Demand good planning for Coyote Valley
Posted May 18, 2005 / Updated May 18, 2005

• What's happening    
• Why this is important
• What you can do    

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and others continue to try shoving development of Coyote Valley down our throats, when this development is clearly unnecessary and will cause long-term, irreversible problems for the region.

The City's General Plan has for decades included several conditions designed to ensure that development within the City occurs when and where it makes sense. Pro-development forces are suggesting abandoning these conditions, also called "development triggers," in their rush to pave over Coyote Valley.

Please ask the City of San Jose and the Coyote Valley Task Force to ensure that if they must develop Coyote Valley (which CGF opposes), that they follow the city's General Plan.

What's happening
The General Plan's "development triggers" attempt to ensure that (a) development within the city occurs only when the City is fiscally ready, (b) development occurs only when actually necessary, and (c) development proceeds in a way that balances jobs with housing.

We consider the General Plan triggers to be, if anything, too lenient in allowing development to proceed. Unfortunately, in an effort to push through development of Coyote Valley, Mayor Gonzales and others have signaled that they intend to abandon these General Plan triggers.

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Coyote Valley is one of the last vestiges of Santa Clara County's agricultural heritage. CGF has been fighting off plans to develop this gorgeous valley for more than three decades now.

And, of course, the triggers identified in the General Plan are designed to promote sound development when and where it is needed. Ignoring them now in a rush to pave the valley will create long-term problems for the entire region.

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What you can do

1. Speak up!
Please join Committee for Green Foothills in asking San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, the San Jose City Council, and the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force to:

• Evaluate development needs citywide (particularly downtown and in the North First Street area) before committing to the development of Coyote Valley; and
• Adhere to and strengthen the "development triggers" that are required by the General Plan, ensuring that development occurs first in central San Jose, that the City is fiscally ready for this development, and that the City actually needs this development.

Send your comments to:
   Mayor Ron Gonzales
   San Jose City Councilmembers
   801 North 1st Street
   San Jose, CA 95110

   Email the mayor and the councilmembers
   Fax: (408) 277-3868

   Members of the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force
   c/o Sal Yakubu, Principal Planner
   801 North 1st Street
   San Jose, CA 95110

   Email the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force via Sal Yakubu
   Fax: (408) 277-3250

Request that your letter be distributed to the entire Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force.

As always, please send a copy to us so we can track the efficacy of our work: Fax (650) 968-8431 or action@GreenFoothills.org.

2. Learn more...
Read the May 10, 2005 article in the Mercury News on triggers.

Read our previous action alert on Coyote Valley.

Read our recent blog entries on Coyote Valley.

Read related articles on our website.

Stay on top of the latest with this and other local environmental issues -- sign up to receive Committee for Green Foothills action alerts by email.

3. Support Committee for Green Foothills.
Become a CGF member or make a donation.

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