Welcome to Friends of Coyote Hills

The Friends of Coyote Hills (FCH) is a local group of concerned citizens working to protect 520 acres of open space adjacent to Coyote Hills Regional Park.

Mission statement: Friends of Coyote Hills is an environmentally focused group serving the Tri-Cities area. We are dedicated to the conservation and preservation of open space and the plant and wildlife habitats it supports, and to engaging public involvement with local and regional environmental issues through community outreach, education, collaborative efforts, and advocacy.

Stop Massive Development in Coyote Hills!

You can help stop this mistaken proposal and make your voice heard. Please contact the Friends of Coyote Hills. We need your help. Please also let your friends and email groups know about this important issue affecting all of us by distributing or emailing this informative flyer.

Despite the fact that over 70% of Fremont voters surveyed want NO development in front of the Coyote Hills Regional Park, the City of Fremont is considering a massive development proposal (click to see map of proposed Patterson Ranch)

• This massive development would add 878 housing units, 2 churches, possibly a school, and a strip mall to the Ardenwood area. The project would bring in over 2600 new residents and add 4 million car trips annually to our streets. All of this development, some of it FIVE stories high, would be right in front of our beloved Coyote Hills Regional Park. Photos of current and proposed project views.

• The Fremont General Plan allows only 266 housing units on this land. The Pattersons, which already developed 5,000+ houses in Ardenwood, also sold for $63 million the 15.5-acre Tupelo lot across the street (from Coyote Hills), where 276 housing units are being built.

• In an earthquake, the Patterson Ranch project puts thousands of adults’ and children’s lives in jeopardy due to high risk of soil liquefaction (on this floodplain and proposed man-made fill). A public safety disaster is waiting to happen if gas and water lines break and fires are fueled by southeasterly winds from SF Bay less than 1 mile away.

• The Patterson Ranch proposal will negatively impact our overcrowded and underfunded elementary, junior high and senior high schools.

• Current and potential employers and residents appreciate open space such as Coyote Hills. For example, with foresight the city of Palo Alto has attracted many employers because of its high-quality schools, infrastructure, and much open space such as Foothill Park.

What You Can Do Now to Help

This is the wrong development and this is the wrong time to lock ourselves into a long-term deal. You can help stop this. We ask you to:

• Sign the e-petition to the Fremont City Council to reject the proposed Patterson Ranch development.

• Sign up for email updates at Friends of Coyote Hills at www.ProtectCoyoteHills.org; or contact us at: info@fchf.org / (510) 793-5329

• Donate to help hire technical experts (send checks made out to "Friends of Coyote Hills" to Ann Rice, FCH Treasurer, 37734 Second St., Fremont, CA 94536-2925)

• Send an email to the Mayor and Council members, who will vote on this proposal:

When you click on the link Mayor and Council members, you will see an email generated with content that you can modify as you see fit, before pressing the Send button. Elected officials take emails that are in your own words more seriously.

Once it’s gone…it’s gone forever!

"There's an increasing amount of evidence supporting the contention that attaching kids early and well to nature is effective prevention in all areas. The natural world serves as a restorative environment, outside experiences calming a person both physically and mentally, replacing substance abuse and violence as strategies to deal with stress. With nature as part of a daily routine, kids stay in better health, and when nature is brought into the classroom as environmentally based education, students perform better and more enthusiastically.” Read the entire article, Nature Is Good For Kids.

To watch this video, click on link and turn on speakers: The movement to get kids back into nature.

A parent reflects on being in nature as a child and now raising his young child: Kingdoms of childhood falling to urban sprawl.

Coyote Hills Regional Park was cited by the National Geographic Society as one of several excellent locations for bird-watching in the greater San Francisco area.