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.