Uploaded: Wednesday, November 1, 2000, 8 a.m.

Stanford land decision delayed

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to delay its final decision on Stanford University's new general use permit until at least Nov. 27.

The delay came after the board heard almost six hours of public testimony Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

Several supervisors said they needed more time to sift through all the comments they received, including hundreds of e-mails.

Stanford officials have said they will accept a version of the general use permit and community plan recommended by the county Planning Commission and staff--including a commitment to leave most areas west of Junipero Serra Boulevard open for 25 years, with some flexibility.

But Supervisor Joe Simitian announced Oct. 24 that he would like Stanford to set aside 1,000 acres of foothills as open space for 99 years in return for Stanford being able to build 2 million additional square feet of academic buildings and 3,000 housing.

Stanford officials have emphatically said they will not accept that condition.

"Staff needs to explore various options and what the legal limits of those options are," said Supervisor Jim Beall.

"I still feel a great need to analyze, review and sift through the documents," said Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, adding that she preferred to be deliberate.

After a long and sometimes intense public hearing Monday night, Simitian said that while there was one remaining "very significant" issue, the 18-month-long planning process has been on balance a success, with agreement on many more issues.

--Don Kazak