First news roundup of 2010

Happy 2010, everybody! Looking forward to a new year with more chances to save and permanently protect our local farmlands and natural open spaces.

Below are a few news items that happened recently:

1. Stanford trail litigation at the California Supreme Court: our litigation against Stanford and Santa Clara County has been tied up on a technical issue - whether we met the right deadline to file suit. The Stanford Daily covers the issue here:

The trails fulfill part of a deal made between Santa Clara County and Stanford in 2000. Stanford started construction of the first trail, located south of Page Mill Road, but when the University tried to move the second trail across Alpine Road into San Mateo County, local environmentalists raised concerns about the effect on land near a local creek.

“There is not enough road on that side, so that means they’ll have to intrude into the riparian area of San Francisquito Creek,” said Brian Schmidt J.D. ‘99, a legislative advocate for the Committee for Green Foothills, a watchdog group that has been looking over Stanford’s shoulder since 1962.

A good article, although Stanford incorrectly asserts that they can widen the Alpine Road sidewalk if they win the lawsuit. In fact, the proposal is so destructive that San Mateo County has rejected it on their own.

2. The owner of 5,000 acre Sargent Ranch south of Gilroy has filed for bankruptcy. As the article describes, this owner has tried all kinds of methods to cash in and destroy the pristine land. Maybe this will open the door to permanent protection, instead.

3. Park proposal for Saratoga Creek: this could be interesting if the pricing works out:

The new children's garden would be developed on 1.3 acres of private property adjacent to the Peck property off Saratoga Avenue. The home currently located on the 1.3 acres would be turned into office space and an educational facility.

-Brian