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Will the County protect  the foothills of the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek watersheds?
by Denice Dade

Peninsula residents treasure the foothills of  the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek watersheds, located west of Palo  Alto and the Stanford University campus, as a natural resource worth protecting  for generations to come. Providing more than just a scenic backdrop, offering  the eye respite from urbanization, these watersheds provide valuable habitat  for diverse species including coyote, raptors, raccoons, and listed species  such as the steelhead trout, red-legged frog, and the California tiger  salamander.

The  County also recognizes the value of this land. In 1987, it adopted "Open  Space Preservation: A Program for Santa Clara County," which identified  61 sites throughout the County as significant regional resources. The  sites are ranked in order of importance for acquisition and preservation  based on their qualities as watersheds, viewsheds, and urban buffers.  The foothills of the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek watersheds make  up a large portion of the tenth site on the list.

Sadly, many of the top-priority sites have not been protected. The County  allowed a golf course to be built on the first priority site: Santa Teresa  Ridge near San Jose. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District purchased  a significant portion of the number two priority site, Lexington Reservoir  and its watershed, saving these lands from development - but only after  activists worked for years to defeat multiple golf course and subdivision  proposals.

Fifteen years after the adoption of "Open Space Preservation: A Program  for Santa Clara County," most of the original 61 sites have not been  preserved. With the encroachment of urbanization, the importance of preserving  the top-priority sites grows each year.

Stanford opposes permanent protection
Unfortunately, Stanford has stewardship over  a significant portion of the foothills of the Matadero and San Francisquito  Creek watersheds, roughly 2,200 acres. Rather than acting fairly and responsibly,  Stanford has refused to grant permanent protection to these lands despite  receiving more than generous core-campus development rights.

The County, in the 2000 General Use Permit, granted Stanford development  rights far in excess of its legal and reasonable entitlement. Stanford  has built over 12 million square feet on its 1,700-acre core campus, exceeding  the density of Palo Alto by close to 40%, and has been granted the right  to build approximately 4.5 million more over the next ten years.

In exchange for allowing hillside developers to exceed normal development  entitlements, the County requires landowners to permanently dedicate ninety  percent of their land as open space. The Committee for Green Foothills,  speaking with others in the community, argued that Stanford should dedicate  their portion of the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek watersheds as  permanent open space as a condition of approval for its 2000 General Use  Permit.

Using its political clout, Stanford convinced the County to not require  permanent dedication in return for the gargantuan development entitlements  it obtained under the 2000 General Use Permit. Ignoring the wishes of  the community and bowing to Stanford pressure, the County failed to secure  the future of a large portion of the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek  watersheds.

The County has the opportunity and responsibility  to protect these watershed lands
The County has a rare opportunity to protect  the foothills of the Matadero and San Francisquito Creek watersheds as  it creates new foothill zoning required in the 2000 Stanford University  Community Plan.

The proposed zoning created by County staff for the foothills contains  loopholes. It lacks ridgeline development protection, and it contains  no permanent protections. It is essential that the significant protections  gained for the foothills through Stanford's 2000 Community Plan are secured  with adequately restrictive zoning.

The future of the Matadero and San Francisquito  Creek watersheds is up to us
For nearly 40 years - and especially during  the 2000 General Use Permit process - the Committee has worked in close  partnership with the community to protect these foothills.

It's time to remind the County of its own goals and responsibility to  protect this land. Local cities and community members must speak out and  work with the County to require the new Stanford foothill zoning to protect  ridgelines from development and contain a mechanism that ensures dedication.

The proposed zoning process allows full public participation before the  County Planning Commission sometime this June. The ultimate decision lies  with Supervisor Kniss and the full Board sometime next fall.

Once again the foothills need our help. The County needs to hear from  you. For the latest information on the proposed foothill zoning and how  to make your voice heard, please visit www.GreenFoothills.org. To get  our e-mail updates on this issue, register for our action alerts on our  website or by e-mailing info@GreenFoothills.org.


Published May 2002 in Green  Footnotes.
Page last updated May 16, 2002 .

 

 

Copyright 2001 Committee for Green Foothills

Photo by Michael Kahn.