From: <br />ierfiniaanCalcomcast.net <br />To: <br />Euaene RR -SC Plan <br />Subject: <br />River Road Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan testimony <br />Date: <br />Wednesday, October 25, 2023 3:18:25 PM <br />IYou don't often get email fromjerfinigan@comcast.net. Learn why this is important <br />[EXTERNAL <br />October 25, 2023 <br />My name is Jerry Finigan. I live at 1250 Irvington Drive in Santa Clara. You will find <br />my name on the team that has created the River Road Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan under <br />discussion. You will also find my name on the team that worked on the 1987 refinement plan <br />for River Road and Santa Clara. When that plan was formed it was as an adjunct to the plan to <br />establish sewers in the area and was funded under a federal grant. Most of the effort of that <br />team was toward the staging of the sewer project and the refinement plan was not given as <br />much effort. At that time Belt Line had been open for about 15 years prompting exploding <br />residential growth in Santa Clara. The citizen advisory team was concerned that the model of <br />growth that was being used continue — that is, half acre lots to quarter acre lots with modest <br />sized ranch style homes continue. It was only at the urging of the planning staff that <br />consideration for commercial zoning be included. The plan was anything but comprehensive. <br />Transportation considerations basically only included concerns that curb cuts directly on River <br />Road be as limited as possible. <br />How things have changed in the in the 36 years that have elapsed. Population now in <br />Santa Clara is about 4 times what it was then and about 2 times now in the lower River Road <br />area. Citizens of River Road and Santa Clara have been consistently working together since <br />2001 to try to address concerns about the fractured services in the area and to compile the <br />common visions our citizens have for the future of this area. This culminated in a multi-year <br />project that we titled SCRROL — the acronym for the Santa Clara River Road Outreach and <br />Learning Project . This was a massive outreach project to reach as many River Road and <br />Santa Clara citizens as we possibly could. It involved 76 neighborhood volunteers and about <br />2000 hours. The project recorded the visions and priorities of River Road and Santa Clara <br />residents between 2011 and 2012 and a written study was published in 2012. It was given an <br />award for its work by the national organization (Neighborhoods USA) and formed the genesis <br />for the River Road Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan. The Neighborhood Plan is the tangible <br />expression of the vision recorded in SCRROL. <br />There was some refinement of these visions at the outset of the Neighborhood Plan and <br />the State had its own visions that needed to be accommodated, but the Plan captures what we <br />heard from our neighbors. Rest assured that the Neighborhood Plan generally reflects the <br />vision of citizens in River Road and Santa Clara. Please keep this in mind and honor the <br />tireless efforts of my neighbors to set a path to create the community our neighbors wish to <br />have in the future. <br />Thank you for your attention. <br />27 <br />