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San Jose Mercury News By Karen de Sá On the same day Stanford University was supposed to send a check to Santa Clara County for a study of public trails crisscrossing
through its sprawling hills, university officials instead sent a letter -- saying no thanks. "It's not about money; it's about the principle of our defense of private property rights,'' said Stanford spokesman
Gordon Earle. "We're agreeing to trails. Our objection is those that cut deeply into our lands.'' The university has spent years in often-hostile negotiations with Santa Clara County over use of its
foothills that stretch along Interstate 280 at the edge of campus. A regional attraction for hikers and joggers, more than 350,000 people a year traverse the Stanford hills, enjoying far-reaching vistas and
expansive stretches of golden grasses that turn green with the rains. The area lies in unincorporated Santa Clara County, where supervisors have authority over land uses and development. In a bitterly fought
general use plan agreed to in December 2000, Stanford was granted the right to develop 5 million square feet of its total property. In exchange, the university would build recreational trails in the foothills open
to the greater public. Where those trails will ultimately go is now yet another thing to fight about. Stanford insists that peripheral trails -- along Page Mill Road to the south and Alpine Road to the north --
are the best and only option. Officials have spent $500,000 already to plan these trails, and have committed to paying $8 million more for their design and construction. But environmentalists say the peripheral
routes are dangerous to the public because they weave along major freeway on-ramps and private driveways. They would also endanger wildlife and damage sensitive habitats for red-legged frogs and steelhead trout,
said Denice Dade, legislative advocate for the non-profit Committee for Green Foothills. In June, county supervisors ordered environmental studies on nine different trail options as a way to analyze impacts and
come up with the best routes, with the understanding that Stanford would foot the bill. But on Friday, the day a check for $172,000 was expected, Stanford lawyers instead announced that trails on interior lands
would never be acceptable, and so paying to study them was not an option. University officials said that creating permanent trails through the heart of the foothills would violate Stanford's mission as a preserve
for educational needs now -- and hundreds of years into the future. The letter reiterating this point -- and a 10-page legal attachment -- is just the latest rhetoric in a battle already stewing for years.
Observers say the fight over access to the hills is far from over. As an indicator, by day's end, the letter's contents were being shared among community activists, planners and elected officials, even though
Santa Clara County officials say it won't be until late next week that they issue a formal response. "Stanford is breaking its commitment to the county and to the community,'' Dade said, responding to the
university's latest salvo. "It's a bad faith move on behalf of the university.'' |
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