Here’s another opportunity to help protect Coyote Valley. On Monday, September 23, there will be a public meeting about the environmental impacts of the Heritage Oaks Memorial Park, a sprawling cemetery and crematorium that’s been proposed on the hills overlooking Coyote Valley. Please attend the Zoom meeting or email the City of San Jose to show your concern about the impacts this project will have on Coyote Valley!

What’s Happening

In 2014, the city of San Jose rezoned 275 acres of hillsides on the west side of Coyote Valley for a cemetery. The Heritage Oaks Memorial Park would sprawl over 102 acres – an area larger than 77 football fields – and would include a crematorium, multiple mausoleums and other buildings, and an extensive network of roads and parking lots. As part of this massive project, the developer will carve up the hillsides, excavating the ridges and knolls by as much as 75 feet and using the extracted soil to level out the natural contours of the hills. The developer also plans to install and irrigate 75 acres of non-native turf grass and remove more than 100 native oak trees.

When this project was first proposed ten years ago, environmental groups strenuously objected to this sprawling and wasteful plan, but the city approved the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) over our opposition. The project was then paused for years.

Now, the developer is asking the city to approve a permit for the first two phases of the project. Even though these first phases would only use about 40 of the total 102 acres the cemetery is expected to cover, there would still be serious impacts to Coyote Valley.

Last November, we asked the city to require a supplemental EIR for the Heritage Oaks Memorial Park to evaluate the project in light of new information about wildlife movement, wildfire risk, and other impacts. We’re pleased to report that the city listened to the voice of the community and will be preparing a supplemental EIR for this project. Now, the public needs to weigh in on the environmental review process.

Why It Matters

The Heritage Oaks Memorial Park is located directly in the path of wildlife movement from the Santa Cruz Mountains across Coyote Valley. Wildlife attempting to migrate through these hills towards Coyote Valley would be deterred by the disturbance, noise, lights, and human activity associated with the multiple mausoleums, a crematorium, and an extensive network of roads and parking lots sprawling over many acres.

The developer also plans to install 1.4 million square feet of lawn burial grounds and non-native turf grass in this phase of the project, and to construct over 3 miles of pipeline through Coyote Valley to convey recycled water to irrigate all this non-native grass. Water, including recycled water, is precious in California, and should not be used to irrigate millions of square feet of grass lawns, particularly when ordinary residents are called upon to remove their grass lawns to conserve water.

Wildfire is another impact to be considered. This cemetery would be located in the wildland-urban interface, an area of concern for wildfire risk. Fire protection services would be further stretched by the need to protect this development.

What You Can Do

Please attend the city’s Zoom meeting or email the city to show your concern about the impacts this project will have on Coyote Valley.

Meeting information:
Monday, September 23 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting Link: https://sanjoseca.zoom.us/j/99461471186
By Phone: (888) 475 4499
Webinar ID: 994 6147 1186

If you are unable to attend the Zoom meeting, please email the City of San Jose using the form below.

Thank you for speaking up to protect Coyote Valley!