While technically the university did not need to seek thecounty's approval, even though a portion of the property lieswithin unincorporated Santa Clara County, it did so to lessen thelikelihood of future stumbling blocks in light of protests byneighboring communities. The public outcry came at the time ofStanford's submission of plans over the development of open spacesin the hills behind the campus. As a concession, the university hasagreed to a temporary hold on development of that area, thoughskeptics have voiced concerns about the duration of theself-imposed stay.

Now that approval has been granted, the Stanford will moveforward to its constructing new laboratories, a basketball arena,and performing arts center. Plans call for approximately 3,000residential units, with groundbreaking for 350 units of graduatestudent housing set for the next six months.