Decades after it first began, the push to preserve Coyote Valley is gaining new momentum.
State Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, on Friday held a gathering with environmental groups and others to outline a new bill that would create a state-recognized Coyote Valley Conservation Program aimed at preserving the region’s open space.
If it passes, Kalra told dozens of environmental advocates and others, the legislation will help protect “a remarkable place for people, wildlife, and our natural environment for generations to come.”
Managed by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, the conservation program would for the first time recognize the area as a place of statewide significance and, perhaps more crucially, allow local leaders to leverage state funding. The program also would give the Open Space Authority more influence over how the land is used and more say over which developments, if any, could move forward.
The bill has a long way to go before it becomes law, but Kalra is optimistic it stands a chance of passage. State Senator Jim Beall, D-San Jose, a co-author, already has vowed to push for passage in his chamber.
That’s welcome news for Andrea Mackenzie, the general manager of the Open Space Authority.
“Coyote Valley is truly a unique natural treasure,” Mackenzie said. “It takes a community, it takes a village, to keep moving these things forward.”
West of the Diablo Range, east of the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of Tulare Hill and north of Burnett Ave., the valley is nestled between two of the fastest growing cities in California — San Jose and Morgan Hill. Ensuring that the more-than-15,000-acre valley and surrounding foothills are protected, environmental groups say, will not only protect hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife but offer flood and fire mitigation and preserve recreation space for families to enjoy. According to the Open Space Authority, agricultural lands in the area — known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its many orchards before Silicon Valley was ever a thing — generate some $30 million in economic benefit every year.
At the gathering on Friday, dozens of people from Mothers Out Front, the Committee for Green Foothills, the Morgan Hill Unified School District and other organizations braved the rain to come out in support of the bill. One young girl held a sign saying, “please protect us from floods.”
Back in 2017, Coyote Creek overflowed, devastating parts of San Jose and causing millions of dollars of property damage. But if Coyote Valley, which provides a natural flood plain, was paved over, the damage could have been much worse.
“This is going to be a lasting legacy piece of legislation for you,” Beall told Kalra, who grew up in the area.
Still, the possibility of development in an area once viewed as a prime location for office parks and other commercial and industrial uses looms.
“There’s obviously a lot of stakeholders,” Kalra acknowledged.
Several prominent groups own property in the valley, including the Sobrato Organization and Brandenburg Properties. As part of the largest bond measure in the city’s history, San Jose residents voted last year to direct $50 million toward protecting Coyote Valley. The city is currently negotiating to purchase the properties to preserve as open land.
“This money buys a gift to future generations,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, adding that he thinks key purchases will be finalized this year.
The old way of viewing the valley through the “prism of development,” said San Jose City Councilman Sergio Jimenez, who represents the area, “that’s changed.”
Kalra’s bill, Jimenez said, brings statewide and local efforts together.
Shirley Bondi, a volunteer with the Open Space Authority who has lived on and off in Morgan Hill since 1977, is thrilled.
Over the last four decades or so, what was once a sleepy town has morphed into a bustling hub of homes and shops that has steadily grown. And while that has been a boon for the local economy, it’s also made environmental groups nervous.
Anything that can be done to preserve the area for wildlife and agriculture, Bondi said, is a “good thing.”
