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The Committee is  Watching...

Committee for Green Foothills' Legislative  Advocates and volunteers juggle multiple projects to protect the environment  in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. In addition to those projects described  in this issue's articles, the Committee  is watching:

...the City of San Jose and its handling of  a recent application to extend the Greenline  (adopted by voters in November 1996) by two acres, to ensure that Greenline  protections are not "nickeled and dimed" away. burrowing owl

 ... the revision of the San Mateo County Local  Coastal Program (LCP), the planning  document for the coastal zone; two years of public review and revision  have produced amendments now headed to the San Mateo County Planning Commission,  then to the County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission.

 ... the Santa Clara County Supervisors and  their action (or lack of action) regarding two  public trails Stanford University was scheduled to have completed  and dedicated two years ago as part of its 2000 General Use Permit and  Community Plan.

 ... Vote  the Coast, an emerging state-wide organization that endorses pro-coast  candidates for election to public office, and works to educate and network  coastal activists.

 ....Woodside's 270-acre Horse  Park on Sand Hill Road, where complaints by neighbors and CGF  led San Mateo County to stop the facility from operating without permits  and threatening nearby Bear Creek with environmentally damaging practices  such as grading, erosion, and improper manure storage; park managers have  since applied to the County for the first permits in the park's 22-year  history and have been granted a temporary permit allowing regulated operations  until the final permits are issued.

 …the Santa Clara Valley Water District Environmental  Advisory Committee, for which CGF's Brian Schmidt has been nominated,  to support the District's efforts to restore and protect County waterways.

 ... San Mateo County's Planning Department and Board of Supervisors , which - under pressure from the Board  of Realtors - continue to delay implementation of a cap  on home sizes in rural areas by undertaking an economic study of the  effects of such regulation.

 ... CGF Legislative Advocate extraordinaire Lennie  Roberts, who received the prestigious Carla Bard award from the Planning and Conservation  League at their annual symposium in April.

 ... stunning wildflower displays at Coyote  Ridge, where California  Native Plant Society activists created a coalition of environmental  groups to lead hikes for decision-makers this spring, anticipating a regional  planning process to develop a Habitat  Conservation Plan encompassing this area (home to a number of endangered  plant and animal species) and possibly many other parts of the County  that provide critical habitat  for rare species.

 ... the INNW  Fund, whose generous support of the Green Foothills Foundation  allows us to continue to strengthen our organization.

 ...the Peninsula  Watershed , where CGF is asking PG&E to underground large transmission  towers to restore views and protect sensitive habitat; a draft Environmental  Impact Report on the project is due this summer.

 ... CGF's own April  Vargas and Zoe  Kersteen-Tucker, who were recognized in the "Best of the Coast  2003" issue of the Half Moon Bay Review Magazine as being two of the Coastside's  top three favorite Crusaders/Activists on the Coast.

 . ..the Conservation  Council, a group of organizations (including CGF) dedicated to  local open space, which holds regular meetings with decision-makers to  discuss issues including Moffett field cleanup and restoration, balancing  jobs and housing, and managing growth in Morgan Hill.

 ... the Wavecrest area in Half Moon Bay,  where a proposed new middle school and other development would threaten environmentally sensitive habitat  and exemplify urban sprawl; CGF  and other activists continue to work to keep the middle school at  its existing site in downtown.

 … the Gilroy  660 acres of agricultural farmland, which has been inappropriately  designated for development and sprawl, to make sure the farmland is saved.

 …the Carnegie Foundation development in the  Stanford foothills, to ensure that the green building and visibility mitigation  promises made for the facility are actually carried out.

 ... the Town of Woodside , where planners  are looking to hold an even larger annual Environment Fest on Saturday,  October 4 to celebrate that community's environment and environmental  projects.


Published July 2003 in Green  Footnotes.
Page last updated July 7, 2003 .

 

 

      

Copyright 2001 Committee for Green Foothills

Burrowing owl photo by Peter LaTourrette / www.birdphotography.com.