Politics & Government

UC Fences Lot That Was Occupied at University Village

UC Berkeley has put a chain-link fence around the empty lot next to University Village in Albany that was occupied for three weekends by Occupy the Farm. The campus proposes to use the property for a Sprouts Farmers Market.

A freshly installed chain-link fence was plainly visible Wednesday around a UC Berkeley lot in Albany that had been occupied by Occupy the Farm urban farming advocates for three weekends last month.

"We're putting up a fence around university property," said campus spokesman said Dan Mogulof.

Defying university trespassing warnings, Occupy the Farm activists first moved onto the lot at San Pablo Avenue and Monroe Street next to University Village student family housing on Saturday, May 11, planted crops and began camping until they were evicted with four arrests by UC police two days later. The protesters resumed their weekend camp for the next weekends, leaving voluntarily on Sunday both times.

UC has proposed using the lot for commercial development, to be anchored by a Sprouts Farmers Market. The plan also calls for senior housing and more retail in another vacant lot on the other side of Monroe from the occupied lot. The Albany City Council in July approved UC-sponsored commercial and senior housing development on the two plots. 

Mogulof said Wednesday that the fence was installed for a variety of reasons, including "asserting and protecting university property rights." The fence also is intended to show that the plot "isn't just a vacant lot but is being developed" and  also to "help deter further incursions onto the land," he said.

"In that sense, maybe the old adage that good fences make good neighbors will be true here, given what the community has expressed," he said.

The university intends to develop two adjacent lots, one on the north side of Monroe where the Sprouts market is planned, and one on the south side of Monroe for senior housing and more commercial development.

By the end of the day on Wednesday, the Sprouts lot, where the occupiers camped last month, had a fence around it, and the lot on the other side of Monroe had newly installed fence poles.

Occupy the Farm staged a three-week occupation and crop-planting a year ago on the Gill Tract agricultural research field, which is near the site occupied the past three weekends. They were evicted by campus authorities.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here