tanford's decision to declare Supervisor Joe Simitian's
open space proposal unacceptable is "odd," Simitian said yesterday.
"These are all issues which have all been on the table for well
over a year," Simitian said.
Simitian
announced Tuesday night that he would like Stanford to set aside
1,000 acres in its hills as open space for 99 years in return for
getting development rights in its core campus for what it wants
to build over the next decade.
"For the intensification
of development on the core campus, setting aside 1,000 acres seems
reasonable to me," said Palo Alto Mayor Liz Kniss. The City Council
voted 7-0 Monday night to state a preference for permanent open
space for Stanford's 2,000 acres of foothills in Santa Clara County.
"We have an applicant who won't take yes for an answer,"
Simitian said, referring to his willingness to approve a new use
permit for 2 million square feet of new academic buildings and 3,000
faculty, staff and graduate student housing units.
"I'm
still cautiously optimistic," Simitian added, saying Thursday morning
that he planned to talk to Stanford later in the day "to keep the
lines of communication open."
Will Simitian modify his
open space proposal to get to "yes" in the process?
"I'm
always willing to keep an open mind," he said.
--Don Kazak
