Support Santa Clara County's Land Conservation Initiative
Posted June 26, 2006

• Background    
• Why this is important
• What's next
• What you can do    

This November, Santa Clara County voters will decide whether to amend the County General Plan to create voter-protected restrictions on sprawl on lands outside city limits.

Voters will make their decision over the Land Conservation Initiative in the fall, but crucial efforts now will determine whether the Initiative succeeds or fails. Mountain View residents will get a chance to encourage their City to endorse the Initiative, increasing the momentum of endorsements we received elsewhere. Everyone can also become involved in the environmental coalition to pass the Initiative, called People for Land and Nature. Years of work to increase our environmental protection are at stake.

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Background
Santa Clara County is running a long-term race between increasing sprawl causing the loss of working farmlands and ranchlands on the one hand, and environmental protections designed to reduce sprawl, protect watersheds, and preserve agriculture on the other hand.

Prior to the 1970’s, many portions of the unincorporated County could be subdivided down to one-acre lots or smaller. While rules have improved tremendously since then, the majority of our bottomland farms are gone, and hillside ranching is losing out to small ranchettes with monster mansions overlooking the valley floor. Even worse, the existing protections in the County General Plan could be lost at any time if just three of the five County Supervisors are persuaded by a developer to change them. While land regulation within cities is controlled by the cities’ General Plans, environmentalists and many others now seek to stop sprawl through a Voter Initiative to amend the County General Plan that will be on the ballot this November.

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Why this is important
The Land Conservation Initiative will limit rural subdivisions to levels similar to other Bay Area Counties, like Alameda and San Mateo Counties. It will keep development off ridgelines, protect our streams from inappropriate development, and preserve threatened wildlife. It does not apply to cities or to more developed rural areas. The Initiative preserves the areas in Santa Clara County that still retain the strongest rural character.

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What's next
The Mountain View City Council will decide tomorrow (Tuesday) whether to follow the lead of Palo Alto and other cities by endorsing the Land Conservation Initiative. In addition, the umbrella organization running the Initiative, People for Land and Nature (PLAN), is looking to sign up people to be kept informed about Initiative events or to volunteer. (Committee for Green Foothills is a member of PLAN.)

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What you can do
If you are a Mountain View resident, please email or fax the Mountain View City Council and ask them to endorse the Land Conservation Initiative. Water quality, air quality, traffic, open space, and general quality of life in the County are concerns for Mountain View residents, and the City Council can help those concerns by endorsing the Initiative.

Everyone, including Mountain View residents, can also sign up on the PLAN website to be kept informed about the Initiative and to participate.

1. Mountain View residents —

Email the Mountain View City Council.

Or fax the City Clerk: (650) 903-6039 (ask that they please distribute your fax to all Council Members).

Please send a copy of your message to CGF so we can track our efforts on this issue: fax 650-968-8431 or email: action@GreenFoothills.org.

2. Read the PLAN website for more information, to get email bulletins, or volunteer.

Read the CGF Green Footnotes Article about the Land Conservation Initiative.

Thanks for speaking up for open space. Your voice does make a difference!

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