CGF letter to the Coyote Valley Task Force

(The letter below was delivered to the Coyote Valley Task Force yesterday. -Brian)

January 14, 2008

CVSP Task Force

Re: Updates to Coyote Valley process

Dear CVSP Task Force Members;

I regret that I will not be able to attend today’s meeting, and would like to make the following points:

1. The Committee for Green Foothills supports the Sierra Club’s call to bring the Coyote Valley process to a close, at the very least temporarily closing the process until the General Plan review is complete, for all the reasons stated by the Sierra Club.

2. I attended the Nov. 29^th TAC meeting but was not listed as a Committee member in the minutes. If I’ve been demoted, I wasn’t aware of it.

3. The City Staff said at the TAC that the Draft Fiscal Analysis revision is being postponed. It is not clear whether the revision will respond to the extensive comments that we at CGF submitted to the first draft. We request clarification as to whether there will be a response to those comments, especially the assertion that the analysis relied on unrealistic assumptions regarding the housing market and household income.

4. In addition to our original comments, the revised fiscal analysis should address the changes in the housing market that has occurred in the last two years, particularly the slowed increase in prices and reduced turnover in sales, both of which should have profound fiscal implications to the revised analysis.

5. If the planned fiscal analysis revision is not already planning to address our previous comments and the new economic conditions, we humbly request that the Task Force vote on whether it should. We note that some Task Force members had previously requested a response to these comments.

6. The City will undoubtedly be glad to know that Committee for Green Foothills has won special funding so that we can do an in-depth review of the revised Fiscal Analysis when it is made available, a review that will go beyond my own limited expertise. I assume we can rely on the cooperation of the City and its consultants for requests to see the data and methodology used in the analysis.
Please contact us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Brian A. Schmidt

Legislative Advocate, Santa Clara County