According to a very good and informative article by Vrinda Normand in the Metro last week, San Jose is the only city in Santa Clara County that allows developers to contract directly with consultants to write environmental impact reports for their proposed projects. The problem with this policy was made evident recently in the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Coyote Valley Specific Plan.
The DEIR, researched and written by David J. Powers and Associates, who also made earlier studies paid for directly by the developers’ Coyote Housing Group, is so “flaw-ridden” that it generated over 1,000 pages of criticism from 28 public agencies and 55 organizations and individuals, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sierra Club and researchers from De Anza College.
However, it’s not so much what the DEIR says that is of major concern, but what it leaves out. The Metro article asks: do these critical omissions “represent oversight—or fraud?” There is a long list of problems cited by the report’s critics, including “factual errors, omission of impacts, inadequate analysis of impacts, inadequate scientific data, and faulty assumptions and conclusions.” The De Anza study showed that the DEIR understates the significance of the wildlife corridor in the area, and the Sierra Club chided Powers and Associates for lack of on-site data collection and pointed out that the researchers covered only 60 percent of the territory and made many observations without even getting out of their vehicles.
Fortunately, the city has now withdrawn the Powers and Associates plan and it will be rewritten by 2009 at a cost of up to $1 million to the developers. However, this is a sad state of affairs and the amount of time, effort and money that has been wasted is just crazy.
Environmental impact reports are supposed to be undertaken on behalf of the public and to serve the greater public good, not to serve the selfish needs of developers and certainly not pull the wool over the public’s eyes. They are necessary to making an informed decision as to whether or not development in a particular area should be allowed to proceed. They must be comprehensive and reveal every bit of data.
San Jose should immediately join its neighbors and Santa Clara County and ban developer-controlled environmental impact reports. Instead, the city should hand the jobs over to professional environmental research consultants with a proven record who report directly to the public’s representatives and whose first priority is serving the citizens. How about it, city council?
Mr. Van Zandt,
That maybe a good idea, but minor league stuff in the San Jose corruption category. The real source is LABOR, not developers.
Developers are just compliant tools for LABOR.
If anyone (Hello Mrs. Carr) wants to get to the root they need to dig into how LABOR helps candidates like Cindy Chavez who then deliver for them.
If you think I’m smokin dope on this “theory”, let me share with you a brief part of Martin Ludlow’s bio from Wikipedia. Sub Chavez for Ludlow and Central Labor Council for SEIU and you’ll get the picture.
WIKIPEDIA: Ludlow stepped down from the influential labor organization on February 21, 2006 amid a federal, state and county investigation into collusion between his 2003 City Council campaign and SEIU Local 99. Ludlow’s deal with prosecutors reportedly bars him from public and union offices, it marked a dramatic fall for one of Los Angeles County’s liberal rising stars. In March 2006, the governing board of the County Fed awarded a $15,000 cash payment to Ludlow “in recognition of his service to the County Fed.”
1000 pages of criticism are no proof of flaws.
Anyone can write anything as criticism. By law, every comment is included in the Final EIR, without exception.
It is easy to make 1000 pages of criticism on any EIR. Even the good ones. All you have to do is sit down and start writing.
That said, the author is right that the city should hire their own EIR consultants. It’s just good policy.
Mr. Mortimer S.
DEVELOPERS are just compliant tools for labor?
Last I looked Cindy Chavez is in no position to
deliver anything to labor.
As I`m sure you already know, anyone can edit
Wikipedia to say anything. Even dope smokin dudes
like you.
Dear Dave G.
Cindy Chavez is running for Supervisor so she’ll be back in position to help developers and LABOR. If you don’t believe me, read about all the money they both poured legally and illegally into her mayoral campaign.
I’d like to know how LABOR affects the California Environmental Quality Act process in the City of San Jose.
Also, you know that when you type one word out in all capital letters like you do the word LABOR, it means that it’s an acronym, like SPECTRE.
QUE ES COYOTE? MUY MALOS LOS COYOTES! Y CON LA BOR, QUIDATE!
SANCHO
I’m very glad to see San Jose Inside pick up on this issue. I work for Committee for Green Foothills, and we’re the main organization pushing for this reform.
You can find more information here:
http://www.greenfoothills.org/blog/2007/09/cgf-news-release-san-jose-process.html
KQED Radio did some follow up publicity on this issue here:
http://www.greenfoothills.org/blog/2007/10/brian-schmidt-on-kqed-perspectives.html
and here:
http://www.greenfoothills.org/blog/2007/10/more-kqed-commentary-on-san-jose.html
I’m glad the issue is getting attention – now we need some action.
Sorry, folks, but he who pays the piper always calls the tune. To allow a developer to select the consultant who drafts the EIR is as wrong-headed as possible. It’s an absolute conflict of interest, and should not be tolerated. My natural inclination is pro-development, as regular posters to this blog know well. But there can be no justification for allowing anyone who proposes a project to be allowed to select the EIR consultant. The EIR consultant is supposed to protect the public interest, not justify the developer proposal.