 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
Greenbelt Alliance In the News
September 22, 2004 Coyote Valley concept gets OK
BUT S.J. COUNCIL TO WATCH COSTS By Janice RombeckThe conceptual framework for San Jose's ambitious plan to create a new 75,000-member community in Coyote Valley got a nod of approval from the city council Tuesday night, but with the understanding that any of the four main design elements could still be changed, especially if they turn out to be too costly. In accepting the 20-member task force's first progress report on the Coyote Valley Specific Plan, council members asked planners to start looking at costs along with uses for the 7,000 acres of mostly undeveloped land in southern San Jose. Councilman Chuck Reed said not having a cost analysis was like sending his children into a toy store to write their Christmas wish lists. "It's a great list but Santa Claus doesn't have that much money," he said. Landowners concerned Council members expressed their concern after listening to 28 speakers, including many who own land in the greenbelt agricultural area and pleaded with council members to have their properties included in the Coyote Valley plan. While landowners in the other areas of Coyote Valley stand to make millions as their farmland is bought for housing or commercial developments, they will watch their property values decrease, they argued. Nearly half of Coyote Valley land is in the greenbelt area, a non-urban buffer between San Jose and Morgan Hill, but those landowners "have been left out of the planning," said Richard DeSmet, co-founder of the Coyote Valley Alliance for Smart Planning. They need a chair on the task force, he said. Vice Mayor Pat Dando agreed. "We have to find a way to include them," she said. Tuesday's discussion focused on four design elements that would make up the framework of the new community, which is expected to attract 25,000 housing units and 50,000 jobs. * A 60- to 65-acre lake near the intersection of Bailey Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard. * A spoke-designed transit system that would run on a fixed guideway, like the light rail only with less expensive rubber tires. It could eventually become a light-rail line. * Fisher Creek would be restored to its original location along the hills and would provide trails, habitat and flood control. * A parkway would loop through Coyote Valley to handle a high volume of traffic. It could be landscaped and provide areas for drainage and flood control. Consultants on hand The task force was guided by the city planning staff and a consultant team headed by the Dahlin Group and KenKay Associates. The team was at the meeting, taking notes on the concerns expressed by the public. "The team is taking these concerns very much to heart," said planning's deputy director, Laurel Prevetti. Other critics at Tuesday's hearing included the Greenbelt Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to land conservation, and developer John Sobrato, who believes the plan's office-space density is too high for the available land. The next progress report is expected to be heard before the council in November. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED The Coyote Valley Specific Plan can be found on www.sanjoseca.gov/planning ### |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
