A four-and-a-half year wrangle between the city and The American
Math Institute
’s golf course on Foothill Avenue effectively came to an end
Wednesday night.
A four-and-a-half year wrangle between the city and The American Math Institute’s golf course on Foothill Avenue effectively came to an end Wednesday night.
The City Council voted unanimously to certify the environmental impact report, with several amendments. It also rezoned the former Hill Country Lady property on Foothill Avenue to legitimize the 18-hole golf course that was modified without proper permits. The entire site would keep its open space designation in the city’s general plan.
The amendments concern monitoring of water quality and protecting threatened frogs and other animals.
Councilman Larry Carr wanted to be sure four issues – views, safe water, runoff and traffic, all concerns of the neighbors – were considered in the amendments and was told they were.
Vegetative buffers must be at least 10 feet deep around the course’s ponds, filtering chemicals before they reach the water. The course manager Steve Sorenson said, on advice from a U.C. Davis consultant, that they planned rock walls and shelving around part of the ponds, forming protection for the frogs who, apparently prefer to be hidden from predators and golf balls.
The city did allow The Institute leeway to avoid moving several holes and greens that were too close to a pond or waterway.
The Institute will be allowed up to 36 rounds of golf per day from April 16 to Sept. 30. The course will be closed to play the rest of the year.
Players will not be allowed to use golf carts.
“Things like charity golf tournaments would need mitigating,” said Jim Rowe, city planning manager whose problem and project the course has been since the beginning.
The Institute plans to tear down the old restaurant and replace it with a new building to house the American Institute of Mathematics, now based in Palo Alto.
John Fry of Fry’s Electronics, who founded the AIM, owns the property as part of a group called Corralitos Creek. Fry is a resident of Morgan Hill.
The golf course is part of the planned recreational facilities to be offered to researchers visiting AIM, among others.
Some neighbors voiced fears that the traffic the course would attract would disturb their peaceful, rural area.
Councilman Greg Sellers replied that studies have implied that The Institute will draw far less traffic than Hill County, with the Flying Lady restaurant, an aircraft museum and its own 18-hole golf course, did 25 years ago.
The council will receive quarterly reports while the mitigations are being performed and during the water-quality monitoring process. All reports will be public and are generally available at City Hall and at the library.
Veterinarian and course neighbor Pete Keesling was worried that the oversight wouldn’t be strict enough.
“I’m concerned that the monitoring done is a more efficient process than the building process was,” Keesling said, “and we’re concerned about traffic on Foothill, too.”
JJ Vogel, who said he recently moved to the area from Hollister, wanted the city to maintain some control so that, if anything is found out 10 years down the line (misleading details) the city can shut them down. He wanted the EIR approval to be put on hold until a grand jury can investigate. Vogel said he had sent “forms” to the grand jury.
Vogel also offered his “watchdog” group to make sure The Institute followed orders. He said this method was effective in Hollister and he intended to continue in the tradition of (the late, controversial councilman) Bev Freeman.
City Attorney Helene Leichter said the city would check with the South County Joint Planning Advisory Committee occasionally to be sure the golf course remained a good neighbor. The committee is the closest organization the San Martin area has to a local governing body.
The course is in the southeast area of the city. Most of the neighbors live in San Martin.
Craig Breon, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society’s executive director, said he was reasonably happy with the results. Audubon and the Committee for Green Foothills were in the thick of the “discussions” over the EIR.
“I feel pretty good about what was finally decided,” Breon said Thursday. “It adheres quite well to the law.”
The two agencies had at one time threatened a lawsuit over a Temporary Use Permit the city gave The Institute.
Breon was concerned that the city would “cave in” to The Institute’s pressure and was happy that they did not.
“This is a legally defensible document,” he said, “and we don’t intend to pursue it further. It makes things a lot better out there.”
There is still what he considers an on-going violation of the Endangered Species Act which he will discuss in a week with Brian Schmidt of Green Foothills. And he intends to keep an eye on the six-month water monitoring that must be done.
Breon may have urged the process along a bit by meeting several times with Fry, sharing opinions and trying to get Sorenson to accept the city’s claims of problems with course plans. He said Fry indicated an interest in taking a part in on-going environmental projects in the area.
Breon also said he would like someone from the city, the mayor possibly, apologize to neighbors of the course and to environmental groups who spent so much time and money forcing the appropriate review of the EIR. He was pleased to hear Kennedy admit that having a fundraiser for his run for county supervisor at the course had been ill-advised.
Sorenson said during a break that, despite the troubles the red-legged frogs have caused everyone involved, the frogs will have a good life on his course. The first time a survey was done, he said, only one frog was counted. Now there are quite a few more and, after a few required changes are made there should be more still.
“I like animals,” Sorenson said. “Even red-legged frogs.”
Details: www.aimath.org and www.morganhill.ca.gov
