Opposition is growing at California Polytechnic State University over a plan to redevelop nearly 40 acres of campus agricultural land into a hotel-and-conference complex, senior housing, and student residences.
Here's what to know
A concept prepared for Cal Poly by real estate firm JLL envisions building along Highland Drive on a section of West Campus that includes the lemon grove and other farm areas used in classes.
As Mustang News reported, the project was expected to generate about $15 million to $40 million annually for the university 15 to 25 years after completion.
University President Jeffrey Armstrong told student representatives on April 1, "No hard decisions have been made, but it looks positive."
He later told agriculture students on June 4 that no final decision would be made and that the issue would return.
Students say the proposal would come at a steep cost. Garret Gomes, an agriculture communications junior and ASI Board of Directors representative, questioned why actively used academic land should give way to private-style development.
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"These are places that students actively use, and at what cost are we going to remove them to build a senior living facility or a hotel?" Gomes said. "It's crazy in my mind."
That concern extends well beyond campus politics. Losing productive agricultural land can weaken workforce training, reduce access to field-based education, and make it harder for universities to prepare students for a food system already under pressure from extreme weather, land loss, and rising costs.
More background
Cal Poly's 2015 master-plan revision included West Campus hotel and housing concepts, and criticism predates that: public feedback on a conference center and hotel reportedly called it a "poor use of University funds."
Students argue that the same core problem remains: The proposed site is not vacant land, but a working educational resource.
Gomes said the university is considering development on Class 1 soil, which is considered the most fertile and valuable for agricultural production.
Faculty have also tried to measure the academic effect. A study by Matthew Grieshop, who leads the Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research, and Scott Steinmaus, who heads Cal Poly plant sciences, found that the area supports 18 courses in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and that 1,173 students a year could be affected.
Bella Twist, an agriculture communications sophomore, said one of Cal Poly's biggest advantages is the chance to put classroom lessons to work immediately in the field instead of being confined to lecture halls.
What's being done?
The response has already reached student government. Gomes said he and other ASI board members wrote a resolution opposing non-agricultural development on West Campus after similar concerns had been circulating among agriculture students.
Students have also been urged to appeal beyond campus. Twist said the Dean's Advisory Council for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences encouraged students to contact the Cal State Chancellor's Office, and Gomes said student leaders from groups such as the Crops Club and Los Lecheros Dairy Club sent 50 letters.
The administration says it will include more voices before anything moves ahead. At the June 4 meeting, Armstrong said Cal Poly would revisit the issue and include agriculture alumni, students, and the wider campus in the discussion.
The stakes extend beyond one project. Decisions about whether to preserve high-quality farmland or replace it with revenue-generating development can shape the kind of communities universities build — and whether they invest in education and resilience or trade those priorities for short-term gains.
"This is some of the best land that we can get within agriculture, and so while it might be easy to just remove those lemon groves because the land is already flat, this is irreplaceable land."
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