The City of San Jose is considering approval of a massive cemetery complex in the hills above Coyote Valley, in an area critical for wildlife connectivity and treasured for its sweeping natural views. The proposed Heritage Oaks Memorial Park would level the ridgeline, fragment habitat with buildings and roads, add a crematory, and permanently alter the landscape visible from nearby nature preserves. We have been working to ensure that city leaders and community members understand the significant environmental harm this project would cause. Already, nearly 500 San Jose residents have contacted the City to voice their opposition to this destructive proposal.
A Massive Development on a Sensitive Ridgeline
The Heritage Oaks Memorial Park is a proposal for a massive cemetery that would sprawl over 100+ acres of Coyote Valley’s hillsides – an area larger than 77 football fields. This project would include a crematory, eight mausoleums, a two-mile network of paved roads, and a 124-space parking lot. The developer intends to carve up the ridgeline, excavating the hilltops and using the soil to fill in the gullies, and then install 75 acres of non-native turf grass – which would then require 98 million gallons of irrigation water each year. A three-mile-long recycled water pipeline would need to be constructed through Coyote Valley to provide this irrigation water.
When fully constructed, the cemetery is expected to accommodate 150,000 ground burial plots and 150,000 spaces for cremation burials. The number of cremations is expected to reach 3,000 per year by the tenth year of operation. Crematories, because of the air quality impacts, are normally only allowed in heavy industrial districts, not on open space hillside areas.
When this cemetery was first proposed in 2014, Green Foothills and other environmental groups strenuously objected to this destructive project, but the city approved it over our opposition. The project was then paused for years, but now the developer has applied for a permit to move forward with construction. However, much has changed in the years since 2014. Thousands of acres of land surrounding the cemetery are now protected open space, and wildlife studies have provided new data about the importance of this site as a wildlife linkage. The project itself has also changed since 2014, adding a crematory and a three-mile recycled water pipeline through Coyote Valley, which were not part of the 2014 proposal.
Because of these changes, the city has conducted additional environmental analysis (called a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report or SEIR). The SEIR provides an opportunity for members of the public to send comments to the city about the environmental impacts of the cemetery. If you’re a San Jose resident, please use our online form to send in a comment – the deadline is March 4.
Blocking a Critical Wildlife Pathway
The Heritage Oaks cemetery site is located directly in the path of Coyote Valley’s wildlife linkage. Coyote Valley provides one of only two pathways for animals to migrate from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Diablo Range and back, and this project would obstruct that pathway with multiple mausoleums, a crematory, and a network of paved roads. Over 100 acres of hillsides would be bulldozed in order to cut off the top of the ridgeline, and the natural grassland and oak savannah – which provides habitat for at-risk species like mountain lions, golden eagles, California tiger salamanders, and native bumblebees – would be replaced with non-native turf grass.
Because the cemetery would sit on top of the ridgeline, it would be clearly visible from nearby nature preserves such as the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve and the Máyyan ‘Ooyákma preserve on Coyote Ridge. Scenic views from the trails in these preserves would feature this massive cemetery on top of the hills instead of the native landscape there now.
Strong Community Opposition to Cemetery
On February 4, we held a Lunch & Learn virtual event to provide information about the Heritage Oaks cemetery and share tips on how to draft effective comment letters to the city. Over 60 people attended this event; you can watch the recording here. The concerns shared by attendees during the event included:
- Impacts to wildlife and views
- Waste of water for irrigated lawn
- Loss of heritage oak trees
- Health and safety concerns for water and air due to chemicals such as mercury emissions from the crematory – the Chesbro and Calero drinking water reservoirs are located very close to this project
- Expanding the human footprint unnecessarily into natural open space
- How fencing would impede wildlife movement
- Potential for opening up nearby land to future development
- Traffic hazards for cyclists on McKean Road
We are submitting a detailed comment letter to the San Jose City Council and city staff, documenting our concerns about the harm the proposed cemetery would cause. We will continue to monitor this issue and will fight for the habitat on this site every way we can. Please encourage your friends in San Jose to contact the city council and to subscribe to our newsletter for updates.