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Friends of BAREC Dedicated to Preserving Santa Clara's 'Mission City' Heritage
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The political history with regards to the development of the BAREC property has been filled with many twists and turns. In the summer of 2002 the Santa Clara Planning Department performed a study of the property and stated that BAREC was not needed to fulfill the City's State mandated housing needs. This was the most positive thing that happened to the BAREC property. However, since 2002 there have been many serious attempts by individuals working within local and state governments to steer this property towards development. Fortunately, all of these attempts have been met with opposition from people in the community who have strongly voiced their opinions about the viability of the one and only one plan that has been presented to date. The proponents of this development have consistently tried to make the development of this property a Senior Citizen issue. However, the proponents cannot answer the question, 'why do the 110 single family homes have to be built on the property as well?' The question of whether or not Senior Housing units can be placed on the property is not an issue. What is at stake for the BAREC property is the other 11 acres of Public Land. Plans have been presented to city officials that are vastly superior, both from a land use point of view and commercial point of view. It is hard to understand just why these elected officials have never given these plans the slightest consideration. In June of 2007, the City Council voted 6 - 0 to enact a change in zoning on the property as well as an amendment to the General Plan to change the zoning from medium density to bonus density, i.e., to put more housing units on the property than would otherwise be allowed. Members of Friends of BAREC immediately started a 'Referendum Process' seeking to overturn the two decisions that were enacted. In less than 30 days, more than 5000 Santa Clara residents signed this Referendum. This 'Political Mandate' was ignored by the City Council who voted to place it on the ballot. And that is the 'only' reason why it is on the ballot for you to vote on. We urge you to think about this precious land when making your decision. It is about saving the history of this property; it is about saving the heritage of our Mission City. It is the last piece of large remaining land in the City of Santa Clara. We are asking you not to give it up so easily, for it may offer us greater use, especially in our children's future.
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