News

Decision Time for Patterson Ranch
By Jane Sokale
Sierra Club Yodeler, February 2010

Some time in March or April the Fremont City Council is expected to vote whether to approve development at Patterson Ranch. The development on ecologically sensitive lands would have tremendous impacts on the adjacent Coyote Hills Regional Park.

Since December city staff has been analyzing approximately 300 comment letters, from regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, and the general public, on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project. Soon the city will release a Final EIR, and the Council will vote to approve or deny the project. Read the entire article.

Political outsider to make second bid for Fremont council
By Matthew Artz
Oakland Tribune, Jan 20, 2010

Vinnie Bacon has been preparing for a 2010 City Council bid ever since he surpassed expectations in the 2008 race. Now he has made his candidacy official. Bacon, a 48-year-old technology worker, joins Mission San Jose High School senior Ishan Shah as the only announced challengers to incumbent council members Bill Harrison and Anu Natarajan. Harrison said he plans to seek re-election in November, while Natarajan said she hasn't decided whether to seek a second term. Read the entire article.

My Word: Setting aside Fremont redevelopment money hurts city, schools
By Charlotte Allen - Guest Commentary
Fremont Argus, January 20, 2010

The Fremont Redevelopment Agency is preparing for a final vote authorizing the amount of money the agency can collect to be increased by $1.1 billion — yes, that's more than a billion dollars.

That's a pretty big sum compared to Fremont's annual budget for basic city services, which runs to about $135 million. The redevelopment agency, which is run by members of the Fremont City Council, will accomplish this feat by changing one of its own rules that would have forced it to stop collecting property tax money from the Industrial Redevelopment Area once it had collected $400 million. Read the entire letter.

Patterson Ranch development concerns
By Mary Biggs – Letter to the Editor
Tri-City Voice, December 16, 2009

I am asking three questions directly related to the [Patterson Ranch] DEIR. 

Question #1 - Soil contamination cleanup

If Council approves the Plan as is, will FFD or City of Fremont notify North Fremont residents of the exact dates of the "proposed" contaminated soils cleanup in the project area? Read the entire letter.

My Word: Latest Coyote Hills proposal as problematic as past Fremont plans
By Dan Ondrasek - Guest Commentary
Fremont Argus, December 9, 2009

The Patterson Ranch development proposal is back. A draft environmental impact report (EIR) recently was released for development of Patterson Ranch in front of the Coyote Hills Regional Park. The proposal in the EIR is just as problematic as all of the past proposals. Read the entire letter.

Vote for Bacon
By Lorna Jaynes - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, October 30, 2008

Those who care about how Fremont develops, our quality of life, and who want someone on the City Council who will truly listen to and represent the best interests of all of us, should vote for Vinnie Bacon.   Read the entire letter.

Bacon the right man
By Susan R. Gearhart - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, October 20, 2008

For many years, since the passage the Hill Area Initiative in 2002, I've waited to hear someone speak of the need to identify our natural resources in Fremont and protect them, to build in a balanced way, and would have the knowledge to do just that.  Read the entire letter.

Mayor, council candidates promote vision for future of Fremont
By Wes Bowers
Fremont Bulletin, September 27, 2008

Candidates for Fremont City Council and mayor gathered at Fremont City Hall Monday to express views on everything from a future downtown to the possible baseball stadium venture with the Oakland Athletics. Read the entire letter.

The Oakland A's Ballpark Village - Should the City of Fremont Take the Risk?
By Vinnie Bacon - Letter to the Editor
Tri-City Voice, August 20, 2008

There is a sense of excitement that Fremont could get a major league sports team. I like baseball myself. My son even played on a team called the A's this year. But one should not let this excitement lead us into making a decision that could cost the City in the long run. Read the entire letter.

Preserve land
By William Spicer - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, November 26, 2007

My comments are an emotional plea for preservation as well as a call for common sense planning that looks not simply at the short-range terms of a 15-year development agreement, but at the future of Fremont for our children and grandchildren. Read the entire letter.

Newark artists go outdoors
By Todd R. Brown
Fremont Argus, November 16, 2007

Sometimes Linda Patterson paints landscapes on a French easel, as she did recently in the splendor of Yosemite. Other times, she creates half-mile-long concrete murals such as the one being installed along a Santa Clara creek trail. "I like to work big," she said. "To me, art is about ideas and whatever it takes to grasp the idea." Read the entire letter.

Development foes oust Livermore councilwoman
By Eric Kurhi
Contra Costa Times, November 9, 2007

Final election results show that incumbent Councilwoman Lorraine Dietrich was defeated by a coalition of voters who cast their ballots for anti-development slate candidates Marj Leider, an incumbent, and newcomer Jeff Williams. Read the entire article.

Kingdoms of childhood falling to urban sprawl
By Dan Ondrasek
Fremont Argus, November 9, 2007

The developer finally has submitted his formal plan to develop the land just east of the Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. Despite intense outcry from this community to minimize development, he has merely shifted the puzzle pieces, rotating all 800 houses east of Ardenwood and dangling schools and sports fields west of Ardenwood in front of the park. Read the entire article.

Student projections still lower than last year in all Tri-City districts except Newark
By Linh Tat
Fremont Argus, October 28, 2007

Enrollment figures for all Tri-City school districts came in higher than projected this year, but it's still down from last year in Fremont and New Haven. Only Newark reported an increase in its student population.  Read the entire article.

Hayward Fault's 'tectonic time bomb'
by Julie Sevrens Lyons
San Jose Mercury News, October 18, 2007

Studying layers of soil in a trench they dug near the Fremont BART station, geologists recently made a startling discovery: The Hayward Fault has had a big earthquake roughly every 140 years, on average, since 1315. And this Sunday marks year 139. Read the entire article.

Builders still loom at Patterson Ranch
by Vin Bacon
San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler, September-October 2007

Fremont's Patterson Ranch area, directly adjacent to Coyote Hills Regional Park, remains threatened with a major development. This area contains a combination of marshland, riparian, and upland habitat that is becoming quite scarce due to all of the development next to the Bay. The wildlife includes migrating and resident waterfowl, hawks, owls, shorebirds, songbirds, and mammals such as gray fox, skunk, deer, and muskrat. Patterson is a truly beautiful and serene place amidst the bustling development nearby. Read the entire article.

Putting off development shows mayor's political maturity
Editorial
San Jose Mercury News, July 2, 2007

Political leaders like to talk about their accomplishments in terms of making things happen, whether it's building a park or improving services like police protection. But sometimes it's more important to stop something from happening. That's the kind of victory San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed should be celebrating this holiday week. Read the entire article.

Bring nature back
By William Spicer - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, June 28, 2007

Thank you for your June 15 front page article, "Where have all our birds gone to?" We must pay attention to the alarming rate of bird decline. Read the entire letter.

Smart planning
By Douglas A. Tinney - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, June 25, 2007

Fremont, like every other American city, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, the city needs to increase its retail revenue to provide services, while on the other it needs to think seriously about how to help curb global warming. Read the entire letter.

Where have all our birds gone to?
Audubon issues wake-up call about decline
By Sonya Hubbard, Staff Writer
Fremont Argus, June 15, 2007

OAKLAND — "What does a robin look like?" That's the troubling response that Leora Feeney hears frequently from third-graders after she tells them that the California least tern "is about the size of a robin." Feeney, who worked 30 years as a wildlife biologist, volunteers in the Alameda school district and teaches kids about birds. Read the entire article.

Development plans should change with times
By Dan Ondrasek - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, June 23, 2007

Twenty years ago, Newark's mayor had a plan: Create a golf course and "executive homes" on the outermost regions of his city.  This 1987 plan would require paving over land that formerly were vibrant wetlands teeming with life. Read the entire letter.

For sale: condo with chicken coop
by Sara Schaefer Munoz
Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2007

Forget the golf-course community or the manicured subdivision. A number of developers are now offering homes on working farms.

Catering to Americans' desire to live "green," developers around the country are creating communities on or adjoining farms, pitching views of sorghum fields, grazing livestock, and local -- very local -- food, such as eggs residents collect from the property's henhouse. The communities, however, aren't necessarily in the boondocks. Some are in suburbs or near cities. Read the entire article.

A's concerns
By Richard Odell - Letter to the Editor
Fremont Argus, May 15, 2007

Two public Fremont City Council meetings have been held regarding the proposed A's stadium development project. It would be just southwest of Auto Mall Parkway at Interstate 880. I am concerned about the impact the additional traffic would have, and the financial costs to the city of additional public safety resources required. Read the entire letter.

An easy oasis amid civilization's sprawl: one of 3 gems in Fremont - Lake Elizabeth, Mission Peak, and Coyote Hills Regional Park
By Tom Mangan
San Jose Mercury News, April 17, 2007

An easy oasis amid civilization's sprawl - Fremont will never be mistaken for an outdoors mecca - you either dodge the throngs at Lake Elizabeth or trudge to the top of Mission Peak - but there's one often-forgotten gem on Fremont's fringes that's always worth a visit.  Read the entire article.

Patterson Ranch development in Fremont threatens open spaces, wildlife
Fremont residents must watch city's actions carefully
by Dan Ondrasek and Howard High - Letter to the Editor
San Jose Mercury News, April 12, 2007

FREMONT — The death march toward developing the lands in front of Coyote Hills Regional Park, a Bay Area jewel in Fremont, has begun. The proposal is to build 800 houses, complete with an artificial lake and mega-McMansions. Fremont has just hired a firm to prepare the development's environmental impact report. It's now beginning to sound a lot like "take paradise and put up a parking lot." Read the entire article.