CC 01-17-2023 Oral CommunicationsCC 01-17-2023
Written Communications
Oral
Communications
From:Daniel Honegger
To:City Council; City Clerk; Cupertino City Manager"s Office
Subject:1/17/2023 City Council meeting communication - Convert Blackberry Farm Golf Course to natural habitat
Date:Tuesday, January 17, 2023 12:22:28 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
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To Mayor Hung Wei and Councilmembers:
As a long time resident and employee all around the south bay, I feel that it is in the best
interests of our local community and the environment as a whole to favor the return of the golf
course to a natural, drought tolerant habitat.
Already, today, the number and variety of people served by local natural trails and an
education center would surpass the usage of a restored golf course. Enjoyment of nature and
natural spaces has a minimal cost of entry and broad, long-lasting appeal across all ages,
backgrounds, and interests. The hours and conditions (seasons, weather) of use is also greater
for trails compared to a golf course. Extending beyond people, who could say no to the
increased space for native flora and fauna to flourish?
Looking to the future, returning the space to nature makes even more sense. We’re confronting
unprecedented species loss and climate change at all levels. What message are we sending to
ourselves and to those to come if we don’t take this opportunity to act proactively and locally
to mitigate issues we face with drought and native habitat loss? I can't foresee which way the
appeal of golfing as a leisure activity will trend, but the appeal of nature to everyone of us is
durable, and nature makes our environments more hardy and durable in return.
Thank you,
Daniel Honegger
From:Robert Hall
To:City Council; City Clerk
Subject:1/17/2023 Public Comments for the record
Date:Tuesday, January 17, 2023 10:23:50 AM
Attachments:Blackberry Golf Course Comment 1_17_23.pdf
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Dear Mayor and City Council members:
I’m writing to ask you to support converting Blackberry Farm Golf Course into a benefit for
the broader public, and importantly, wildlife.
You may have read the recent San Francisco Chronicle article titled, The Bay Area’s
natural habitats have vanished. We're a microcosm of a global die-off. Or, perhaps you
watched the January 1st 60 Minutes segment called, Earth’s wildlife running out of places
to live.
The message is dire. Human activity is driving plant and animal species to extinction at a
rate not seen since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. While golf courses have
been closing due to a generational decline in participation, the situation isn’t as urgent. In
fact, there’s an astounding 41 golf courses in Santa Clara County alone.
Fortunately there’s hope, because the solutions are local and leaders like you can help
repair our damaged relationship with nature. Rewilding the golf course with native plants,
can immediately cut down on water-waste, eliminate the need for chemical herbicides,
reinvigorate Stevens Creek and create a connected wildlife corridor with other parks in the
area such as McClellan Ranch where birds, fish, frogs, bees and butterflies can thrive.
Native plant corridors are recommended as a best practice by the San Francisco Estuary
Institute report, Making Nature's City: A Science-based Framework for Building Urban
Biodiversity, which summarizes the key indicators supporting urban biodiversity. The report
is available for free on SFEI’s website in English and Spanish.
SFEI's key urban biodiversity success indicators include
-Native Vegetation
-Green corridors
-Patch size
-Special Resources - Water/Aquifers/Reservoirs, Large Trees
-Management - Vegetation, Soil, Invasive plant removal, Infrastructure
https://www.sfei.org/news/building-cities-better-support-biodiversity
https://www.sfei.org/projects/making-natures-city
Cupertino can do the right thing and say goodbye to the biodiversity deserts of greens and
fairways and join the movement to restore nature to create a park for everyone with a
variety of demographics . While the time for action is now, nature is resilient, notes the San
Francisco Chronicle article above, and if given an opportunity it can bounce back.
Bob Hall
1946 Grove St. Apt. 6
San Francisco, CA
From:Kirsten Squarcia
To:Gary Latshaw; Cupertino City Manager"s Office; Andre Duurvoort; Gilee Corral
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:RE: Request to Review the November 15th Decision on the City Hall Study
Date:Friday, January 13, 2023 1:54:53 PM
Attachments:Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter letter to City of Cupertino 1.17.23.pdf
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Good afternoon Gary (Council Bcc’d), your email has been received and, per your separate request,
will be included with the written comments for Oral Communications for the January 17 City Council
meeting. Regards, Kirsten
Members of the public wishing to comment on an item on the agenda may do so in the
following ways:
1) Appear in person at Cupertino Community Hall. Members of the audience who address
the City Council must come to the lectern/microphone, and are requested to complete a
Speaker Card and identify themselves. Completion of Speaker Cards and identifying
yourself is voluntary and not required to attend the meeting or provide comments.
2) E-mail comments by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17 to the Council at
citycouncil@cupertino.org. These e-mail comments will also be forwarded to
Councilmembers by the City Clerk’s office before the meeting and posted to the City’s
website after the meeting.
Members of the public may provide oral public comments during the meeting as follows:
Oral public comments will be accepted during the meeting. Comments may be made
during “oral communications” for matters not on the agenda, and during the public
comment period for each agenda item.
Kirsten Squarcia
City Clerk
City Manager's Office
KirstenS@cupertino.org
(408) 777-3225
From: Gary Latshaw <glatshaw@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2023 12:13 PM
To: City Council <CityCouncil@cupertino.org>; Cupertino City Manager's Office
<citymanager@cupertino.org>; Andre Duurvoort <AndreD@cupertino.org>; Gilee Corral
<GileeC@cupertino.org>; Kirsten Squarcia <KirstenS@cupertino.org>
Subject: Request to Review the November 15th Decision on the City Hall Study
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
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Dear City Council Members, Mayor Hung Wei, City Manager Pamela Wu-City, Sustainability Manager
Andre Duuvort, and Climate & Utility Analyst Gilee Corral
I am writing as a resident of Cupertino and an active member of the Sierra Club. Below is the text of
the Sierra Club's critique of the decision to restore the City Hall as opposed to the replacement.
The letter describes the shortcomings of the decision process, which I feel are grounds to re-
examine the issue. As a resident, I would like the city to follow the path of Sunnyvale and have a new
city hall with the most advanced forms of energy acquisition and management. Sunnyvale's
residents can point to a very forward-looking and modern building. Simply restoring ours to comply
with seismic standards will not achieve that.
Here is the letter:
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter requests that the City of Cupertino re-examine
its decision on November 15, 2022 to restore the City Hall to conform to current
seismic standards, and not replace the City Hall.
In coming to this decision, neither the council discussions or the staff report even
mentioned the climate goals the City has set for itself or provided a life-cycle cost-
benefit analysis of the proposed restored building versus new construction. The
materials used in construction have a climate impact. While reuse of an existing
building may be inherently a sustainable approach, the City should also consider
life-cycle emissions. Of course, some portions of the existing facility, such as the
basement, might be repurposed for a new building. The LEED standards developed
by USGBC provide valuable information to achieve a green building.
The City’s recent commitments are identified and should be reflected in the City
Hall decision:
· The City’s website states: the goal to achieve carbon-neutrality in City owned
facilities and operation no later than 2030.
· The City’s Climate Action Plan 2.0[1] specifically identifies the need to achieve the
City’s target of carbon neutrality by 2040.
· Furthermore, on September 18,2018[2] the City declared a climate emergency in
Resolution No.18-094 stating: emergency declaration to halt greenhouse gas emissions
at the local level. Councilmember Darcy Paul, at the time stated: “I am really glad that
we are declaring a climate emergency...this is extremely critically important for not just
our community but for the planet and it is something that I’m very glad to bring
forward to the community.”
Whether the City decides to achieve its climate objectives by restoration of the
current City Hall or construction of a new City Hall, is not the business of the Sierra
Club. However, the Club would like to identify some important factors that have
apparently not been considered and need attention before a final decision should
be made:
· A new City Hall could be designed to take advantage of sunlight heating and natural
shading and ventilation for cooling as the new Sunnyvale City Hall does.
· A life-cycle cost benefit analysis will reveal whether having a net-zero building,
which could operate independent of external electricity and minimize water
consumption, will cost less to operate over the life of the building.
· It is likely that over the next couple of decades, natural gas will not be available in
Santa Clara Valley. Thus, buildings that depend on it will need to be retrofitted to be
heated by electricity.
Thank you for your consideration of our letter,
Gladwyn D’Souza
Conservation Committee Chair
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Gary Latshaw,
(glatshaw@gmail.com)
Guadalupe Regional Group Chair
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Cc:
James Eggers
Executive Director
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
[1]City of Cupertino Climate Action Plan 2.0 – August 16,2022, page 12
[2]City of Cupertino Climate Action Plan – 2018 Progress Report, page 1
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Fight for Renewable Energies! Save the global ecology; create jobs; eliminate dependence on foreign
oil; reduce military requirements
Gary Latshaw, Ph.D.
408-499-3006