ASUC officials say the Chinese take-out restaurant Panda Express is one step closer to opening a branch in Lower Sproul Plaza, a development that has drawn criticism from some students.

With the store operations board recognizing a letter of intent from Panda Express this summer, the board has approved the company's interest in moving into a vacant space near Gelateria Naia, ASUC Auxiliary Director Nadesan Permaul said. Negotiations with the company have been ongoing for about two years.

Permaul said Panda Express officials have indicated they would invest more than $500,000 in Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union in exchange for opening a branch in the high-traffic area of campus. The money would go toward renovating the space and allowing more businesses to move into the student union, he said.

Within the last week Cooperative Movement Senator Christina Oatfield authored a senate bill and petition opposing the restaurant opening in Lower Sproul Plaza.

"I'm kind of ashamed that we would have a large fast-food chain on our campus," she said, adding that her petition has gathered about 100 signatures since she started it last weekend.

If the proposed deal is completed, by fall 2009 Panda Express would move into an empty storefront next to Gelateria Naia, previously filled by STA Travel, Permaul said. In the past, Gelateria Naia sought to partner with several different restaurants, ranging from In-N-Out Burger to Cafe Intermezzo, to occupy the space.

Jordan Smith, the chair of the store operations board, said the current businesses on Lower Sproul Plaza are subsidized by the ASUC. He added that in a survey conducted by the ASUC Office of the President in spring 2007, about 60 percent of students polled said they were in favor of opening a Panda Express branch on campus.

Permaul said that although small businesses are important to the vibrancy of the Berkeley and campus community, large businesses also provide important financial resources.

"If we don't have a balance between large and small businesses, we quite literally can't pay the bills," he said. "Panda is going to return funding to the ASUC in a way that small businesses don't."

Some business owners in Lower Sproul Plaza said they are concerned about the competition that Panda Express would present.

"I really worry, because they are the corporation, they're the brand name," said Ann Vu, owner of Heavenly Healthy Foods. "And they sell my food, they take away my business."

Oatfield said one of her main concerns about Panda Express is that she does not feel the food is healthy.

"Panda Express has no track record of providing any kind of local or organic food," she said.

But Smith said the store operations board has had discussions with Panda Express to make sure many food options would be available there.

"There would be a plethora of healthy, vegetarian and vegan options available," he said.

Despite starting the petition and senate bill, Oatfield said she believes they are unlikely to halt the proposed development.

"The store operations board is pretty set on bringing Panda Express to Lower Sproul," she said. "It was just tearing me apart that I was watching it happen without doing anything."

Tags: LOWER SPROUL PLAZA, PANDA EXPRESS