Protecting Stanford foothills a climate change issue
Santa Clara County should require permanent protection of the Stanford foothills as part of the Stanford General Use Permit, which will govern development on campus over the next 15 years. Preserving this open space is needed not only for wildlife habitat and nature, but also to help our region achieve established climate change goals.
Many people don’t realize that those grassy, oak-studded hillsides that you drive past on Interstate 280 between Page Mill and Alpine roads are part of Stanford’s property. That area — more than 2,000 acres — is all open space, and has remained so due to a county policy that prohibits development west of an Academic Growth Boundary that roughly follows Junipero Serra Boulevard.
Back during the last Stanford GUP proceeding in 2000, many residents and local groups, including the Committee for Green Foothills and the Stanford Open Space Alliance, pushed for permanent protection for the Stanford foothills. The county instead established the AGB, and mandated that in order to change or move it, a supermajority (4 out of 5) vote by the county Board of Supervisors would be required through the year 2025. This meant that the Stanford foothills would likely have a higher level of protection from development — but only until 2025.
The county is now on the verge of voting on a new Stanford GUP. County staff and the county Planning Commission have both recommended that the 4/5 vote requirement to move the AGB be extended for 99 years. This recommendation is based on the county’s 2018 Sustainable Development Study Supplement, which found that Stanford could nearly triple its current density if desired without going beyond the AGB and without becoming any denser than comparable university campuses across the country. Thus, there is no need for Stanford to sprawl into the foothills in order to grow its campus. While the county’s 99-year proposed extension is a step in the right direction, we are calling on the Board of Supervisors to provide permanent protection for the Stanford foothills.
The state of California has recognized that preserving open space and avoiding sprawl development is key to achieving our climate change goals. In a 2018 report, former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration stated that focusing compact development in existing developed areas and conserving wildlife habitat, farmland and open space is a critical part of reducing greenhouse gases, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, and providing natural infrastructure to protect our communities. These principles have also been recognized in the county’s Agricultural Plan, and are being implemented by local agencies such as the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District through its efforts to increase carbon sequestration in rangelands using techniques like habitat restoration and compost application.
Moreover, sprawling into open space is a major contributor to what caused the horrendous traffic problems that our region endures daily. Starting in the 1950s and continuing for decades after, the Bay Area built more and more car-dependent development, gobbling up acres upon acres of land and forcing residents and workers to drive everywhere they went. The result is today’s gridlocked roads, “Spare the Air” days and commutes that take hours each day. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past by continuing to sprawl into our open space areas.
The county has an opportunity now, through the Stanford GUP process, to continue protecting the open space of the Stanford foothills in perpetuity. We call on the Board of Supervisors to take this important step to address climate change and protect our communities, while also preserving nature for future generations.