(Below is a letter from the Center for Biological Diversity warning San Jose and Santa Clara that withdrawing/suspending their participation in the Habitat Plan could result in immediate legal vulnerabilities. It’s the same issue I warn about in the video above. -Brian) August 29, 2011 Santa Clara County Board of SupervisorsCounty Government CenterTenth Floor –...
Author: Brian Schmidt
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Two minutes, three points, three successes
It’s hard to figure out how many points you can get across in the very limited time for public comment at various agency meetings. In the case of Monday’s San Jose Task Force meeting to revise its General Plan, they gave us two minutes. I decided to make two points and get in a third...
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Guest post: A Riparian Exploration of San Jose
(Below is a guest post by CGF Intern Kelsey Grousbeck. -Brian) We all know urban creeks don’t get the best treatment. There are organizations and felons dedicated to cleaning the banks and there are messages above storm drains that caution people to think before they dump, but these measures cannot protect every...
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Joint Organization letter on the San Jose General Plan
(CGF co-authored the letter below with a number of other environmental groups. -Brian) August 15, 2011 Mr. Andrew Crabtree, Envision Team Leader Planning, Building and Code Enforcement San Jose City Hall 200 East Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA 95113 Dear Mr. Crabtree, On behalf of Greenbelt Alliance, the Loma-Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club,...
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CGF Comment letter on San Jose General Plan Programmatic EIR
(We wrote the letter below on the draft environmental review for the San Jose General Plan. CGF Intern Kelsey Grousbeck did great work co-authoring this letter. -Brian) August 15, 2011 Andrew Crabtree, City of San Jose RE: Committee for Green Foothills comment letter on the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for Envision San Jose 2040...
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CGF letter gets extension of time to file comments on San Jose General Plan EIR
(We’re happy to note that the letter we wrote and found co-signers below resulted in a two week extension of time to file comments by anyone, greatly helping the role of public participation. CGF Intern Kelsey Grousbeck did great work to help make it happen. San Jose staff also deserve credit for being willing to...
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Apple orchard in Cupertino?
Take a look at this Youtube video of a presentation by Steve Jobs to Cupertino City Council, discussing a potential new campus for Apple that would bring back plum orchards and natural landscaping. The new jobs could also have a lot of impacts that need addressing, but the proposal is interesting. -Brian
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Tipping points for housing-deficient areas
In a housing deficient area like here in the San Francisco Bay region, it’s wrong to simply say any new house anywhere is a good thing. This is true economically as well as environmentally – a potential house location 10 miles due east of San Jose might sound like a quick jaunt away from Silicon...
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Real version of Farmville – a model for local farms?
Here’s an interesting experiment in England – a farm is signing up 10,000 subscribers to run their farm, making actual monthly decisions (loosely based on the Facebook game called Farmville): The farm is on the National Trust’s Wimpole Estate. You’ll be part of a group of 10,000 online Farmers working with farm manager Richard Morris to...
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CGF urges Gilroy to stay involved in the County Habitat Plan
(We sent the letter below to Gilroy’s City Council, urging them to reconsider a proposal to withdraw from the County Habitat Plan. Their decision was to reconsider it a later point. -Brian) May 2, 2011 City Council City of Gilroy Re: Item 10b, Gilroy‘s participation in the CountyHabitat Plan Dear City Council Members; As...