On Thursday, January 25, the San Jose Parks and Recreation Commission will hear a report from city staff concerning the official definition of parkland in the City Charter. Please ask the Commission to ensure that the definition of parkland fully protects all existing, under-construction, and planned parks in the City of San Jose. What’s Happening...
Category: San Jose General Plan
Ask San Jose Planning Commission to Recommend Protecting Coyote Valley
On Wednesday, October 27, the San Jose Planning Commission will vote on recommendations to amend the General Plan to change the land use in Coyote Valley from industrial development to open space and agriculture. Please email the Planning Commission and tell them to protect Coyote Valley! Setting the Stage for Historic City Council Vote in...
CGF Joint letter on protecting San Jose hillsides from sprawl
(CGF sent the letter below with other organizations on using the Draft General Plan to protect San Jose hillsides from sprawl. We also sent a clarification that the support from city staff referred to staff’s original March 21, 2011 position, and that staff’s later positions have varied. -Brian) October 25, 2011 San Jose City Hall...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Letter to San Jose Envision 2040 Task Force on backloading North Coyote and East Evergreen
(The letter below was submitted to the San Jose General Plan Task Force, discussing why and how the City should “backload” development in the greenspace areas of North Coyote and east Evergreen until until other areas have been fully developed, if at all. -Brian) Envision San Jose 2040 Task Force Re: following the City Council’s...
Victory for riparian protection in San Jose
Good news from the revision process for the San Jose General Plan – staff has included a 100′ stream buffer from development in all but “exceptional circumstances” in the draft to be sent to the City Council. This protection was originally omitted, but I pointed out the omission at Monday’s Task Force revision, and staff...