they're adding more housing," Molloy said, "but it's bad that once you retire or leave the school that you can no longer live there."

Tom Richards, a Davis resident, welcomed the university's downscaled neighborhood plan. In response to comments regarding the previous plan's neighborhood alternatives, UC Davis prepared a more compact alternative for the proposed residential neighborhood -- reduced to 220 acres of land from prior plans of 380 and 260 acres.

"The first proposal was a little excessive," Richards said. "I wouldn't be unhappy with it now. I realize something has to be done, and this is the best of the alternatives."

Dick Dorf, a professor emeritus in engineering, said he's been a regular attendee at LRDP presentations during the past year. "I think the research park will be a good addition to campus," Dorf said of the proposal to have private, public and non-profit entities who work in collaboration with the campus located on 38-acres to the north and south of Interstate 80 at the Mondavi Center exit to campus. "And the Robert Mondavi Institute seems like a very appropriate use of space," he said, noting plans for the teaching and research facility for wine and food science, slated to be built directly west of Mondavi Center.

Dorf believes the university's framework for growth is reasonable. He also likes the idea of a community education center in the new residential neighborhood but wonders if the university should also spend money to develop an elementary school there.

Marj Dickinson, assistant vice chancellor for government and community relations, said public feedback at the workshop is vital to the planning process. "It's exciting to have gotten this far with it," Dickinson said. "It's nice to see the fruits of labor on the part of so many people involved in this."

Dickinson said that the LRDP draft revolves around "human scale" issues, such as neighborhoods and increased student housing. "This is in keeping with the historic character of the campus and community."

Student housing issues were foremost on the mind of Andrew Glass, a fourth-year community and regional development student. He's been following the LRDP process for more than a year now, too. "The university needs to step up and provide more housing for students," said Glass, noting that building the multi-use stadium and Robert Mondavi Institute should take a backseat to additional student housing opportunities.

Housing is a major element of the LRDP. In the proposed neighborhood, UC Davis could house about 3,000 students;

500 faculty and staff units could be built. The range of housing types would include family units, townhouses, cottages and apartments. Also, the LRDP includes new housing for about 2,000 students at Segundo, Tercero and the existing greenhouse site.

UC Davis is in the third and final year of developing its LRDP. It is based on input from previous public meetings held during the last two years, campus committees and the campus leadership. In fall of 2003, the UC Board of Regents is expected to review the LRDP and environmental impact plan for approval.

For more information, see http://www.ormp.ucdavis.edu/environreview .

Dateline student intern Mike Sintetos contributed to this story.

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