Stanford plan update:
Work lags on hillside zoning and Sustainable Development Study
by Kathy Switky

Ten months have passed since Santa Clara County accepted Stanford's Community Plan and General Use Permit (CP/GUP) and granted Stanford University rights for up to five million square feet of development.

The CP/GUP were more than two years in the making and outlined the strongest County restrictions ever on University growth. The CP/GUP defined conservation measures, mitigations for impacts on the university's neighbors caused by the massive development, and County and Stanford responsibilities for meeting the provisions.

CGF and Stanford Open Space Alliance (SOSA) are monitoring the progress the County and Stanford are making as they implement conservation measures, provide mitigations, and carry out their responsibilities as outlined in the CP/GUP.

Five key environmental protection conditions
The plan includes five key conditions designed to protect open space and the environment:

1) Implementation of hillside zoning
2) Formation of a Community Resource Group
3) Creation of a Sustainable Development Study
4) Development of a Special Conservation Area Plan
5) Trail dedications

The Stanford/County report card
Together with SOSA, the Committee is leading the grassroots effort to monitor the implementation of the environmental protections in the CP/GUP. The groups recently released a report card detailing the progress on five elements of the plan. We worked closely with County Planning Staff and Supervisor Kniss's office to provide them with an opportunity to complete as much work as possible before the report was released this August.

Good marks on three conditions
Work in three of the five areas is progressing in a timely and effective manner. The County has begun development of the Special Conservation Area Plan, is starting to identify potential recreational trails for dedication, and has formed the Community Resource Group, to which CGF Legislative Advocate Denice Dade has been appointed.

Poor marks on hillside zoning
and Sustainable Development Study
However, the two most significant conservation-related conditions of the CP/GUP, hillside zoning and the Sustainable Development Study, received failing grades. The Community Plan and GUP require the establishment of protective zoning for the Stanford foothills, regulations that will be created through a long process of staff attention and public input. This process has not yet begun or been scheduled.

Further, Stanford is required to complete a Sustainable Development Study, which will direct future development and establish the maximum allowable build-out on Stanford lands. The Sustainable Development Study will be a large undertaking, and must be approved by the County before Stanford can gain approval for the second million square feet of academic development granted by the 2000 General Use Permit. Significantly, no start date has been scheduled for this complex and long-term project. The County must approve the study before Stanford can begin its second phase of development.

Report generates public commitment by Supervisor Kniss
The release of the report card generated good publicity for our concerns, and immediate response from County Supervisor Liz Kniss, in whose district Stanford falls. At a town hall meeting held soon after the release of the Report Card, Supervisor Kniss committed to moving the Stanford Sustainable Development Study forward, and promised to establish a working group to help define the parameters of this study. Committee for Green Foothills is preparing its recommendations for the Sustainable Development Study and will continue to work with Supervisor Kniss and her staff on this issue.

CGF continues to watch...
Committee for Green Foothills and Stanford Open Space Alliance will continue our monitoring efforts. We plan to update the Report Card as a way to provide public reports on progress toward these important environmental protections.

The Community Plan report card is available from the Committee by emailing reportcard@greenfoothills.org or calling 650-968-7243.

It is also available to Download as an Acrobat PDF file.

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