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Home My WebLink AboutRESO 10202Resolution No. 10202 Resolution of the Charter City of Palo Alto, California in Support of the Eﬀorts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to Preserve Juristac/Sargent Ranch as Open Space WHEREAS, the Charter City of Palo Alto is located within the ancestral lands of Ramaytush- speaking Ohlone peoples, represented today by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, and other tribal nations; WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is comprised of descendants of Mutsun-speaking Ohlone peoples, whose ancestral territory includes southern portions of Santa Clara County; WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, and other Ohlone tribal nations and families survived two centuries of violent persecution and displacement during the Spanish, Mexican and American periods and today are working diligently to restore their Indigenous practices, regain stewardship of their lands and heal from historical trauma; WHEREAS, the area known as Juristac to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is the location of numerous historic ceremonial and sacred sites, comprising a landscape of paramount cultural and spiritual importance to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band; WHEREAS, the Debt Acquisition Company of America, doing business as Sargent Ranch Management Company, has applied to the County of Santa Clara for a conditional use permit for a proposed sand and gravel mining operation with aggregate processing facilities on 403 acres within the landscape of Juristac, called Sargent Ranch by the Debt Acquisition Company of America; WHEREAS, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) prepared by Santa Clara County found that the Sargent Ranch Quarry would cause 14 separate signiﬁcant and unavoidable impacts, including “permanent and irreversible alterations” to the Juristac Tribal Cultural Landscape that no reclamation activities could ever restore, and could also result in potential disturbance of archeological sites and human burials; WHEREAS, the DEIR further found that the Sargent Ranch Quarry, due to its location directly across a major wildlife corridor in and out of the Santa Cruz Mountains, would interfere substantially with wildlife movement, which could reduce genetic variability and make populations of animals such as mountain lions more vulnerable to local extinction; WHEREAS, the Tribal Council of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band has taken a unanimous stand in opposition to the Sargent Ranch Quarry Project and is requesting the support of surrounding communities in eﬀorts to protect their sacred grounds; WHEREAS, every major environmental organization in Santa Clara Count y, as well as several statewide and national environmental organizations, has announced public opposition to the Sargent Ranch Quarry; WHEREAS, resolutions supporting the eﬀorts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to preserve the entirety of Juristac as open space have been unanimously adopted by the city councils of the City of Gilroy, City of Mountain View, City of Morgan Hill, City of Santa Cruz, City of Santa Clara, and City of Sunnyvale, Docusign Envelope ID: D01C096B-FA5A-4093-AC4F-A3D2C2FFA706 as well as the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, the California Democratic Party, and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party; WHEREAS, the Santa Clara County Human Rights Commission has voted unanimously to recognize the desecration of the Amah Mutsun sacred site of Juristac as a signiﬁcant human rights issue and to recommend that the County of Santa Clara deny approval of permits for the proposed mine; WHEREAS, Juristac/Sargent Ranch is an open space area of exceptional regional signiﬁcance and habitat value as recognized by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, and regional conservation organizations; WHEREAS, the Sargent Ranch area is identiﬁed in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan and other regional habitat connectivity studies as a critically important wildlife corridor linking the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gabilan Mountains, and Diablo Range; WHEREAS, the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan includes a Natural Environment Element that clearly demonstrates the City’s commitment to protection of the natural environment, including policies calling for the protection of special -status species and plant communities (Policy N-1.4), preservation of the foothills and hillside areas for their unique value as natural ecosystems and interconnected wildlife corridors (N-1.6), minimizing impacts of any new development on the natural ecology of the hillsides (Policy N-1.8), and supporting regional and sub -regional eﬀorts for a seamle ss open space system, including habitat linkages and trail connections (Policy N-1.10); WHEREAS, the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan calls for the protection of archeological resources, including natural land formations, sacred sites, the historical landscape, historic habitats and remains of settlements here before the founding of Palo Alto in the 19th century (Policy L-7.15); WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribe is very invested in the condor’s comeback, leading ceremonies to release the condors and working with the National Park Service on their recovery. Condors are a culturally signiﬁcant species, serving as constant messengers between tribal members and their deceased relatives who have passed to the other side. It is shortsighted to try to recover a species only to turn around to destroy their habitat; WHEREAS, Juristac is not only an important wildlife connectivity area, it is also a prime habitat for California red-legged frogs, golden eagles, American badgers and mountain lions and is an area crucial for the survival of not just condors but many other species; NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does RESOLVE as follows: 1)That the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto supports the eﬀorts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to preserve Juristac/Sargent Ranch as open space in perpetuity and to regain access to their cultural and spiritual sites at Juristac. 2)That the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto supports the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band’s preference to retain the name of the open space as Juristac. Docusign Envelope ID: D01C096B-FA5A-4093-AC4F-A3D2C2FFA706 3)That the Charter City of Palo Alto urges the County of Santa Clara to deny approval of permits for the proposed Sargent Ranch Quarry Project. 4)Eﬀective date. This resolution shall become eﬀective immediately. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto at its meeting held on this 2nd day of December by the following vote: INTRODUCED AND PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: ATTEST: APPROVED: ________________________ ______________________________ City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: ________________________ ______________________________ City Attorney City Manager BURT, KOU, LAUING, LYTHCOTT-HAIMS, STONE, TANAKA, VEENKER DECEMBER 2, 2024 Docusign Envelope ID: D01C096B-FA5A-4093-AC4F-A3D2C2FFA706 Certificate Of Completion Envelope Id: D01C096BFA5A4093AC4FA3D2C2FFA706 Status: Completed Subject: Resolution 10202 - Juristac/Sargent Ranch Source Envelope: Document Pages: 3 Signatures: 4 Envelope Originator: Certificate Pages: 2 Initials: 0 Christine Prior AutoNav: Enabled EnvelopeId Stamping: Enabled Time Zone: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) 250 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto , CA 94301 Christine.Prior@CityofPaloAlto.org IP Address: 199.33.32.254 Record Tracking Status: Original 12/9/2024 4:48:44 PM Holder: Christine Prior Christine.Prior@CityofPaloAlto.org Location: DocuSign Security Appliance Status: Connected Pool: StateLocal Storage Appliance Status: Connected Pool: City of Palo Alto Location: DocuSign Signer Events Signature Timestamp Molly Stump Molly.Stump@CityofPaloAlto.org City Attorney City of Palo Alto Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None) Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 199.33.32.254 Sent: 12/9/2024 4:50:18 PM Viewed: 12/9/2024 5:00:21 PM Signed: 12/9/2024 5:00:29 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via DocuSign Ed Shikada Ed.Shikada@CityofPaloAlto.org Ed Shikada City of Palo Alto Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None) Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 199.33.32.254 Sent: 12/9/2024 5:00:30 PM Viewed: 12/9/2024 8:09:22 PM Signed: 12/9/2024 8:09:29 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via DocuSign Greer Stone Greer.Stone@CityofPaloAlto.org Vice Mayor Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None)Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 199.33.33.245 Sent: 12/9/2024 8:09:31 PM Viewed: 12/9/2024 8:11:57 PM Signed: 12/9/2024 8:12:10 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via DocuSign Mahealani Ah Yun Mahealani.AhYun@CityofPaloAlto.org City Clerk Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None)Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 73.241.208.126 Sent: 12/9/2024 8:12:11 PM Viewed: 12/10/2024 5:31:51 PM Signed: 12/10/2024 5:32:57 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via DocuSign In Person Signer Events Signature Timestamp Editor Delivery Events Status Timestamp Agent Delivery Events Status Timestamp Intermediary Delivery Events Status Timestamp Certified Delivery Events Status Timestamp Carbon Copy Events Status Timestamp Witness Events Signature Timestamp Notary Events Signature Timestamp Envelope Summary Events Status Timestamps Envelope Sent Hashed/Encrypted 12/9/2024 4:50:18 PM Certified Delivered Security Checked 12/10/2024 5:31:51 PM Signing Complete Security Checked 12/10/2024 5:32:57 PM Completed Security Checked 12/10/2024 5:32:57 PM Payment Events Status Timestamps