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Committee kicks off  Environmental Forum series on June 5

Urban  vs. rural: Finding homes for schools and churches
Forum to address land use trends
Supervisor to moderate panel of leading experts
Speakers
Directions

Urban  vs. rural: Finding homes for schools and churches
Please join the Committee for Green Foothills and Santa Clara University  Environmental Studies Institute for a public forum to discuss perspectives  on rural land use - especially the location of group facilities such as  schools and churches, which can be sentimental favorites. The forum is  hosted by Committee for Green Foothills and
Santa  Clara University Environmental Studies Institute .

The forum "Urban  vs. rural: Finding homes for schools and churches" will be  held on Wednesday, June 5 from 7-9 pm in room 206 of the Daly  Science Building at Santa  Clara University.

 The event is free and open to the public. The forum  will be appropriate for the policy makers, elected officials, concerned  citizens and students. No reservations are required. Snacks will be provided.

The Committee for Green Foothills extends a big thank  you to the Community Foundation  Silicon Valley (CFSV) for helping make this environmental forum series  possible. "Urban vs. Rural" is the first in a series of three  environmental forums funded in part by a grant from CFSV.

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Forum  to address land use trends
There is a growing trend to try to locate urban-scale churches and schools  in rural areas. Institutions, especially churches and schools, are driven  to find locations outside city limits. How does this affect decades of  smart regional planning, and what can be done about it? Are cities making  it difficult for these uses to locate in urban areas as a result of the  fiscalization of land? Are these decisions made predominately because  of land cost or are they driven by the appeal of rural settings?

The forum is intended to address the growing trend  to locate urban uses, such as large scale churches and schools in rural  areas and provide an opportunity for open dialogue on rural land use.  Forum organizers are hoping to shed some light on why these types of institutions  are seeking locations outside city limits. There will be a policy level  discussion that provides insight on what types of incentives are needed  to encourage these types of uses to remain in urban areas. By providing  both sides of the issue, forum organizers hope to reach an understanding  of the driving forces behind this type of development in order to work  towards a resolution.

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Supervisor  to moderate panel of leading experts
Representatives from the church and development communities and leading  experts in land use and sustainable regional planning will examine the  reasons for this trend and discuss answers to these questions. The forum  will be moderated by Santa Clara County
Supervisor Don  Gage. The panel consists of leading experts on the topic of smart  growth and development including David Abel, the President  and CEO of a California-based Public Affairs Consulting Firm, ABL, Incorporated  and the chairman of New Schools/Better Neighborhoods; Senior  Pastor Dave Sawkins of South Valley Christian Church; Crisand  Giles, the Executive Director of the Southern Division Home Builders  Association of Northern California; and Tim Frank,  the Chair of the Challenge to Sprawl Campaign for National Sierra Club.

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Speakers
David Abel is Chairman  of
New Schools/ Better Neighborhoods,  a statewide civic effort to promote new schools as both mixed-use centers  of neighborhoods, and revitalized neighborhoods as centers of learning.  Mr. Abel is Pres. and CEO of a California-based Public Affairs Consulting  Firm, ABL, Inc., engaged in public and civic affairs. Mr. Abel serves  on a number of civic, community and corporate boards of directors and  advisory boards, including: CA Center For Regional Leadership, LA County  Economic Development Corp. (V. Chair), Skirball Institute for American  Pluralism, St. Annes, Trust for Public Land (Co Chair CA Urban Advisory  Committee), Western Water Corporation, and SuperShuttle International,  Inc. He and his wife, architect Brenda Levin, were recipients of the l990  Los Angeles League of Women Voters civic achievement award.

Tim Frank is Chair of the Sierra  Club's Challenges to Sprawl Campaign one of the Club's top four national  priorities. The campaign promotes smart growth as an alternative to sprawl.  Tim also represents the Sierra Club before the California Legislature  on land use issues. He has represented the Sierra Club for 16 years.

Supervisor Don Gageserves on the Santa  Clara County Board of Supervisors . He was elected to the Board on  March 18, 1997 and represents District One, which has a population of  over 330,000 and encompasses 70 percent of the County's land area. It  includes Almaden Valley, Santa Teresa, Blossom Valley, Silver Creek, Evergreen,  Gilroy, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, San Martin, as well as the Mt. Hamilton  Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains. As Chairperson of the Board's Housing,  Land Use, Environment, and Transportation Committee, Supervisor Gage reviews  all land use issues as well as large road projects such as the Measure  B Transportation Project. Crisand Giles is  the Executive Director of the Southern Division Home Builders Association  of Northern California (HBANC). She is a technical advocate for housing  and construction concerns and an accomplished expert on crucial water and  environmental issues facing homebuilders. Her primary responsibilities include  overseeing government activities in the South Bay, and working with state  and local agencies to develop regional water quality regulations for the  Bay Area. Project expertise includes developing and implementing Storm Water  Pollution Protection Plans for construction sites, writing training materials,  presentations, and coordinating with regulatory agencies. Other areas of  experience include wetland delineation, soil mapping, and evaluations including  soil nutrient analysis, soil microbiology and soil chemistry.

Dave  Sawkins is the Senior Pastor of South  Valley Christian Church in San Jose. He has been pastoring the church  since its beginnings on February 2, 1986. Prior to that time, Dave pastored  a church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 15 years. Pastor Dave also served  for 14 years as a police chaplain in Albuerque. He later moved to California  and was Assistant to the President at San Jose Christian College, and  he was a Pastor on staff at Los Gatos Christian Church. Dave Sawkins is  a graduate of Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri, and he has  a Masters of Arts in Religion from Pepperdine University in Southern California.  He is a native Southern Californian.

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Directions
From U.S. Highway 101:
Take the De La Cruz Boulevard/Santa Clara exit. Follow De La Cruz Boulevard  towards El Camino Real (stay in the right lane). When De La Cruz Boulevard  splits, follow the right split over the overpass. Turn right on Lafayette  Street staying in the right turn lane. Turn right at El Camino Real. Turn  right on to Palm Drive, the main entrance to Santa Clara University. The  attendant at the entrance gate on Palm Drive will give directions for  parking. Parking is free. The Daly Science Building will be on the right  hand side of Palm Drive.

From Interstate 880:
Take The Alameda exit. Travel north on The Alameda. The Alameda will become  El Camino Real. Turn left on to Palm Drive, the main entrance to Santa  Clara University. The attendant at the entrance gate on Palm Drive will  give directions for parking. Parking is free. The Daly Science Building  will be on the right hand side of Palm Drive.

From Interstate 280:
Take Interstate 880 north toward Oakland. Exit at The Alameda. Turn left  on The Alameda. The Alameda will become El Camino Real. Turn left on to  Palm Drive, the main entrance to Santa Clara University. The attendant  at the entrance gate on Palm Drive will give directions for parking. Parking  is free. The Daly Science Building will be on the right hand side of Palm  Drive.

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Page last updated May 31, 2002 .

 

 

      

Copyright 2001 Committee for Green Foothills