Time to Mitigate and Compromise

Mathematics Institute and golf course project will be good for
South Valley but only if the environmental damage is mitigated
It’s time for electronics retail magnate John Fry and his business partner Steve Sorenson to solve the environmental equation for the controversial American Institute of Mathematics golf course and conference center project.

For those in need of a quick reminder, the proposal is for a 166,000-square-foot castle modeled after the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The center will be devoted to expanding the frontiers of mathematical knowledge through focused research projects and conferences. The center “will be the centerpiece of mathematics in the United States,” according to Sorenson.  

It’s a lofty proposal that comes complete with a a 76-car underground garage, large wine storage facilities, a library, a 145-seat auditorium, 20 guest suites, dining facilities, lecture halls, conference rooms, locker rooms, exercise facilities, a gift shop and a golf course fit for, well, a king.

The Morgan Hill City Council has given the the go-ahead to the project to begin complying with environmental laws, prompting a lawsuit threat from at least one environmental group.

It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s actually a case of reaping what you sow.

The problem dates to the 1990s, when AIM flouted environmental laws and Morgan Hill officials failed to adequately enforce them. As a result, officials from both groups are trying to put together an after-the-fact assessment of what plants and animals lived at project site near the intersection of Foothill and Maple avenues before their habitats were changed by AIM.

It’s an impossible task, so of course, environmental groups like the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society are concerned that the plan is inadequate. They’re especially concerned about the destruction of habitats that supported endangered or threatened California red-legged frogs, bay checkerspot butterflies, and numerous plants.

They’ve threatened a lawsuit that city and AIM officials need to take seriously.

The AIM project has tremendous potential for the city of Morgan Hill and the South County region. It is in everyone’s interest to make sure that this lawsuit doesn’t develop into a butterfly in the ointment.

An Audubon Society suit has the very real potential to delay the project for years and to cost the taxpayers of Morgan Hill hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

We urge Morgan Hill and AIM officials to take a lesson from history when concerns about the bay checkerspot butterfly’s habitat threatened to derail the much-needed expansion of U.S. 101 through South County. Elected officials, spearheaded by County Supervisor Don Gage and former Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy, brought the interested parties together and hammered out a compromise.

Perhaps Gage would be willing to serve as a moderator in this situation.

It’s a critical time. The consequences of flouting environmental laws and failing to adequately enforce them can be severe, or they can be mitigated. It’s up to Morgan Hill and AIM officials to choose.