The Loma Prietan
May/June 2006
Sustainable Land Use Committee Update:
Creating the Ideal Community
By Stephanie Schaaf, Chair
What do you think of when you envision
the ideal community? There are many
values we all share. We want to preserve
our beautiful wild and open places.
We want short commutes so we can
spend more time with our loved ones. We
want clean air and clean water. We want
our children to grow up and be able to live
in their hometowns. We want ample park
and open space in our towns and cities.
And we want to conserve and enhance the
best parts of what we already have.
Throughout the Bay Area, local communities
are starting to look at the big
picture of growth and development and
think about what, where, and how to grow
in order to realize their vision. Sierra Club
members are taking part in the dialogue.
We invite our members to join us for a
discussion around designing communities
in San Mateo County (see back page for
details).
The Sierra Club supports providing
ample housing choices: options of where
to live, and options of what type of home
to live in. Creating homes in a variety of
types and sizes allows young adults just
starting out to find a home in their hometown,
and allows seniors who no longer
want or need large homes to remain in
their community. The more choices we
provide in our existing town centers, the
less pressure there will be to develop our
open spaces and working farms. The lack
of housing choices in areas like San Mateo
is forcing more people to seek homes
in outlying areas. Long drives impact
our quality of life through less time to
spend with family, worse air quality, and
increased global warming.
We support conserving and strengthening
what we already have. We can use
up natural areas and farmlands, or we can
keep them. Let's invest in our current
neighborhoods, rather than letting infrastructure
fall apart in one part of town
in favor of new construction at the edges.
It's not fair for new development in outlying
areas to take money for community
benefits, like parks, away from existing
neighborhoods.
And finally, people need choices of how
to get around. We need a balanced transportation
system that gets people and goods
where they need to be, when they need to
be there. Placing homes and businesses
in existing communities, close to transit
options and near shopping, offers convenience
and limits the need to pave over
more land for roads, which means less oily
runoff and better water quality.
For more about the Sierra Club's solutions
around growth and development,
come to our forum, "Communities of
Today and Tomorrow" or see our website
(below).
Additional SLU updates:
In February, the Loma Prieta
Chapter finalized its support of the Toll
Brothers Calabazas Place development in
Cupertino. This mixed-use residential
and retail development will provide up
to 380 much-needed new homes in the
city of Cupertino, including 80 affordable
apartments for seniors. There will also be
a 3.5 acre park.
Sierra Club member and Cupertino
resident Anne Ng spoke for the Club at the
City Council, stating, "It's a project that
sought and received approval by the Sierra
Club because it represented smart growth.
It's an antidote to sprawl into the edges
of the valley and beyond, makes room for
more people in Cupertino, and I'm willing
to share."
SLU held elections for its leadership
team in February. The new SLU leaders
are: Stephanie Schaaf, chair; Brandon
Sulser, vice-chair; Lynne Paulsen, secretary.
Past chair Irvin Dawid has taken on the role
of listmaster.
Sign up for SLU's discussion e-mail list
at lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/slu