Protect Our Parks: Protect Park Funding

Take 30 seconds to use the form below to tell the City Council: Protect Our Parks! Protect Park Funding!

Use the form below to send an automatic email to the San Jose City Council to tell them to Protect our Parks by protecting park “Impact Fees”, funding provided by developers which provide funds for both existing and new parks.

Housing and access to nature are essential needs. We have an opportunity for a win-win by protecting park funding. Our community needs adequate housing. We should not worsen the housing crisis by eliminating funding for parks that makes housing developments more attractive to potential buyers and renters. Our community also needs public parks and urban green space, which promote physical and mental health. Many parks still require repair and maintenance and staff are needed for either to occur. By ensuring parks are well-maintained and their staffing adequately funded, we create an inclusive environment that fosters a sense of belonging and unity in San Jose. Protecting park funding provides an incentive for home buyers and renters to live in San Jose, which benefits not just our community but potential housing developers.

Recommendation (c) of the Downtown Residential High-Rise Program seeks to provide ever larger park fee discounts. Offering park fee reductions means that there would be less money available to create and maintain the parks that serve our current and future residents. The way to incentivize downtown residential development is to make downtown a vibrant and exciting place to live, complete with active and well-maintained nearby parks. If people want to live downtown, developers would then find it financially attractive to construct more housing to meet the demand.

Recommendation (d) is to study extending the fee reduction program citywide and to low- and mid-rise projects as well. If this were to be done, it would cripple our city park system, leaving us eventually with nothing but a collection of deteriorating and uninviting wastelands.

Protect Our Parks by asking the City Council to vote NO on 8.2 (c) and (d): Do NOT vote to give away park funding. Instead, choose to INVEST in parks downtown and citywide. Make our city inviting so residents want to live here, and so developers want to build here!

Please take 30 seconds to tell the City Council that residents need both the housing and parks situations resolved. Both housing and parks should be facilitated. Park impact fees should be protected and eventually increased. 

Use the form below to automatically send an email to the City Council. You may add a personal comment. The text of the email is below the form. You will receive a confirmation email.

    YOUR INFORMATION

    1. Required: Your First and Last Name

    2. Required: Your Email Address

    3. Required: Your Street or Cross Street. Do not list your City. Do not list your State.

    4. Required: Your Zip Code

    5. Required:

    6. Optional: Please list any additional comments you'd like included as the second paragraph of your online petition.

    TEXT OF YOUR EMAIL TO THE CITY COUNCIL

    Subject line: [your-name] [your-zip] – 6/18/24, Agenda Item 8.2: “Downtown Residential High-Rise Program”

    Dear City Council,

    [your-personal-message]

    Protect our Parks by protecting park Impact Fees, which provide funds for both existing and new parks. Housing and access to nature are essential needs. We have an opportunity for a win-win by protecting park funding. Our community needs adequate housing. We should not worsen the housing crisis by eliminating funding for parks that makes housing developments more attractive to potential buyers and renters. Our community also needs public parks and urban green space, which promote physical and mental health. Many parks still require repair and maintenance and staff are needed for either to occur. By ensuring parks are well-maintained and their staffing adequately funded, we create an inclusive environment that fosters a sense of belonging and unity in San Jose. Protecting park funding provides an incentive for home buyers and renters to live in San Jose, which benefits not just our community but potential housing developers.

    Recommendation (c) of the Downtown Residential High-Rise Program seeks to provide ever larger park fee discounts. Offering park fee reductions means that there would be less money available to create and maintain the parks that serve our current and future residents. The way to incentivize downtown residential development is to make downtown a vibrant and exciting place to live, complete with active and well-maintained nearby parks. If people want to live downtown, developers would then find it financially attractive to construct more housing to meet the demand.

    Recommendation (d) is to study extending the fee reduction program citywide and to low- and mid-rise projects as well. If this were to be done, it would cripple our city park system, leaving us eventually with nothing but a collection of deteriorating and uninviting wastelands.

    Protect Our Parks by voting NO on 8.2 (c) and (d): Do NOT vote to give away park funding. Instead, choose to INVEST in parks downtown and citywide. Make our city inviting so residents want to live here, and so developers want to build here!

    Please take 30 seconds to tell the City Council that residents need both the housing and parks situations resolved. Both housing and parks should be facilitated. Park impact fees should be protected and eventually increased. 

    [your-name]
    [your-zip-code]

    You may not use my contact information for any purpose other than to respond to my concern regarding the topic listed above, nor may you share my address with any other organization(s) or individual(s).

    —
    This mail was sent on behalf of a San Jose resident via San Jose United
    https://www.sanjoseunited.net
    Community Working Together