Regional Planning

Planning issues in Monterey County are affected by what happens in nearby areas. Monterey County is part of a greater region that includes both the California Central Coast and the Silicon Valley. This section of the LandWatch website highlights important planning issues in Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties.

There are three areas we have been following. These include:

The City of Gilroy is considering a plan to extend their General Plan 20-year Planning Boundary into the Ag Preserve, to capture 660 acres of farmland for a Cisco-sized campus industrial park. The proposed development would generate an estimated 5000 new jobs, translating into 40,000 new car trips every day.

• Gilroy Ready to Send Growth South
  The City of Gilroy is contemplating actions that will result in new growth pressures on Monterey County. Learn more about the issue at an upcoming meeting in Gilroy. (08.08.01)

Land use activists in San Benito County began circulating a growth control initiative measure that preserves rural character, protects agricultural lands, safeguards natural resources, reduces traffic congestion and more.

• San Benito Supervisors Enact Growth Management System
  The San Benito County Board of Supervisors, by voting to adopt a voter initiative measure, has put a sophisticated growth management system in place in San Benito County. (04.04.03)
• San Benito Activists Propose Growth Management Initiative
  Monterey County is feeling the impact of growth generated in the Silicon Valley. So is San Benito County (and even more so)! Activists in San Benito County are circulating an initiative measure to enact a comprehensive growth management system. (03.09.03)

The City of San Jose is considering a massive proposal by CISCO Systems, to build a 6.6 million square foot research park in the Coyote Valley, in the southern part of San Jose. Twenty thousand new jobs would be created, but no housing is being specifically required. The impacts on Monterey County could be immense. Since May 1999, LandWatch has been urging local governments here to get involved in the permit process within the City of San Jose, and to stand up for local residents.

• Without Housing Cisco Means Sprawl!
  This article, printed in the San Jose Mercury News on October 11, 2000, makes the case that the Cisco project should include housing as part of the project. (10.11.00)
• LandWatch Letter to San Jose City Council
  This LandWatch Letter, presented to the San Jose City Council on October 24, 2000, urges the Council to require onsite housing to mitigate the housing impacts of the massive Cisco project. (10.24.00)
• LandWatch Letter to San Jose Planning Commission
  This letter, presented to the City of San Jose Planning Commission at their October 5, 2000 hearing, critiques the Final EIR on the Cisco project, and urges the City to provide housing as a part of any project approval. (10.7.00)
• Letter Appealing Approval of Final EIR on Cisco Project
  This letter is the official LandWatch appeal of the City Planning Commission decision to certify the Final EIR on the Cisco project. The City Council will hear this appeal on October 24, 2000. (10.7.00)
• LandWatch Letter on Coyote Valley EIR
  The City of San Jose will soon decide whether to cut short environmental review on the proposed Coyote Valley development. LandWatch wants a new EIR. Read the LandWatch letter to Monterey County local governments. (7.7.00)
• LandWatch Comments on Coyote Valley Draft EIR
  Letter from LandWatch Executive Director Gary Patton to Julie Caporgno of the Department of Planning, Building & Code Enforcement outlining LandWatch’s comments on the draft EIR for the Coyote Valley Research Park. (3.20.00)