The UC Board of Regents last week accepted California Coastal Commission modifications to approve a smaller North Campus housing project than originally contemplated and to preserve the so-called South Parcel for coastal resource protection. UCSB can now move forward on building plans for 172 units of faculty housing on North Campus and 151 units of family housing on the nearby Sierra Madre parcel.

Original plans for the North Campus in September 2004 called for 236 units of faculty housing and 151 units of family student housing. Subsequently, newly discovered Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas on the parcel reduced faculty housing to 172 units.

As part of the coastal commission’s project approval, the 70-acre South Parcel also had to be “irrevocably” dedicated, or an offer must be made of that nature, in the form of a conservation easement to a public agency or a private association.