Dear Editor, This month, you are being asked to sign a petition
for a Land Conservation Initiative to go on the November Ballot.
This is being advertised as an
”
Open Space
”
initiative, but truthfully it goes far beyond being only
that.
Dear Editor,
This month, you are being asked to sign a petition for a Land Conservation Initiative to go on the November Ballot. This is being advertised as an “Open Space” initiative, but truthfully it goes far beyond being only that.
We are being asked to make a fundamental decision about what we value and how much value we place on the way our community grows, where that growth takes place and at what pace. Morgan Hill has for a long time favored controlling the rate of growth. The restrictions that this initiative places on the permitted uses of hillsides, ranchlands and agricultural areas are designed to ensure that they will not become the haven for high impact industry that fails to meet City Zoning standards. We already see that in parts of Coyote Valley and will see it all over without additional regulation.
One objective of this petition is to “preserve ranchlands and agriculture.” It may be too late to truly do that. I have been told by many agricultural producers in the valley that they are only marginally profitable, if that. Even our own County Government demonstrated that they did not think it worth trying to preserve agricultural land when they allowed Williamson Act abuse to become the rule rather than a rare exception. The initiative is one way of preserving agricultural lands. They may have to change in terms of what they produce and how they get their product to market. But having some supply of food close to metropolitan areas makes sense in an era when the transportation and handling costs of everything are escalating every year. This initiative needs to be coupled with proper use of the Williamson Act.
I am going to sign the petition. I have complete support for its objectives. Even if I did not, I would still sign the petition. The debate that will surely arise from this petition is health for the community. The decisions we will make are important. Do we truly place a value on having open space, clean streams, nearby agriculture? We need to choose wisely with a view toward what kind of community we leave our children.
Wes Rolley, Morgan Hill
