News Subscribe to Our Newsletter Sign up for Email Updates CGF In the News Press Inquiries Past Articles Calendar			The Palo Alto Weekly July 2, 2003   Protection still  due Letter to the Editor From CGF Legislative Advocate Brian Schmidt Editor, Despite Supervisor Liz Kniss' enthusiasm in her Guest  Opinion article (Weekly, June 11), "A landmark rezoning for Stanford  foothills lands," the Committee for Green Foothills must balance the rezoning's  important protections with those that were left out. Although environmental groups and many individuals worked hard to ensure permanent protection of the Stanford foothills, the final compromise in the 2000 General Use Permit (GUP) allowed some restricted development. Unfortunately, the resulting zoning does not provide all the protections that are still due the public, who will experience significant impacts from 5 million square feet of development outside the foothills. While we applaud the improvements that Supervisor Kniss supported over drafts of the zoning that were weaker than the final version, the board should also have accepted other improvements. The Page Mill Road gateway area did not get the special protection from development that it deserved. The county delayed to the future instead of deciding now whether to guarantee viewshed protection for trail users when Stanford finally provides the trails it has promised, and the zoning does not protect areas that are especially visible from multiple locations. Cell-phone antennas will not be limited to those necessary for public safety, nor will all antennas taller than 35 feet undergo Planning Commission review (apparent errors in the supervisor's article). Environmental groups pushed strongly for requiring Planning Commission approval in order to provide political accountability, but that request was rejected. None of these changes requested by the public would have stopped Stanford from making appropriate uses of the foothills. They would only have helped prevent piecemeal degradation of the foothills we have all come to love, especially in the future when the GUP's 15,000-feet limit to foothill development will be subject to renegotiation. The county supervisors, again led by Kniss, did make several important promises to consider in the future some of the issues that environmental groups have raised. We count on working with Supervisor Kniss and the other board members to follow through on these promises and to balance Stanford's 5 million feet of development with appropriate protection for the public and the environment. Brian A. Schmidt CGF Legislative Advocate, Santa Clara County East Bayshore Road Palo Alto Page last updated July 2, 2003 .