Council may seek earlier public input on Cargill

San Mateo County Times March 25, 2008 Council may seek earlier public input on Cargill City to decide action after manager’s analysis on development of salt flats by Shaun Bishop The next step in determining the fate of Cargill Salt lands in Redwood City hinges on the city attorney’s analysis of a proposed ballot initiative that would give voters veto power over the site’s development. City Attorney Stan Yamamoto on Friday is expected to release his analysis of “Open Space Vote,” a proposed amendment to the city charter filed March 13 by several environmental groups. When that happens, supporters likely...

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A great day for Coyote Valley!

(I think our press release speaks for itself. -Brian) Committee for Green FoothillsNEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2008 PRESS CONTACTS:Brian Schmidt, Legislative Advocatephone (650) 968-7243, (415) 994-7403 cell * [email protected] Committee for Green Foothills Welcomes Withdrawal of Coyote Valley Development Proposal, Calls for New Steps to Protect Against Sprawl The Committee for Green Foothills (CGF) welcomed the decision today by the Coyote Housing Group to withdraw its proposal to develop three thousand acres of working farmland and vital wildlife habitat in Coyote Valley, and CGF called on San Jose to act now to stop new sprawl proposals. “The...

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Activists seek charter change

San Mateo Daily Journal March 15, 2008 Activists seek charter change by Michelle Durand Environmentalists hoping to stunt future Redwood City development filed paperwork Thursday to change the city’s charter to place the fate of all projects involving open space in the hands of voters rather than the City Council. The effort, known as the “Open Space Initiative,” is a smack at the pending Cargill saltworks plan although proponents are hesitant to say so. The Cargill site, approximately the size of the Presidio in San Francisco, is the largest untouched land parcel on the Bay and the subject of intense...

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CGF opposes inappropriate hillside San Jose development

(CGF sent the following short letter to the San Jose Planning Commission, supporting staff’s recommendation to reject the proposed hillside development in San Jose’s Evergreen District. More information is available here. -Brian) Dear Planning Commission members, The Committee for Green Foothills agrees with City Staff recommending denial of a developer’s proposal to rezone hillside land in the Evergreen District from a quasi-public designated use to residential development. Any one of the many reasons staff have provided for why this proposal is a bad idea. Intensified development that would push into the 15% slope is a bad precedent, which may actually...

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Stanford University withdraws request to dump construction dirt

The Mercury News March 12, 2008 Stanford University withdraws request to dump construction dirt Construction-related Fill Worried Neighbors by Lisa Krieger Stanford University has withdrawn its application to dump large amounts of excavated dirt, generated by its campus construction, on its 143-acre former Christmas tree farm between Sand Hill Road and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, west of Interstate 280. The San Mateo County Planning Department received Stanford’s request March 4 to withdraw its application for a permit to place 300,000 cubic yards of fill — excavated from underground parking lots and basements of new buildings — onto the property...

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Great news for Santa Clara Valley Water District – all environmental recommendations were enacted

I just wanted to follow up on the Urgent Alert we wrote up (and sent out by our diligent Office Manager Wendee on Saturday afternoon). The day before, the Water District finalized a decision to consider a number of recommendations made by the District’s Environmental Advisory Committee (I’m the current chair of the EAC). More information is here, but suffice it to say that all recommendations were accepted, so the Water District is on record that industrial producers should be responsible for pollution from their products, and that the District will focus more closely on the environmental problems from erosion....

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Stanford drops plan to dump fill on former Christmas tree farm

The Almanac March 10, 2008 Stanford drops plan to dump fill on former Christmas tree farm By Marion Softky Almanac Staff Faced with a long and expensive fight, Stanford has withdrawn its application to dump large amounts of fill, generated by its campus expansion, on the former Christmas tree farm along Sand Hill Road, west of Interstate 280 and across from the Horse Park. On March 4, the San Mateo County Planning Department received Stanford’s request to withdraw the application to place 300,000 cubic yards of fill over 10 years onto its 143-acre property between Sand Hill Road and the...

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Developing open space: should voters decide?

The Almanac March 8, 2008 Developing open space: should voters decide? By Marion Softky Almanac Staff A broad coalition of environmental groups wants to qualify an initiative in Redwood City to require two-thirds of city voters to approve any new development in the city’s open space areas. Members of the Open Space Vote Coalition launched their initiative to amend the city charter at a press conference in front of City Hall on March 6. “The protection and restoration of the Bay has long been a priority of Redwod City voters,” said Ralph Nobles, who has already led two successful referenda...

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Saving the Bay doesn’t require a sucker punch

San Mateo Daily Journal March 7, 2008 Saving the Bay doesn’t require a sucker punch Editorial Redwood City may have a history of bold development decisions, but the city’s leadership is moving forward with a new concept of receptiveness and collaboration in response to resident concerns. In Mayor Rosanne Foust’s State of the City address earlier this year, she outlined the “us versus them” mentality she would like to erase through increased communication. This was a lesson learned years ago when the city withstood the arsenal of Measure Q, a citizen-driven initiative that torpedoed Marina Shores, a plan to develop...

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