April 12, 2024
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
70 W. Hedding St.
San Jose, CA 95110
Via email
Re: Item 10 on April 16 Agenda: Report Back on Reid-Hillview Future Planning
Dear President of the Board Ellenberg and County Supervisors,
The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter and Green Foothills have been following issues with Reid-Hillview for the past few years and we have repeatedly expressed support for the efforts to transition the 180-acre airport property into a sustainable community asset.
As you consider the staff report for Item 10 on April 16 Agenda (Report Back on Reid-Hillview Future Planning), we hope you envision this site for what it can, and should provide: clean air and a thriving community where urban nature and tree canopy increase in an area that is sorely lacking in both.
Airports in urban settings are attractive to birds and to wildlife that perceives the open space of the airfield as prime habitat. Reid-Hillview is no exception. Burrowing owls nested there in the past, and raptors are often seen nearby. The adjacent Lake Cunningham attracts to the area not only raptors but many other large and flocking birds such as gulls, geese and ducks. Aircraft related bird strikes are therefore a significant risk to birds, and to people and property.
Like all airports, Reid-Hillview is required by the FAA to implement a Wildlife Hazard Management Plan (WHMP) that permits the removal, often by lethal methods, of birds and wildlife species from the airfield and beyond. Even with the implementation of the WHMP, wildlife collisions and bird strikes occur at the airport. The FAA Wildlife Strike Database reports a Golden Eagle strike in August 2020. Owls, geese, hawks, swallows and numerous 'unknown birds' have also fallen victim to bird strikes in recent years.
The airport is an incompatible land use in an urban environment, imposing adverse impacts (such as noise and lead fuel emissions) on the community of east side of San Jose. It is time to explore a better use for this publicly-owned piece of land and expand the community and its parkland.
In your considerations, we hope you continue supporting and creating policy that plans as soon as possible for a closed airport. The neighborhood, our avifauna, and our clean skies depend on your policy decisions. Please do not lose momentum.
Thank you,
Shani Kleinhaus, Ph.D.
Environmental Advocate
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Gita Dev
Conservation Committee Chair
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Alice Kaufman
Policy and Advocacy Director
Green Foothills