By Alice Kaufman
One of the last significant pieces of open space in the Santa Clara Valley is once again threatened by industrial development. Nestled between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range in south San Jose, Coyote Valley spans over 7,400 acres – that’s seven times the size of Golden Gate Park. This surviving remnant of the open space that once covered all of the Santa Clara Valley floor is not only beautiful and critical habitat for wildlife but also filters our groundwater, cleans our air, and helps fight climate change.
The northern 1,400 acres of Coyote Valley, known as North Coyote Valley — an expanse of active and fallow farmland, wetlands, and creeks that harbors all kinds of wildlife — is currently under threat. Instead of fields where red-winged blackbirds sing in the yellow mustard plants, we might see only enormous warehouses with hundreds of semi-trailer trucks coming and going, delivering packages all over Silicon Valley. Instead of peace and tranquility near Fisher Creek on the west side of the valley, we might have the lights, noise, and activity of busy industries operating right next door, driving away the bobcats and mountain lions that currently travel along the creek corridors. And instead of the “green infrastructure” and the measurable natural economic benefits of Coyote Valley, we might have increased air pollution, climate change, and groundwater contamination.
If you love Coyote Valley as much as all of us at Committee for Green Foothills, you can help us protect this unique and precious piece of open space.
We’ve Stopped Them Before
The history of Coyote Valley is one of repeated development attempts. So far, most have failed, due to a combination of economic conditions and fierce resistance by local residents and organizations. Although some developments have been built — the IBM campus on Bailey Avenue, the Metcalf Energy Center near the PG&E substation — the massive proposed industrial campuses and sprawling residential developments didn’t happen.
In the 1980s, the San Jose City Council designated North Coyote Valley (from Tulare Hill to just south of Bailey Avenue) for future industrial development; Mid Coyote Valley (from just south of Bailey Avenue to Palm Avenue), as Urban Reserve; and South Coyote Valley (from Palm Avenue to Morgan Hill), as protected greenbelt. In 1999, North Coyote Valley narrowly escaped being almost entirely converted into the massive Coyote Valley Research Park, including a huge Cisco campus. Community opposition and the 2001 dot-com crash stopped this project. Soon thereafter the city initiated the Coyote Valley Specific Plan process, proposing that both North and Mid Coyote Valley contain a combination of industrial, commercial, and residential development. This attempt, too, petered out from a combination of local community opposition and the 2008 recession.
We Must Stop Them Again
In 2010, the city council reaffirmed that Mid Coyote Valley would be Urban Reserve and thus off limits to development until 2040. North Coyote Valley, however, is still designated for industrial development. Now, with the economy booming, development proposals for North Coyote Valley have begun to reappear. In 2015 Gavilan College began construction of a long-planned “Coyote Valley campus” on Bailey Avenue. Panattoni Development Company has filed an application for a 30-acre, 400,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center with loading docks for 84 trucks on Monterey Road, just south of the Metcalf Energy Center; no information is available about the hours of operation or the frequency of truck trips on Monterey Road or Santa Teresa Road. Furthermore, in April 2016 the 570-acre site of the old Coyote Valley Research Park was sold to the Brandenburg Development Company. Though development applications have not yet been submitted at the time this article was written, we expect they are coming soon.
Why is Coyote Valley important?
Wildlife. Although every remaining piece of open space in Silicon Valley is precious, Coyote Valley carries a special significance as a gap between the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and the Diablo (or Hamilton) Range to the east. The animals living in these hills need to migrate from one range to the other, which means an open Coyote Valley is necessary for their survival. As the closest point between these two ranges as well as the least developed, North Coyote Valley is a critical migratory corridor.
In 2012 De Anza College published Safe Passage for Coyote Valley, a study showing that animals, including large mammals such as deer and mountain lions, are crossing Coyote Valley, using the culverts and underpasses to cross the barrier created by Highway 101. A 2016 study — released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, and Guadalupe-Coyote Resource Conservation District — showed that animals are migrating lengthways along the valley floor as well, using the creek corridors of Fisher Creek and the culverts under Monterey Road. That study also found that Coyote Valley provides breeding and foraging habitat for animals such as bobcats and coyotes, making the entire valley area critical habitat for these species.
Water. Groundwater is another important environmental resource that benefits from Coyote Valley’s open space. The Coyote Watershed is the county’s largest — 322 square miles — and because of local geology, Coyote Valley is one of the few places where the aquifer which supplies a significant percentage of Santa Clara County’s drinking water can be recharged.
Farmland. Coyote Valley contains much of Santa Clara County’s remaining prime farmland soils. Silicon Valley, earlier famed as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for the blossoming orchards that covered it, has lost most of its historic agricultural land. It is vital to preserve what remains if locally grown food is to be available in the future.
Air Quality and Climate Change. Farmland, like other open space, plays a critical role in providing the green infrastructure that cleans our air and water and fights climate change. Recently, the County of Santa Clara was awarded a $100,000 state-funded grant analyzing Coyote Valley’s role in this ecosystem service. The grant, one of only 5 awarded across the state, will be used to create a regional framework connecting farmland preservation with climate change mitigation efforts in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Jose and the unincorporated areas of the county. This endeavor, the first of its kind in the county, could help better direct future growth and potentially protect a significant amount of farmland remaining in the county as a climate change mitigation strategy.
Quality of Life. Finally, Coyote Valley is important because it is beautiful. As the Bay Area becomes more and more built up, and more and more of our lives are devoted to fighting traffic on our clogged roadways, each last remnant of nature becomes more and more precious. With the vistas of hills on both sides, the sweep of fields stretching all the way to winding lines of trees that indicate the presence of creeks, and the open sky above with raptors circling looking for prey in the fields below, Coyote Valley provides a last glimpse of what our area might have looked like long ago. This treasure can and should be protected.
Coyote Valley Must Be Preserved
Committee for Green Foothills, together with partner organizations, is working to change San Jose’s attitude towards North Coyote Valley. For decades, city government has viewed it as little more than a place to put future jobs. But we know that not only is Coyote Valley highly important for wildlife but also that the services it provides to San Jose residents — reducing air pollution, filtering contaminants from groundwater, and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere — have measurable economic value that even those who never see beyond a balance sheet should recognize. And for those who enjoy fields, creeks, and hillsides, the Coyote Valley region is the most beautiful place in all of San Jose. It would be a mistake to destroy this wonderful place.
What You Can Do
Committee for Green Foothills has worked with other groups to found the “I Love Coyote Valley” online community through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please find and “like” these pages. Sign up to receive our email alerts, and we will notify you when you should let the city council or planning commission know how you feel about sprawl in Coyote Valley. And of course, please tell your friends and neighbors about the wonders of Coyote Valley and how special it is for all of us! Together, we can save this jewel of open space for future generations.
Upcoming Events in Coyote Valley
Coyote Valley Family Farm Feast– September 10, 2016 from 11:00am-3pm
Coyote Valley Wildlife Tracking Hike– December 10, 2016 from 8:30am-12:00pm
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