An east Morgan Hill golf course and conference center for elite
mathematicians received the
”
green light
”
this week to start complying with environmental laws, but the
project that flouted local zoning rules may still land the city in
court.
Morgan Hill – An east Morgan Hill golf course and conference center for elite mathematicians received the “green light” this week to start complying with environmental laws, but the project that flouted local zoning rules may still land the city in court.
Craig Breon, an environmental advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, told councilmembers Wednesday that his organization might sue if the city fails to address concerns about California red-legged frogs and other endangered species under a revised environmental plan for the American Institute of Mathematics Golf Course and Conference Center, at the intersection of Foothill and Maple avenues.Â
Work on the $50-million, 166,000-square-foot conference center began in May. Meanwhile, the institute continues addressing environmental concerns dating back to the late ’90s.Â
Breon, who has suggested the possibility of a lawsuit in the past, detailed his group’s concerns in a scathing nine-page letter submitted to the city the day of the meeting. Among other things, the letter criticized the city for years of delay on environmental protections at the site and lack of city enforcement.
“In addition, we believe that any final project approval should be accompanied by a formal, public apology on behalf of the city council,” Breon wrote. “This council and its predecessors since the late 1990s have allowed both the perception and the reality that the wealthy and influential can flaunt the rules of local government with near impunity.”
The reference was to John Fry, an electronics mogul who in the late ’90s expanded a former pitch-and-putt golf course into a championship 18-hole-facility in defiance of city orders. Fry and his partners at AIM are on the hook for destroying 26 acres of habitat for the threatened California red-legged frogs and 51 acres of habitat for endangered bay checkerspot butterflies, a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Additionally, many federally listed plants were potentially damaged by the unauthorized construction of the golf course 10 years ago at the former site of Hill Country and the Flying Lady restaurant.
“I think you should take these issues seriously,” Breon told council members Wednesday night. “There is a real loss to natural resources as these things do not get done over time.”
While acknowledging the threat of a lawsuit from the Audubon society, council members lauded the “addendum” – measuring hundreds of pages – to an environmental plan originally approved in 2004.
“This was not an insignificant undertaking,” Councilman Greg Sellers said, adding: “There were a lot of accusations hurled, and the desperation of some of these last minute comments suggests that we got it right.”
Kevin Robins, a project representative, said the approval is “like a gun going off at a green light to start some of these mitigation measures” to save endangered species.
Council members concurred on the need to push forward with measures in the revised environmental report, which calls for such things as a wildlife buffer around ponds and restoring lost habitat on the 192-acre site. But a history of delays in implementing protections spelled out in a 2004 environmental plan inspired council to add a condition: A failure to meet any deadlines in the revised plan will trigger a hearing to revoke the approval, unless AIM can demonstrate that other regulatory agencies are the source of delays.Â
“I appreciated the analogy of the green light,” Mayor Steve Tate said. “It is time to get some things in place that have been waiting too long.”
