Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 5/3/07
	Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Paul Vincze, Jenel Vincze, Mario Blaum, Holly Davis, Sam Drake, Ed Jackson, Woody Collins, Ash Kalra, Don Rocha, Duane Overby Ash Kalra, from the San Jose Planning Commission talked about the Coyote Valley Environmental Impact Report (see the Coyote Valley Website, the Coyote Valley Specific Plan, and the Environmental Impact Report): The Draft EIR on the Coyote Valley is open for public comment until the end of June, comments will be addressed, then the amended EIR will be voted on by the City Council. The EIR is required by CEQA. It addresses issues such as land use, transportation, noise, air quality, cultural resources,  biological  resources, water quality,  hazards, energy, population, jobs, housing, etc. It identifies impacts, whether they are significant, whether the impacts can be reduced, and if not, why not. The Coyote Valley is divided into 3 parts: north, middle, and south. The north and middle parts will be developed. The south part will be a non-urban buffer zone. Palm Ave. forms the north-south boundary. The value of the land will go down in the south part if it can't be developed. The Open Space Authority is looking for agricultural easements there. It will stay under private ownership, but won't be rezoned for high-density development. The specific plan calls for at least 50,000 new jobs (not including jobs like support and retail) and at least 25,000 new homes. There are trigger mechanisms to maintain the jobs-housing balance. The plan calls for the creation of at least 5,000 jobs before resisdential development can start. Also, there must be a projected 5-year projected budget surplus. 20% of the housing units must be deed-restricted below market value. San Jose currently has a low jobs-housing balance compared to other nearby cities. Housing requires more services. Services may come from South San Jose. The EIR identifies 180 potential environmental impacts. Half are significant. Of those, 25 are unavoidable, while the rest can be avoided or mitigated. To mitigate for lost farmland, they may have to buy land in the Central Valley, as there is not much left in the Bay Area. It has to be prime farmland, not hillside. Mike asked about historic impacts. Did the plan talk about the Battle of Santa Teresa? There is a DVD that was put out by school kids on the history of the Coyote Valley. There will be a 4-lane expressway over the hill along Bailey Avenue to connect to McKean Road. it could lead to development in the South Almaden Valley. By state law, the EIR can't take into account the impact on schools. The specific plan calls for 3 middle schools, and 2 high schools. They will be in the Morgan Hill USD. The plan does not call for trail connections to Santa Teresa Park. Because of the triggers, if nothing changes, Ash thinks the earliest development can start in the Coyote Valley is in a decade. There is a residential project being planned for the Edenvale Industrial Park. That area will be a test for the Coyote Valley project. On Sunday, May 6, the Audubon Society of Santa Clara Valley Don Rocha, Natural Resource Program Supervisor for the County Parks, talked about plans for cattle grazing in Santa Teresa Park: Cattle used to graze the hills that are now in Santa Teresa Park. The cattle and infrastructure were removed after the land became the park. Now, the parks department is looking into returning cattle to the park. 95% of the park is considered critical habitat for the bay checkerspot butterfly, which is listed as a threatened species by the federal government. The butterfly lays its eggs on native plants that are crowded out by non-native annual grasses. Cattle eat these grasses. In areas where cattle grazing has stopped, butterfly populations have declined. Cattle grazing on Coyote Ridge has allowed the butterfly to survive by the removal of these non-native grasses. Other methods have been tried to reduce the non-native grasses, but cattle grazing works the best. Burning has been tried, but it doesn't work as well. It hurts other plants. Goats are browsers, not grazers. Sheep attract mountain lions, while cattle protect themselves. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has been putting pressure on the County Parks to manage its rare and threatened species. The Rocky Ridge area in Santa Teresa Park is the most critical area. Butterflies also need cool areas with varied temperatures. To best reduce the annual grasses, the cattle need to graze from late winter to early spring. They will be pulled out before the wildflowers emerge.One concern is how to avoid the cattle damaging the trails during the wet winter months when the trails are muddy. They are looking to see if late fall grazing will work. <> The other concern is the lack of water in the park. They may have to dig wells. They are considering having cattle grazing on Bernal Hill and Rocky Ridge. They will have a buffer to keep the cattle away from the neighborhoods. Also, the soils on the lower hills is unstable and could be damaged by cattle. On Bernal Hill, they will be above the Norred Trail and below the Bernal Hill Loop Trail. They will put up fences to contain the cattle. They would be 5-strand barbed wire with self-closing gates. (Old barbed wire fences can be removed if they are a detriment to wildlife. Inmate labor can be used to pull them out.) Cattle grazing is allowed on 3 other county parks. They are just looking for money to do the planning for grazing. There are no plans now. The earliest funding could be obtained would be in July. There would be workshops and meetings to discuss the plans. Once the plan is complete, federal funding would be sought to pay for it. Most likely, it would take 3-4 years to implement the plan. No additional trail closures would be necessary. Allowing grazing could be used as mitigation for new trails through serpentine areas, such as re-routing the Rocky Ridge Trail through Big Oak Valley. Don also talked about the pigs in the park. He said it needs a regional approach. If the parks eliminated pigs in the park, they would just come back from adjacent areas if the pigs aren't controlled there also. 1 pig was trapped at the Mounted Ranger Unit and sent to a rendering plant. USDA regulations prevent the meat from being donated. Don also talked about concerns over the Coyote Valley plans. The County is doing its own analysis in response to the Coyote Valley Specific Plan. Once concern is the effect of street lights on raptors in the trees along Coyote Creek. Another concern is wildlife migration. Animals will be blocked from moving between the hills and the creeks. They could start running onto roads. The Bonetti/Pedro Bernal house needs to be renovated. It is not safe for occupancy. Our dues ($200) to the United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County are due by 6/30. UNSCC provides a number of services, the most important to us being liability insurance. There were questions about what the insurance covers. Taking a class and volunteer hours are also required. We have $213.44 in our account. Ron didn't have time to show his slideshow. He does have pictures on our Yahoo Groups site, which can be viewed as slideshows, but you need to be a group member to see them. (Access is free, but you need to have a Yahoo ID, which is also free.) There are pictures on the Albertson Parkway, the Volunteer Recognition Dinner, the wildflowers on Bernal Hill, the Norred Trail and our trail walk on it, and the wildflower walk after Ron's outdoor photography class. Ron has the Powerpoint presentation for his photography class (21MB) on his website. Volunteers for Outdoor California has a trail construction project at Coyote Lake on Saturday and Sunday 5/5 &6. Volunteer Hours for March/April: Ronald Horii: 28/88 hours Mike Boulland: 15/15 hours Holly Davis: 6/6 hours Kitty Monahan: 3/3 hours Paul Vincze: 15/15 hours Jenel Vincze: 7/7 hours Mario Blaum: 12/12 hours Sam Drake: 3/3 hours Ed Jackson: 6/6 hours Return to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park Home Page

Created 5/5/07 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park