News Subscribe  to Our Newsletter Sign  up for Email Updates CGF  In the News Press  Inquiries Past  Articles Calendar			Stanford plan update: Work lags on hillside zoning and Sustainable Development  Study by Kathy Switky Ten months have passed  since Santa Clara County accepted Stanford's Community Plan and General  Use Permit (CP/GUP) and granted Stanford University rights for up to five  million square feet of development. The CP/GUP were more than two years in the making and outlined the strongest  County restrictions ever on University growth. The CP/GUP defined conservation  measures, mitigations for impacts on the university's neighbors caused  by the massive development, and County and Stanford responsibilities for  meeting the provisions. CGF and Stanford Open Space Alliance  (SOSA) are monitoring the progress the County and Stanford are making  as they implement conservation measures, provide mitigations, and carry  out their responsibilities as outlined in the CP/GUP. Five  key environmental protection conditions The plan includes five key conditions designed to protect open space and  the environment: 1) Implementation of hillside zoning 2) Formation of a Community Resource Group 3) Creation of a Sustainable Development Study 4) Development of a Special Conservation Area Plan 5) Trail dedications The Stanford/County report  card Together with SOSA, the Committee is  leading the grassroots effort to monitor the implementation of the environmental  protections in the CP/GUP. The groups  recently released a report card detailing the progress on five elements  of the plan. We worked closely with County Planning Staff and Supervisor  Kniss's office to provide them with an opportunity to complete as much  work as possible before the report was released this August. Good marks on three conditions Work in three of the five areas is progressing in a timely and effective  manner. The County has begun development of the Special Conservation Area  Plan, is starting to identify potential recreational trails for dedication,  and has formed the Community Resource Group, to which CGF Legislative  Advocate Denice Dade has been appointed. Poor marks on hillside  zoning and Sustainable Development Study However, the two most significant conservation-related conditions of the  CP/GUP, hillside zoning and the Sustainable Development Study, received  failing grades. The Community Plan and GUP require the establishment of  protective zoning for the Stanford foothills, regulations that will be  created through a long process of staff attention and public input. This  process has not yet begun or been scheduled. Further, Stanford is required to complete a Sustainable Development Study,  which will direct future development and establish the maximum allowable  build-out on Stanford lands. The Sustainable Development Study will be  a large undertaking, and must be approved by the County before Stanford  can gain approval for the second million square feet of academic development  granted by the 2000 General Use Permit. Significantly, no start date has  been scheduled for this complex and long-term project. The County must  approve the study before Stanford can begin its second phase of development. Report generates public commitment  by Supervisor Kniss The release of the report card generated good publicity for our concerns,  and immediate response from County Supervisor Liz Kniss, in whose district  Stanford falls. At a town hall meeting held soon after the release of  the Report Card, Supervisor Kniss committed to moving the Stanford Sustainable  Development Study forward, and promised to establish a working group to  help define the parameters of this study. Committee for Green Foothills  is preparing its recommendations for the Sustainable Development Study  and will continue to work with Supervisor Kniss and her staff on this  issue. CGF continues to watch... Committee for Green Foothills and Stanford Open Space Alliance will continue  our monitoring efforts. We plan to update the Report Card as a way to  provide public reports on progress toward these important environmental  protections. The Community Plan report card is available from the Committee by emailing reportcard@greenfoothills.org  or calling 650-968-7243. It is also available to Download  as an Acrobat PDF file. To view PDF documents you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download it for free at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readste p.html Published November 2001 in Green  Footnotes . Page last updated October 30, 2001