Fixing the environmental effects of The Institute Golf Course on
Foothill Avenue was the subject of a four-hour Planning Commission
meeting Tuesday; discussion will continue at a special meeting on
June 1.
Fixing the environmental effects of The Institute Golf Course on Foothill Avenue was the subject of a four-hour Planning Commission meeting Tuesday; discussion will continue at a special meeting on June 1.
“We were trying to understand the mitigations, how they work and what they do,” said Joe Mueller, commission chair.
The mitigations are part of a 2-inch thick Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Since The Institute renovated the old 18-hole golf course on the former Hill Country property without performing an EIR or obtaining proper permits from the city, it has been embroiled in a tug of war with the city and environmental groups.
City planners have restricted play on the course – reported to be of world-class quality – by its owners who include John Fry of Fry’s Electronics, until the mitigations can be agreed upon and fulfilled.
Jim Rowe, city planning manager, said the commission asked staff to clarify some language in the EIR, over when the ponds need to be drained and what, exactly, is the definition of “critical water level.”
Rowe said the EIR requires ponds to be drained each year in September or October but, he said, in reality, that only needs to be done if a survey shows bullfrogs on the property.
“A recent survey showed only one bullfrog and it was removed,” Rowe said.
Bullfrogs threaten endangered and native red-legged frogs that make Corralitos Creek – running through the course – their home.
“They (The Institute) would also be required to conserve water if the table falls to “critical levels,” Rowe said, “but how is that defined?”
Rowe said other additions to the EIR, before it can go to council, concerns tree planting on the Foothill Avenue perimeter.
“The EIR said the (closely planted) trees didn’t have a significant visual impact on neighbors,” Rowe said. “But, for those living across the street, it is.”
Rowe said the EIR would require an evaluation that might suggest thinning or removal.
Rowe said that The Institute had presented its version of an extensive riparian (river and creek) restoration plan and an alternative mitigation to that currently in the EIR.
“They will have to make some changes to the course,” Rowe said, which The Institute has resisted.
Representatives from the Santa Clara Audubon Society, Committee for Green Foothills and Streams for Tomorrow, who have watched the EIR development closely, spoke at the meeting.
The Audubon Society and Green Foothills have said they will sue the city and The Institute if they don’t comply, by mid-July, with a section of the Endangered Species Act protecting red-legged frogs from harassment, harm or destruction. The city is involved because it has approved two temporary use permits allowing The Institute to continue maintaining its greens before an EIR was approved and mitigations completed. No play on the course is allowed until The Institute satisfies concerns over the frogs, water and fertilizer monitoring and pond screening.
Steve Sorenson, manager of The Institute’s golf course, could not be reached for comment.
The Planning Commission will make recommendations to the City Council, but council will decide whether or not to accept the EIR at a special meeting June 9.
Eventual plans are for the American Institute of Mathematics, a world-renowned research organization based in Palo Alto, to move onto the 192-acre property. The Flying Lady Restaurant building would be demolished and replaced with a new headquarters building to house and care for mathematicians and scientists attending workshops and seminars.
www.aimath.org
