The Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group is in favor of an appropriately located Calpine power plant. The site on Monterey Highway near Metcalf Road is not appropriate for the residential neighborhood to the north nor to the planned Coyote Valley campus research office park to the south.

The parcel at the base of Tulare Hill has been zoned for campus office park use for years. Our city planners and councilmembers for many years have recognized the wisdom of not putting heavy industrial uses in residential neighborhoods or campus research office parks. The idea of the hill mitigating the neighborhood presence is silly. The hill doesn't divide the air. The 186 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx) which the plant will emit into our air per year is not acceptable for a residential area. And the visual impact is not lessened by the hill if you drive down Monterey Highway, or Bailey Avenue, which will be the location of the new on/off ramp to 101.

We understand that the proposed power plant is cleaner and quieter than older plants. Technology in all areas has improved in recent years; we would expect that power plant technology would as well. Today's cars are cleaner and quieter than cars used to be, for example, but they are still cars. Being cleaner and quieter doesn't mean that you now park your car in your living room. Power plants, no matter how advanced, do not belong in residential neighborhoods.

City planning seeks the highest and best use for a property. The Metcalf site is now zoned for campus office park use. The proposed rezoning of the site would downgrade its use to heavy industrial, and potentially threaten vigorous and responsible development plans for North Coyote.

Heavy industry usually attracts more heavy industry. A major corporation, such as Cisco Systems, when preparing to spend $1 billion on a world headquarters office campus, might well reconsider. I understand that North Carolina has been trying for some time to get Cisco to go there. Presumably, they have a site to offer which is not next door to a power plant. The loss of such a major employer (20,000 jobs), along with the associated sales and property tax revenues, would be a major blow to San Jose. Additionally, if Cisco backs out of Coyote, the next user to come along (if any) might not be so responsive to the community and committed to preserving, as far as possible, the open space and natural beauty of Coyote Valley. We hope this last major open space will not end up looking like Martinez.

The fact that construction jobs (temporary) and operating jobs (20 to 30 jobs) will be provided by the proposed power plant is no excuse to site the plant in a residential neighborhood. These jobs will be generated (no pun intended) wherever the plant is eventually located. We encourage Calpine to operate as a responsible member of our community and locate a site that is not in anyone's backyard and does not threaten the integrity of the Coyote Valley campus research office park.

We would like to support Calpine with a well-located power generation facility. The Calpine Gilroy power plant could be enlarged (or replaced); the hills east of 101 are closer to the gas pipeline which the power plant will need; other areas of the City are zoned specifically for heavy industry. We encourage Calpine to find a site which will not decrease the quality of life in our City.

Please visit our website link in the Organizations/Groups tab to your left for more details on this very important community issue and for links to related sites.

Elizabeth Cord
Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group