October 29, 2020 Envision San Jose 2040 Task Force Members 200 E. Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA 95113 RE: Envision San Jose General Plan 2040 4-Year Review Letter of Support to Change Coyote Valley Land Use Designations to Align with Conservation Values Dear Envision San Jose 2040 Task Force Members: We, at the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (“Authority”), write to you today to provide our overwhelming support for specific land use designation recommendations related to Coyote Valley, as outlined in the City of San Jose Staff Memorandum (“Memo”) dated October 22, 2020. We highly applaud City staff’s work to outline these visionary zoning and land use changes as part of the 4-year Review of Envision San Jose General Plan 2040. Since San Jose’s voters passed Measure T in 2018, and the City of San Jose contributed to the protection of 937 acres of critical wildlife connectivity and floodplain protection in North Coyote Valley, there has been significant additional recognition of this landscape of statewide importance and awareness of the benefits this place can provide for all residents of and visitors to San Jose. A complete summary that outlines the Case for Coyote Valley Conservation (“CCVC”) is attached for your review as strong rationale for our support, and to urge you to vote to forward the Memo recommendations to the City Council for their approval. Through our strong partnerships, most notably with the Peninsula Open Space Trust (“POST”) and others at the local, regional, and state levels, the Authority has been a leader in fostering the science, policies, and funding opportunities that continue to demonstrate the significance of and unprecedented momentum to protect Coyote Valley. More than ever, regional leaders recognize how, through a nature-based and conservation-focused lens, Coyote Valley’s natural and working landscapes can support local and regional environmental and economic sustainability. In addition to the attached CCVC, I have attached our 2018 Coyote Valley Primer (“CVP”) which summarizes the integral conservation values that this landscape affords 33 Las Colinas Lane San Jose, CA 95119 408.224.7476 T 408.224.7548 F openspaceauthority.org and why it is critical that the City’s 4 Year Review align with this conservation landscape potential. The CVP illustrates how these natural and working lands provide an integrated, holistic and nature-based approach to create a new conservation paradigm for this unique landscape. Lastly, the Coyote Valley Master Plan Brochure (“CVMPB”) outlines the key next steps, many of which we have already started, to engage our culturally diverse communities in an inclusive plan for conservation and long-term ecological and hydrological restoration. Through a unique, long-term partnership with POST and the City of San Jose, the Authority will lead a collaborative and science-based planning process for Coyote Valley. The Task Force’s decisions will shape the planning process and related outcomes to realize a bigger, bolder vision for San Jose’s last remaining farmland, open space, floodplain, wetlands and other natural and working lands. We also support the staff’s recommendation to develop a mitigation credits program that could provide a stronger connection between protected natural infrastructure and nature-based wellness and the urban communities that so greatly benefit from it. This will be a critical tool for these natural and working lands to serve as a signature climate resilience solution that supports San Jose’s long-term sustainability and economic viability. Thank you very much, Task Force Members, for your hard work and bold vision on Envision San Jose General Plan 2040, including consideration of the advancement of these recommendations to the City Council for approval. We very much look forward to our continued partnership with all of you, City staff, and the citizens of San Jose, to create a national model for conservation-based land use policy and to work together to see this VISION realized for future generations. Sincere regards, Andrea Mackenzie, General Manager Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Attachments Attachment 1. The Case for Coyote Valley Conservation (CCVC) Attachment 2. Coyote Valley Primer (CVP) Attachment 3. Coyote Valley Master Plan Brochure (CVMPB) cc Authority Board of Directors 2 Envision San Jose General Plan 2040 4-Year Review Support Letter from Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Attachment 1 Envision San Jose General Plan 2040 The Case for Coyote Valley Conservation October 29, 2020 Prepared by Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Updated Policy and Planning Context to Support an Integrated Conservation Vision for Coyote Valley, San Jose, California Unique Partnership with City of San Jose-Peninsula Open Space Trust- Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority One Valley One Vision Purpose ➢ Inform City’s General Plan 4 Year Review/Conserve Coyote Valley Landmark Land and Water Conservation Partnership Model • City of San Jose $50M investment for natural infrastructure (Implementation of Measure T) • POST $50M Investment and long-term vision for Coyote Valley Conservation • Authority Funding Match and Management in Perpetuity Local, City and State-wide Policy and Conservation Investment • Significant public funds well over $100M have been invested in Coyote Valley, and development of this region under current zoning will undermine this effort and breach the public trust. • Industrial and residential zoning are incompatible with the City of San Jose’s investment in Coyote Valley through Measure T. • Additional funding pouring into the region (see below) to support conservation and master planning for the North Coyote Valley Conservation Area (“NCVCA”) are living proof that conservation and agriculture are the highest and best uses for Coyote Valley. • Agricultural uses are directly and negatively impacted by conversion of Coyote Valley vacant lands to housing, industrial development, and other resource-intensive uses. • The cost of these resource-intensive uses will be paid in myriad negative ways such as incompatibility with restoration, wildlife habitat and corridors and agriculture as well as direct costs such as increased greenhouse gas emissions that the City will pay for decades to come. • The City and Authority investment in Climate Smart San Jose (“CSSJ”) Phase 2 related to protection of natural and working lands demonstrates additional investment in the protection of Coyote Valley; development as per current zoning will not allow the City to reach its Climate Smart goals, costing millions over decades. Additional Investment in Coyote Valley Land Conservation • Since the City’s November 2019 investment though Measure T, there has been significant public investment to preserve open space in and adjacent to Coyote Valley to support the Coyote Valley Landscape Linkage vision and the City’s 2018 Measure T o City and OSA acquired the 16-acre Weyhe property as an addition to the City’s Tulare Meadows holding in North Coyote Valley—this includes vital flood protection infrastructure along Fisher Creek o OSA acquired the 235-acre Sobrato South property with $15M secured from the State Coastal Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Board to support habitat and floodplain preservation o POST acquired the 60-acre Kuzia property in mid Coyote Valley for habitat and floodplain preservation, and will transfer the property to OSA for long-term public ownership o OSA and POST are working to protect additional multi-benefit properties in Coyote Valley to support the vision of natural and working lands for habitat connectivity, floodplain preservation, and climate resilience – negotiations are underway with willing landowners covering hundreds of acres of key properties o OSA, POST and the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency are coordinating to expedite enrollment of Laguna Seca and other protected North Coyote Valley properties into the Habitat Agency Reserve System; enrolling lands provides funding for stewardship from the Habitat Agency and helps the Agency meet its stay-ahead provisions associated with regional permitting; this process can leverage an additional $6-11M in funding from US Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Wildlife Conservation Board to support enrollment o Tilton Ranch CONSERVED!!!!! Major acquisition of 1860 acres adjacent to Authority’s Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve (CVAL) secures a major link to mid and south Valley lands in the region, securing a major link in protected land between CVAL and the City of Morgan Hill. This purchase further bridges the gap of private lands adjacent to the City of San Jose’s investment in the NCVCA assemblage. This includes $15M in public and foundation funding to leverage the regional investments made in Coyote Valley. Landscape Scale Climate Resilience • Coyote Valley is the City’s “resilience focal landscape” in the face of climate change and weather- based emergencies. The City must act NOW and with urgency to ensure that its people, infrastructure, and urbanized areas are protected from devastating climate-based catastrophes (see recent City Climate Emergency Declaration). • Coyote Valley serves as the City’s regional landscape scale defensible space against wildfires and is the City’s wildland urban interface. Recent wildfires in the region resulted in more than 400,000 acres in the nearby Diablo Range and almost 80,000 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is critical to prevent further development in the Valley and maintain an important large-scale buffer of protected