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.

... 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.