On June 8th, the San Jose Planning Commission voted 5-3 to direct city staff to conduct a more thorough review of environmental issues with a proposed development along the Santa Teresa ridge. The 17-acre property is ecologically part of Coyote Valley but the City planning maps show it as just north and outside of North...
Author: Brian Schmidt
Drought Makes Green Foothills’ Mission Even More Important
Residents of the Bay Area are quite familiar with the golden hillsides surrounding us during the summer dry season. Yet now those hills remind us that we are in the midst of another severe drought, just five years after a record-breaking dry spell for our state. During a drought emergency, the impact and importance of...
Ask Planning Commissioners to Oppose New Coyote Valley Development
On Wednesday, June 8, the San Jose Planning Commission will consider whether to approve a 5,900 square foot residence on environmentally sensitive, undeveloped land at the north end of Coyote Valley. The location includes an old canal that offers one of only two safe spots for wildlife to cross Santa Teresa Boulevard. Please tell the...
Ask Supervisors to Make Lehigh Quarry Pay for Violations
On Tuesday, June 7, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will receive a report summarizing the more than 2,100 known legal violations Lehigh Quarry and cement plant have been cited for during the last 10 years by local, state, and federal agencies. Please ask the Supervisors to finally begin imposing its own fines on...
Glass Half-Full? High-Speed Rail Avoids Destroying Gilroy Farmland
Regardless of how one may feel about High-Speed Rail (HSR), it is important that it avoids and mitigates impacts to farmlands, ranchlands, and habitats if it moves forward in our area. Despite Green Foothills taking no stance on the statewide question of whether to have high-speed rail, we did submit extensive comments to limit local...
Santa Clara County Continues Agricultural Preservation Work
On Tuesday, April 19, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors decided to continue making progress on financial incentives protecting Coyote Valley’s farmland and open space. We asked the Supervisors to keep the process moving forward, and with over 300 people writing in their support, the Supervisors did just that. County staff brought four different...
Ask Supervisors to Support Incentives to Protect Coyote Valley
On Tuesday, April 19, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to continue making progress on protecting Coyote Valley’s farmland and open space. Please ask the Supervisors to keep moving the process forward and to keep all options on the table that will help preserve farmland and open space. What’s Happening On...
Taking Action to Acquire, Protect, and Restore Lehigh Quarry
For the past century, Lehigh Quarry has been the site of a limestone mining operation and cement plant that has ravaged more than 800 acres of land in the hills outside Cupertino, and indirectly damaged much more land near Rancho San Antonio Park. Now Santa Clara County has a chance to acquire, protect, and restore...
Ask Supervisors to Support Steps to Close Lehigh Quarry
On Tuesday, February 15, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide if staff should investigate options for purchasing Lehigh Quarry and cement plant, potentially ending decades of air and water pollution. The ravaged moonscape of the quarry could finally begin habitat restoration to the benefit of all. Please ask the Supervisors to support...
People Who Give Us Hope: Pat Toombs
Community activists exemplify the saying, “think global, act local.” Pat Toombs, a resident of rural Santa Clara County, embodies this maxim. Her work demonstrates how Green Foothills’ partnerships with local communities stop sprawl development and protect crucial habitat. Pat and her husband Larry live west of Gilroy along Uvas Creek, in an area where farmlands...