News Subscribe  to Our Newsletter Sign  up for Email Updates CGF  In the News Press  Inquiries Past  Articles Calendar			Santa Clara County  LAFCO denies sprawl and upholds urban boundaries by Kathy Switky A project that could have opened the door to sprawl  countywide was rejected in February when the Santa  Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) denied Morgan  Hill's request to extend services outside its city limits for an urban-scale  project located on County lands. The Morgan  Hill City Council had approved the extension of urban services (police,  fire, water and sanitation) to a project proposed for lands outside of  the city limits. The city's extension of these services outside the city's Urban  Services Area - the boundary that defines where cities can allow urban  development - was essentially an attempt to short-cut the legal process,  which requires the city to first annex the land before providing these  services. Committee for Green Foothills, in collaboration with Santa  Clara Valley Audubon and Greenbelt  Alliance, acted quickly to successfully lobby LAFCO to uphold its  policy designed to prevent just this sort of sprawl-inducing development  from moving forward. By denying Morgan Hill's request, LAFCO upheld its  goal of keeping urban-scale development inside city limits. Shortcut would have violated decades of regional  planning Placing urban development outside of the city's  service area is not only inappropriate - it would have set a dangerous  precedent for the entire County. Approval of this project outside city  limits would have undermined more than thirty years of managed growth  in Santa Clara County, and opened the door to sprawl. In addition, the project presented significant negative impacts. The project  site is zoned for agriculture, and the State of California's Department  of Conservation has identified it as "prime farmland" and "farmland  of statewide importance". Extending urban services to the project  site would not only impact surrounding agricultural operations - it would  also encourage conversion of valuable farmland. Committee asks LAFCO to uphold urban boundaries Because the applicant proposed urban-scale development  in the rural, unincorporated area of the County, the request went to the  Local Agency Formation Commission, a local agency set up by the state  to enforce city boundaries. The Committee for Green Foothills and other environmental groups lobbied  LAFCO to deny the request in accordance with LAFCO's goals: to encourage  orderly urban boundaries, discourage urban sprawl, and preserve agricultural  and open space lands. Denial of project will discourage sprawl  and protect open space In February, the LAFCO Commissioners voted unanimously to uphold their  policies preventing urban development from occurring outside city limits.  With this vote, the Commissioners sent a clear message to local cities  and developers that urban service areas will be enforced, and that development  must follow appropriate protocol. By denying the request, LAFCO continues  to limit development outside urban boundaries to a low-density, rural  scale - and to protect the rural character of our County lands. Published May 2002 in Green  Footnotes. Page last updated May 16, 2002