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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!
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)
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All of this massive
development belongs East (not West) of Ardenwood
Blvd not in front of our park. The Fremont General
Plan allows only 266 housing units on this land. The
Patterson family, 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 (Villa D’Este) are
being built.
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With Villa D’Este, the
Patterson Ranch proposal would add 11,150 car
trips/day, 4 million car trips/year.
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In an earthquake, the
Patterson Ranch proposal 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.
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Though California
state standards for school site selection states
that a new school should not be built on land that
is subject to high risk of liquefaction in an
earthquake, this Patterson Ranch proposal includes
an elementary school (that is also separated from
the housing units by a major thoroughfare). This
proposal puts 636 children's and staff's lives at
risk.
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The Patterson Ranch
proposal will negatively impact our overcrowded
junior high and high schools and quality of life.
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.
Once it’s gone…it’s gone forever!
Fremont 2008 Elections
- How You Can Help Preserve Coyote Hills
For mayor, we want
someone who puts a community’s quality of life ahead of
special interest groups such as developers. The current
mayor (Wasserman) and mayoral candidates Steve Cho and
Gus Morrison all have accepted
sizeable developer
money and supported
runaway development.
For city council, there are ten candidates (one is an
incumbent). Over the years, many on the city council
were appointed (by the mayor) to the planning commission
and used the position as a step to the council.
Bob Wieckowski, city council candidate was appointed to
the planning commission by ex-mayor Morrison; Suzanne
Chan, also a city council candidate and backed by a
large real estate developer John Dutra in Fremont, was
appointed by Bob Wasserman to the planning commission.
Without
independent thinking and limited debate, council’s approval of
uncontrolled
development
has continued to strain
city services—schools, police, fire, street maintenance,
etc., and quality of life. Trisha Tahmasbi, another
candidate for city council, in two council candidate
forums, supported the proposed Patterson Ranch
development.
Of the ten,
Vinnie Bacon,
not part of the political establishment,
is well qualified and would
be a voice for the voters of Fremont. With master’s
degrees from UC Berkeley in urban planning and
transportation engineering, he is currently a technical
support manager in the software industry. He was a
proponent of Measure K, initiative to protect Coyote
Hills. He accepts no campaign donations from developers.
We need to elect a mayor and city council members
who would have a fresh approach—who understand what
would constitute quality of life for Fremont residents,
who draw strong businesses into the city, who work more
closely with the school district when evaluating
proposed developments, and who reach out to neighboring
cities on common issues.
Lastly, we
the people
should
stand up to special interest groups and help to preserve
Coyote Hills from massive development for present and
future generations! |