On March 11, 2016, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) will determine whether or not to allow the City of Morgan Hill an annexation request to develop the Southeast Quadrant (SEQ). Ultimately, the City plans is to annex and develop 400 acres of farmland. LAFCo’s job is to protect farmland, and prevent sprawl. Let’s make sure...
Speak up for wildlife and farmland in Coyote Valley! The City of San Jose has announced that it will be scheduling a community meeting for the public to learn about, and give feedback on, a proposed warehouse and distribution center in North Coyote Valley. We will send out email alerts when the time and place...
Thanks to you and our members we’re celebrating another great year of local open space protection. It’s only because of our community that we’re able to speak up for local nature. 2015 was no different. From the San Mateo County Coast, the the Peninsula Foothills, to Santa Clara Valley’s farmlands, thanks to the support from...
Legislative Advocate Julie Hutcheson has been engaged in the North Gilroy Neighborhood Districts proposal, a 721-acre housing and commercial project that could increase Gilroy’s population by 26%. The developer is requesting an amendment to the city’s Urban Service Area (USA). A city’s USA designates land that is served by urban services (police, fire, water and...
It’s summer, and while that might mean less work for some, there’s no slowing down our three legislative advocates. Julie Hutcheson has been busy as ever advocating to protect farmland in southern Santa Clara County, and was quoted in a Morgan Hill Times article (City to spend $5.3 million on property for ball fields (7/17/15)...
By: Julie Hutcheson, Legislative Advocate Most people have never heard of a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo). Neither, you might be surprised to find out, have many of our local elected officials. Yet 57 of California’s 58 counties have one, and Santa Clara County is no exception. Santa Clara’s LAFCo has been one of the...
Advocate Lennie Roberts is currently entrenched in the City of Half Moon Bay’s Local Coastal Program and general plan update process. She is speaking up to ensure the plans protect the city’s endangered species, fertile farms, coastal bluffs and beaches. Recently, thanks to Lennie’s efforts and the outpouring of public comment, the city council directed...
“Another longtime SEQ opponent, the Committee for Green Foothills, remains steadfastly opposed. Approving the plan in a ‘piecemeal’ fashion as the council has in recent months ‘sends a clear message to (LAFCO and other agencies) that the council is becoming more entrenched in its position to soon annex these lands into the city for development,’...
Earlier this week our very own Legislative Advocate, Julie Hutcheson, was quoted in the Morgan Hill Times. The article, SEQ Mired in Stalemate: Council vote likely not enough to gain key approvals for ag preservation, land use plan (11/12/14) by Michael Moore, discusses the City of Morgan Hill’s plan to annex farmland in the Southeast Quadrant (SEQ)....
If it’s prime [farmland] and especially if it’s got water, it’s taken. – Pete Aiello, President, Santa Clara County Farm Bureau Pete Aiello’s words spoken at the Agricultural Summit in September underlined the serious need for farmland preservation in Santa Clara County. The Summit was organized by American Farmland Trust, Committee for Green Foothills, and...
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