May 3rd, 2022
Re: City Council May 3, 2022 Agenda Item: 6.1 Revisions to the City of San José’s Water EfficientLandscape Ordinance Dear Mayor Liccardo and Council Members,
We appreciate the proposed amendments to the Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance that aimto be more water conscious, remove invasive species, and promote environmentally friendlylandscaping. Thank you for posing limitations on hardscaping, which is a large contributor to theurban heat island effect and to the pollution of stormwater runoff. Please consider a strongeremphasis on native plants and adding a limitation on lighting.
There are countless low-water native plants and shrubs that could be used in landscaping.Please only emphasize native plants and remove the broader emphasis of “non-invasive” plants.Habitat value should be a key consideration for plantings and “non-invasive” plants do notguarantee local habitat promotion. Native plants provide habitat for other native wildlife,including pollinators such as birds, bees, and butterflies.
Additionally, please provide lighting standards that reduce light pollution, prevent birdcollisions, and protect insects, plants, and wildlife. These should include: lighting should only beused when and where necessary for public safety, all lighting fixtures should be shieldeddownward and light only what they are meant to, lighting should be as dim as possible toreduce glare and unnecessary brightness, and all lighting fixtures should have a correlated colortemperature of 2,400 Kelvin or below 1 .
1 https://www.darksky.org/our-work/lighting/lighting-principles/,https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.2029?af=R, andhttps://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2101666118 1 If you have any questions, comments, or requests for further information, please reach out [email protected].
Thank you for your consideration,
Giulianna PendletonEnvironmental Advocacy AssistantSanta Clara Valley Audubon Society Alice KaufmanLegislative Advocacy DirectorGreen Foothills Linda RuthruffConservation ChairCalifornia Native Plant Society Santa Clara Valley Chapter Gladwyn D’SouzaConservation Committee ChairSierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter 2