The latest in a long line of battles to develop Silicon Valley’s most coveted green space is finally coming to a head after years of anticipation.
And this time, it may be the difference between life and death.
Heritage Oaks Memorial Park in Coyote Valley could become the first San Jose cemetery to be built in almost 140 years as developers argue the city is in desperate need of more space to bury its dead.
But local environmentalists are having none of it. Denouncing the project, they claim the 275-acre site would disturb critical wildlife crossings in the predominantly agricultural area. The last major bureaucratic hurdle to get the project officially approved could come as early as next year.
It’s not the first time builders have faced resistance in the Coyote Valley region. In early November, county officials killed a plan to build an 8,465-square-foot home in the area after voting to allow a local environmental agency to purchase the site through eminent domain. Tech companies have also eyed the valley for their headquarters, including Apple in the 1980s and Cisco a decade later. Groups such as the Peninsula Open Space Trust will regularly purchase property through multi-million dollar deals in an effort to preserve its rolling green hills and oak trees.
The area stands as one of the last enclaves of Santa Clara County’s agricultural era when the area was known as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight” before urbanization and technology companies turned it into Silicon Valley.
Located about 13 miles southeast of San Jose’s city center and right next to Cinnabar Hills Golf Club and Calero County Park, the future cemetery would include traditional lawn burial sites, a two-story funeral home and chapel, up to eight mausoleums and a crematory — all overseen by Texas-based funeral company Service Corporation International. The grounds would be open to all religions. Information about its capacity was not immediately available.
The Brandenburg family, which owns the plot of land, has tried turning it into a burial site for years. The City Council approved a re-zoning of the area in 2014. Now developers are trying to get the project past the finish line. The project’s first of two phases could be completed within “several years,” said Erik Schoennauer, a land consultant for the cemetery.
“The need exists,” he said. “The memorial park has to go somewhere.”
But the proposal is facing fierce resistance from local environmental groups that include Green Foothills, which claims the cemetery would be detrimental to the area’s deer, bobcats and mountain lions.
“There have been numerous studies that have shown that the wildlife travels down from the hills from the west down to the east,” said Green Foothills’ Policy and Advocacy Director Alice Kaufman. “There’s been a bobcat tracking study. This project is right in the middle of (their) migration pathways.”
Kaufman also says the project would drastically manipulate the landscape after excavation is complete, though representatives for the cemetery said they are going “above and beyond” to lessen any significant impact on the land. Local environmental groups are urging the city to conduct additional environmental studies for the site, which could delay the project by months or even years.
Some say the cemetery would eventually lead to other developers’ feeling more comfortable building in Coyote Valley.
“For years and years and years, everybody and their uncle has tried to get a piece of that property for development,” said longtime Morgan Hill resident Swanee Edwards. “I don’t want anything in that valley.”
San Jose residents currently have the choice between three cemeteries in their city: Los Gatos Memorial Park, Calvary and Oak Hill. The newest one, Los Gatos Memorial Park, was built in 1889. A study conducted by a consulting firm a decade ago when developers wanted to re-zone the Coyote Valley land found less than eight acres were available for burial across the three existing cemeteries.
According to Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Michelle Jorden, roughly 10,000 people die each year in Santa Clara County.
Nicholas Welzenbach, who helps oversee Los Gatos Memorial Park, said that while land at his cemetery is undoubtedly growing smaller, it doesn’t necessarily mean he and others couldn’t go back to the city and ask to augment their space to increase capacity.
He says San Jose and the rest of the South Bay face a unique challenge when it comes to cemetery space as a large contingent of the region’s diverse populations of Muslims, Jews and Mormons still follow the tradition of ground burial instead of cremation.
But Welzenbach said he supports the idea of a new site in the Coyote Valley area since it would be more convenient for residents who want to visit loved ones in the cemetery.
“It is something that needs to happen at some point,” said Welzenbach.