With the decision to remove Jackson Oaks from the Trails and
Natural Resources Study, the city has set a bad precedent: That the
preferences of neighbors of proposed development trump the best
interests of the entire community
Politics and fear triumphed over reason and justice last week at City Hall.
On a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Greg Sellers absent, City Council members caved into pressure from fear-mongering Jackson Oaks residents who were opposed to public trails on public lands near their neighborhood.
Councilmembers used an impractical compromise plan proposed at the last minute by Councilman Mark Grzan to justify their spineless decision to capitulate to the Jackson Oaks residents, ignoring their duty to make decisions in the best interests of the entire city.
With the decision to remove Jackson Oaks from the Trails and Natural Resources Study, the city has denied residents the opportunity to even study the feasibility of trails in that area.
With the decision to remove Jackson Oaks from the Trails and Natural Resources Study, the city has set a bad precedent: That the preferences of neighbors of proposed development trump the best interests of the entire community.
In justifying his vote, Mayor Steve Tate seemed to contradict himself.
“I think you’ve got to address it from the standpoint of what’s the best overall thing for the city … ” he said.
We agree, and it’s clear that the best overall thing for the city is to keep the Jackson Oaks trails in the study. It’s reasonable to continue to study whether or not public trails are feasible on public lands near Jackson Oaks.
But then Tate continued, ” … and with 80 percent of [Jackson Oaks] residents not wanting it in their neighborhood, we have to go with that.”
If Tate was truly concerned about what is best for the entire city, instead of what some noisy, NIMBY, misguided Jackson Oaks residents fear, he’d have voted to keep the Jackson Oaks trails in the study.
If we followed Tate’s logic – that if neighbors don’t want a development, it shouldn’t happen – the city wouldn’t have the Ford dealership on Condit Road bringing jobs and sales tax dollars to the city, and we wouldn’t have the county courthouse on Butterfield about to be complete, bringing workers to downtown Morgan Hill, among a host of other developments that elicited objections from neighbors.
Of course neighbors’ concerns should be one factor in evaluating any development proposal. But they shouldn’t be the only factor or even the primary factor. Councilmembers represent all residents, not just the noisy, NIMBY, misguided ones. Their duty is to make decisions in the best interest of the entire community.
Among many silly concerns that Jackson Oaks neighbors spouted during this process, the one that came up most frequently and vociferously was worry about fire. These concerns aren’t justified, either by the experiences of other trails systems in the Bay Area, or in light of the fact that Jackson Oaks is considered a safe enough place to live, so it’s clearly a safe enough place to hike or bicycle.
Because these trails are proposed for public lands, which are paid for and maintained with public tax dollars, it’s only fair and just that all residents have access to them.
Unfortunately, thanks to the votes of Tate and Councilmembers Grzan, Marby Lee and Larry Carr, that won’t be the case in Morgan Hill.
