I really liked this email from CGF member (and CGF Board Member!) Jeff Segall sent to the City of San Jose on behalf of himself and his wife, so with his permission, it’s reproduced here. -Brian —- Dear Members of the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force, I have great concerns that in some ill-considered...
Category: News
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Ritz to remove illegal seawall
For years now, the bluff below the Ritz Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay has been supported by an illegal 270-foot-long seawall, created by riprap (hunks of granite) placed in an attempt to keep the green for the golf course’s vaunted 18th hole from eroding into the Pacific. As Coastsider.com reports, Ocean Colony Partners has...
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Impervious surface presentation
Here are the notes for today’s presentation to the San Francisquito Creek Watershed Council on the cumulative impacts of impervious surfaces in Santa Clara County, a project we are researching with great help of a grant from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. -Brian — Impervious Surfaces, Cumulative Impacts, and Divergence Between NPDES and CEQA...
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Principles for resolving the Williamson Act issues in Santa Clara County
Along with our Action Alert on Williamson Act issues, CGF submitted the following memo that gives an expanded version of the working principles we think should be used to resolve compliance problems in Santa Clara County. -Brian ————– To: Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors From: Committee for Green Foothills Date: May 31, 2005 Re:...
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News roundup
Nice article about the beautiful and endangered San Francisco garter snake in the Chron. CGF Board Member Chris Powell has a quote in the article about the importance of small animals to the environment. The Mercury News has two articles of interest: first, that the landslides that destroyed homes in Southern California are equally a...
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Some good news in San Jose
I spoke at the San Jose Planning Commission last night to ask them to consider our recommendations for reducing the cumulative impact from impervious surfaces on San Jose watersheds. They were very receptive, and asked me to do a joint presentation with City staff at a study session. I also asked them to start overhauling...
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Pigeon Point Park?
The front page of today’s Mercury News has wonderful news: the Pigeon Point Lighthouse is, as of today, in the hands of the California Parks Department. This landmark building is the site of a long-fought battle in which CGF and others opposed the development at Pigeon Point of a bed and breakfast on Whaler’s Cove,...
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We’re watching you look around, Stanford
A little bird tells us that someone has commissioned a phone survey of Menlo Park residents to ask their opinions of Stanford, of increased development by Stanford, and their opinion of the Committee for Green Foothills. The callers aren’t saying who they’re working for, but we know they aren’t working for us, and that leaves...
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As the song goes, "Paranoia runs deep…."
But it may be accurate. Yesterday’s Coyote Valley Task Force meeting did nothing to reduce the worries we expressed earlier about eliminating San Jose’s triggers that forestall development. The meeting did raise a new worry though. Developer Steve Speno very briefly mentioned the possibility of some type of creative financing tying residential and commercial development...
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Did CGF invent a new catch-phrase?
CGF has long opposed oversized residences in rural areas that dominate the visual landscape, suck up resources, and encourage land speculation. I’ve never been satisfied with the term “monster home” because the word “home” connotes something positive and cozy, which these buildings aren’t. Last fall I thought of and began using the term “monster mansion,”...