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How Green is My Valley? by Lisa Krieger

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo: New era of conservation gaining momentum in Coyote Valley

Written by Paul Rogers. Published in the Mercury News June 27, 2015. Photo by Jim Gensheimer.

SAN JOSE — After decades of conflict over whether to build technology campuses and housing in Coyote Valley, the scenic expanse of ranches and farms on San Jose’s southern edges along Highway 101, a new momentum has begun to keep the area free of urban development, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said Saturday.

Liccardo said that although the city’s general plan, approved in 2011, still allows for tech campus development in the northern part of the 7,400-acre Coyote Valley, no tech companies have approached him hoping to build there. And, Liccardo added, his strong preference is for the firms to locate downtown, in North San Jose or in other urbanized parts of the city.

“I have no desire to invest in infrastructure development on the southern edges of San Jose,” Liccardo said in an interview, adding that if no new construction ever came to the rural valley “I wouldn’t lose any sleep.”