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In Santa Clara County, CGF works to curb large
development appetites, to steer city and county governments towards better
management of development, and to preserve precious open space including
hillsides, ranchlands, farmland, watersheds, and sensitive habitat.

Santa Clara County is a dynamic region facing
intense development pressure, particularly along the southern and western
edges of the county. The region has undergone expansive growth in the
last 20 years, during which time orchards have been replaced with freeways,
industrial development, and suburban sprawl.

Committee for Green Foothills has a long history
of working to enact sound policies and planning principles that shape
this region's growth and protect vital open space and wildlife habitat.
Towards this end, we work closely with elected officials and planning
departments to review development proposals and enact protective planning
policies. Through extensive community outreach and education, CGF empowers
community members to engage in the struggle for open space protection.

Our campaigns in this region are many and varied. All are aimed at keeping
Santa Clara County an environmentally sound and beautiful place.

Opposing environmentally destructive projects

As part of our ongoing monitoring of the region's
hillsides, open space, and valuable habitat, CGF regularly identifies
and actively opposes environmentally destructive projects. CGF carefully
analyses Environmental Impact Reports, ensuring their adequacy so that
decisionmakers will be fully informed of a project's impact. Often, environmentally
destructive projects are not in compliance with planning and zoning laws;
if approved, they would set a precedent for similarly destructive development
to follow. When this is the case, CGF will challenge the development proposal
on its legal inadequacies.

With
development pressure increasing in Santa Clara County, more urban-scale
projects are being proposed in areas outside of the urban services areas
of our cities, where land is cheaper. Developers are pushing the envelope,
trying to receive approval for projects that are far too intense for rural
county lands. Often convention centers or office facilities are proposed
for the county's fragile hillsides. Committee for Green Foothills has
a long history of taking a firm stand against such destructive or inappropriately
located projects and continuing our area's legacy of open space.

Establishing protective growth control policies

In an effort to stop sprawl, Committee for Green
Foothills has participated in many campaigns to establish growth controls
in Santa Clara County. By working to contain development in existing urban
areas, thousands of acres of valuable open space including rich agricultural
soil, sensitive habitat, and critical watersheds are being protected from
sprawl.

In
a collaborative effort with Santa Clara County elected representatives
and staff -- as well as other conservation organizations --Committee for
Green Foothills has worked to establish protective hillside zoning policies
and urban growth boundaries throughout the County. CGF lobbied for the
implementation of urban growth boundaries for San Jose in 2000 and for
Milpitas in 1999.

We advocate the establishment of protective
hillside zoning policies because they serve to limit development and protect
large amounts of open space in important viewshed areas. CGF worked collaboratively
with other environmental groups for protective hillside zoning in the
hills outside Milpitas and along the western foothills as part of the
County's Western Hillside Strategy.

CGF led the battle to establish the first-ever
growth controls for Stanford University. By establishing an Academic Growth
Boundary that defines the core campus and drastically restricts the type
of development that can occur in the hills, CGF has helped protect close
to 2,200 acres of foothill open space in northern Santa Clara County.

Creating new protective land use policies

The Committee, working closely with other environmental
organizations, moved the County to set new priorities in its 2002 Land
Use Work Plan to protect habitat, hillsides, and rural areas. The Board
set some new priorities that will mean significant open space and environmental
protections for Santa Clara County. The new Land Use Work Plan directs
County staff to develop a countywide riparian ordinance to protect creekside
habitat and watersheds, and to create more protective Hillside policies.
Community outreach and education

In addition to working directly with elected
officials and planners to enact better policy and planning principles,
CGF works closely with local organizations providing campaign strategy
and legal advice. Through education and support, Committee for Green Foothills
helps community groups conduct grassroots campaigns for the protection
of open space.

CGF worked closely with Friends of Bear Creek
Redwoods for more than four years to help preserve 1,100 acres of oak-studded
hills and 100-year-old redwood groves. Our efforts, carefully coordinated
with other environmental groups, defeated a proposal for a housing subdivision
and golf course. The promise to oppose a new golf course and housing subdivision
in 1999 provided the incentive for the landowner to sell the property
to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 2000. It is now public
parkland, protecting the important watershed that flows into Lexington
Reservoir near Los Gatos.

CGF
worked closely with People for Livable and Affordable Neighborhoods (PLAN)
in an effort to protect the Coyote Valley from Cisco Systems' plans to
build a sprawling industrial campus there. Due to a downturn in the economy,
the planned development is not currently moving forward. We continue to
monitor development plans for this farmland and work with PLAN on outreach
efforts to protect the valuable Pajaro Watershed and surrounding farmland.

Our work in Santa Clara County also includes
a focus on public education and continued coordination with other environmental
groups and elected officials. The Committee produces public environmental
forums to raise awareness of important environmental issues and provide
opportunities for people to get involved. We
initiated and coordinate the Conservation Council, a coalition of environmental
organizations that meets on a regular basis to collaborate on environmental
campaigns throughout the County. The Conservation Council holds regular
Political Breakfasts with elected officials to discuss pressing environmental
issues, staying connected and involved in shaping decisions.

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Protecting rural lands, keeping an eye
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Glossary
What is an "academic growth boundary" anyway?
See our glossary... |
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