The Sun
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Council to decide on Lockheed subdivision

Appeal raises environmental concerns over wetlands

By Justin Berton

Councilmembers will decide this week whether Lockheed Martin can amend its use permit to sell pieces of land to private developers after an appeal filed by one citizen claimed the project would harm nearby wetlands.

Libby Lucas, a resident of Los Altos, filed the appeal shortly after the Planning Commission approved the plan last month.

Lucas was out of town and could not be reached at press time.

Approval by the City Council would allow Lockheed Martin to amend its use permit and divide a 97-acre parcel, known as Parcel 18, into five pieces.

Three of the lots--which total 33 acres--will be sold to private developers for office space, according to a Planning Commission report. Potential developers have already scouted the parcels, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said.

One of the parcels for sale includes 275 feet of manmade wetlands, an environmental habitat protected from development per Lockheed Martin's original use permit with the city. According to the permit--and an EIR conducted in 1994--new developers will be barred from construction on the wetlands portion.

The presence of migratory burrowing owls also raised environmental concerns about the project. The owls, which are considered a "species of special concern," have been spotted just east of Parcel 18 in recent weeks, according to a Planning Commission report.

As a condition of approval on the project, the city is recommending Lockheed Martin conduct a survey on the status of burrowing owls 30 days before any construction begins.

If the owls nest on one of the newly created parcels in the meantime, developers will have just have to sit and wait, Lockheed Martin director of public service Katherine Strehl said. "We have no intention of moving them while they are nesting," Strehl said. "It's my understanding if you wait long enough, they will move on."

Earlier this year, Lockheed officials determined the land was excess property for the company and applied for the amendment. "Basically, we don't need the property and there is no sense in holding onto property there is no longer use for," Strehl said.

The company that once housed 25,000 employees at its north Sunnyvale campus now has only 9,000 employees there.

"Whether or not we grow or expand," Strehl said, "we don't see that we're going to need this land any further."

After Lucas filed the appeal, Strehl said Lockheed officials met with her to assure the new development would not impose on the environment. "Some of her concerns were not based on current information. She didn't have all the background," Strehl said.

As part of the project, new streets and mass-transportation lines will be routed through the area, pending the City Council's approval.

"I think it will be an enhancement for the city in terms of tax dollars, more contemporary buildings and newer roadways," Strehl said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 16, 1998.
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