University Senate votes to save Hillock

The Wooded Hillock gained its most significant support so far yesterday when the University Senate voted to save the forest land near Comcast Center from development.

In order to clear space for the 38-acre, $900 million East Campus Development that would bring student housing, stores and a Birchmere music hall to Route 1, the university had planned to relocate university facilities to the hillock. The senate's decision came after a months-long struggle to save the 22.4 acres of woods from being converted, leaving administrators unsure of what will happen next.

When asked whether the vote would affect the university's development plans, Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie noted the resolution is not binding and said she had "no idea" what its impact will be.

With its 62-12 vote in favor of preserving the hillock, the senate joined the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Government in opposing construction on the site. But unlike those groups, the senate — which is composed of nearly 200 students, faculty and staff — directly advises university President Dan Mote on policy issues. Mote generally follows the senate's advice, having gone against the body only once in his time at the university.

"The senate has spoken," urban forestry professor Marla McIntosh said after the vote. "What is more important to us: Having a better college town, the bells and whistles, or having better educational opportunities for our students?"

Plans to bulldoze part of the hillock have rankled some students and faculty who say the site is academically and environmentally invaluable. At the meeting yesterday, McIntosh and other professors argued rare plant species and gravel deposits make the site a "living classroom."

"Whereas [biologists, physicists and chemists] have their laboratories to teach their students, this is the equivalent for the environmental science," geography professor Stephen Prince said.

At least 14 faculty members have used or plan to use the hillock for instruction, and about 1,000 students per year visit the site for class, according to information provided by McIntosh.

"It's not a vote about the East Campus Development," McIntosh said before the vote. "It is a vote about a piece of land that once we bulldoze it, we cannot restore it. It can never grow these native [plant] species again. It will not be on the migration path of birds."

Before Wylie could respond to hillock supporters, the senate narrowly decided to cut off debate and vote on the issue. After the resolution passed, Wylie said the university has limited options for relocation.

"There are simply no good places," she said. "Every place has a cost. Every place has a negative side. It's 14 acres. So we could put it in Lot 1. What would that mean? That would mean that nobody who lives on this campus can have a car. There'd be no place for them to park. ... So we came up with a bad solution, but it's not like there is a good one."

A few weeks ago, Provost Nariman Farvardin requested that deans provide information to him by Feb. 1 regarding how developing the hillock would impact their departments' education and research. Wylie said the hillock would be left untouched until after the provost's study is complete.

The university faces additional obstacles to construction on the hillock even if it decides to disregard the senate's decision. In November, Foulger-Pratt/Argo, the university's main development partner, pulled out of the East Campus project, taking $15 million in relocation funds with it.

The university is seeking the remaining $25 million from the state to move the buildings, and the legislature approved the first $5 million in the spring. But before the university can use that money, it needs the approval of the College Park City Council. Last week, District 1 Councilman Patrick Wojahn and District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin said they would need to hear more about the project before signing off on the funds.

cox at umdbk dot com