Nearly a year after it first went up for City Council review,
the draft environmental impact report on The Institute Golf Course
has been revised and is back for another round of public
scrutiny.
Nearly a year after it first went up for City Council review, the draft environmental impact report on The Institute Golf Course has been revised and is back for another round of public scrutiny.
The biggest changes revolve around the environmental impacts of the course on plants, animals and water, according to Planning Manager Jim Rowe.
“There are a lot of mitigations (fixes to a particular impact),” Rowe said. “Some they haven’t proposed yet.”
After the public review, The Institute will have a chance to give the council its evaluation of the required mitigations, early in 2004, though no date has been set.
Morgan Hill and The Institute have been at odds ever since the planning department discovered in 1998 that The Institute had gone way beyond the scope of permits in renovating the golf course on Foothill Avenue, formerly the site of the Flying Lady Restaurant and Hill Country.
The course was built as the recreational arm of the American Institute of Mathematics by Corralitos Creek, LLC, the property owners, including local resident John Fry of Fry’s Electronics.
AIM, now based in Palo Alto, plans to move to the site.
Substantial revisions were made to five sections of the revised draft EIR, including the project description.
Geology and soil: a mitigation for erosion and siltation on the course is suggested by the EIR but not proposed, so far, by The Institute.
Vegetation and Wildlife: On-going golf course use has, the EIR claims, adversely affected native animals and the original waterway. Rowe said that, where the original draft EIR wanted a 200-foot buffer around Corralitos Creek, that runs through the course, the revised version reduces that space. Instead, The Institute would be required to purchase other property off-site as a mitigation.
Hydrology and Water Quality: 31 downstream wells were monitored and most showed high levels of nitrates (a component of fertilizers used on grass and agricultural products). Tests showed that the levels in these wells have been going up over the past 13 years.
Water supply: Rowe said reducing turf area will lessen the course’s drain on its wells and the underground aquifer, shared by others.
“They must reduce their consumption of water,” Rowe said.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy’s explanation of the wrangle from the city’s point of view is on page A4 of today’s paper.
The full text of the revised draft EIR will be posted on the city’s website next week. The public is invited to review the document at City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave., the Morgan Hill Library, 17550 Peak Ave. at West Main Avenue or online at www.morgan-hill.ca.gov and submit comments to the city.
