Open space battle begins

San Mateo Daily Journal March 6, 2008 Open space battle begins by Michelle Durand, Daily Journal Staff A trio of environmental groups plan to announce a ballot measure today to protect parks and open space in Redwood City but Mayor Rosanne Foust said not being given a heads up is “incredibly insulting.” “As I said in my State of the City address, I do not want to divide the community,” said Foust, adding she was disappointed at what she believes is a “complete lack of courtesy” by the environmental leaders involved. This morning, Save the Bay Executive Director David Lewis,...

Read more...

Ballot measure may heighten tension over Cargill land

The Mercury News March 6, 2008 Ballot measure may heighten tension over Cargill land by Shaun Bishop Bay Area News Group Local conservationists unveiled a ballot measure Thursday that would give Redwood City voters power to veto development in the city’s open space areas, an effort the mayor fears will heighten tensions over a large area of Bayfront property owned by Cargill, Inc. The initiative would change the city charter to require two-thirds approval from city voters on top of any OKs given by city officials for plans to build on areas defined as open space. The three environmental groups...

Read more...
Victory in and for Coyote Valley

Victory in and for Coyote Valley

Spring began this year with extremely welcome news, that the land developer entity calling itself the Coyote Housing Group had decided to withdraw its proposal to destroy three thousand acres of working farmland and vital wildlife habitat in Coyote Valley. While the environmental community cannot claim the sole credit for victory, our successful effort to force consideration of environmental issues was a necessary element in stopping it. The simple fact is that destroying the environment is costly and time-consuming, and that fact combined with the uncertain economy to end the project. This view of Coyote Valley won’t change for a...

Read more...

Thank the stars that they’re not around here

News reports suggest that arson against a mansion development in Washington state may have been the work of “ecoterrorists”. The evidence released so far is skimpy, and even the term “ecoterrorism” is debatable to me, tying it to terroristic violence when “ecoarson” might be more appropriate. Regardless, though, I’m very glad we don’t have foolish people pulling these stunts in our area. They are so counterproductive that they would only make the job of sprawl-fighting organizations like CGF much tougher. Civil disobedience, by contrast, is more of a mixed outcome. I could see it being counterproductive in many circumstances, but...

Read more...

Amah-Mutsun comments on the issue of Coyote Valley development proposals

(Attached is a copy of a letter from Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah-Mutsun Tribal Band, regarding development in Coyote Valley. It’s important to recognize the cultural implications as well as the environmental implications from misguided development in Coyote Valley. -Brian) January 4, 2007 Mr. Daryl Boyd Planning Services Division 200 East Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA95113-1905 Subject: Coyote Valley EIR Dear Mr. Boyd, I am writing this letter on behalf of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB). The AMTB is comprised of the descendents of Missions San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz. CoyoteValley represents the transitional territory between...

Read more...

Fisher: Fry’s founder’s PGA dream closer to reality

The Mercury News March 3, 2008 Fisher: Fry’s founder’s PGA dream closer to reality by Patty Fisher It’s looking more and more likely that electronics mogul John Fry will get to host a PGA tournament at his private golf course, the one he built without permits in his back yard. I guess it just goes to show that you can do just about anything you want in Morgan Hill — if you have enough money, prestige and time. Last week, after years of speculation, the PGA confirmed that Fry’s exclusive course was likely to be on the tour in 2010...

Read more...

PGA Tour eyes Fry’s course

The Mercury News February 27, 2008 PGA Tour eyes Fry’s course MORGAN HILL EVENT FACES OBSTACLES by Barry Witt and Eric Pinkela The PGA Tour announced Tuesday it would bring a tournament to electronics mogul John Fry’s super-private Morgan Hill course in 2010 — the first time in more than four decades the world’s most prestigious golf tour has come to Silicon Valley. But in keeping with the strange history of the course, which was built illegally without benefit of required environmental permits, Fry still has several regulatory hurdles to clear before the proposed “Institute Championship” will be allowed —...

Read more...

Trails saga, like soap opera, seems endless

The Mercury News February 13, 2008 Trails saga, like soap opera, seems endless by Patty Fisher It’s my favorite soap opera, and it’s back after a yearlong hiatus. I call it “Stanford Trails to Nowhere.” It’s the eight-year-long saga of the efforts by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to get Stanford University to build a couple of hiking trails along the edges of its campus, trails that would hook up with others and make it possible for folks to walk from Palo Alto to the ocean. Back in 2000 when the agreement was made, I actually thought that...

Read more...

Government as prosecutor versus government as defendant

As an attorney, I have to do Continuing Legal Education to keep my Bar membership, so I’ve been listening to audio CDs about environmental trial advocacy education. They consist mostly of dialog between attorneys who are government prosecutors for environmental crimes and attorneys who represent environmental crime defendants. What struck me as in interesting was the main prosecuting attorney’s advice to opposing counsel to be cooperative, not to use a scorched-earth legal strategy, to admit fault where fault occurred and to work to fix the problem. He argued that defendants get much better results than fighting with everything they’ve got....

Read more...

A congratulations post – to Lennie Roberts, Hewlett and Packard families, and even the Homebuilders Association

I’ll just gather a few congratulations together: First to CGF’s own Lennie Roberts for winning the Conservationist of the Year Award from the John Muir Association. CGF’s write-up is here: Congratulations to long-time Committee for Green Foothills San Mateo Advocate Lennie Roberts, who will be honored on January 20 by the John Muir Association as its 30th Annual Conservationist of the Year. The John Muir Conservation Awards are given annually to recognize those whose work continues John Muir’s legacy of environmental preservation. Corrina Marshall, Acting Executive Director of CGF, writes that Lennie’s efforts as CGF’s San Mateo County Advocate have...

Read more...

Note

You are leaving the Green Foothills website to go to our Protect Coyote Valley website.

Continue on to PCV Petition