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Press Release

May 5, 2005

Contact:
Michele Beasley, Greenbelt Alliance, 408-983-0856, cell 408-710-8623

Bay Area Bike Tour Stops in Morgan Hill to Help Protect Farmland

Photo Opportunity

"The people of Morgan Hill have voted over and over to preserve Morgan Hill's distinct identity and rural charm," says Michele Beasley, South Bay Field Representative for Greenbelt Alliance. "By concentrating development downtown, close to transit, the City can honor this desire while making room for new growth."

The City of Morgan Hill just finished a two-year Urban Limit Line study, and is now considering an expanded line that opens up hundreds of acres of working farmlands to development. Local citizens and environmental leaders worry that this would erase the city's greenbelt and make Morgan Hill look like cities further up the peninsula, where one city just sprawls into the next.

Bicycle riders participating in Greenbelt Alliance's sixteenth annual Go Greenbelt! bike tour will be joining local leaders to oppose paving rural lands. Every year, the riders don bright jerseys and set out on a weeklong tour of the region to take stock of threats to the Bay Area's greenbelt of farms and natural areas, raising funds and awareness as they go.

"Morgan Hill's downtown has so much potential," said Steve Van Landingham, Greenbelt Alliance's Development Director and nine-time Go Greenbelt! rider. "The city should invest here instead of wasting productive farmland."

Speakers at Monday's event will include Greenbelt Alliance's Michele Beasley, City Councilmember Mark Grzan, and local environmental advocates.

Visuals: 30+ bicycle riders in matching jerseys downtown, with a backdrop of rolling hills.

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For 50 years, Greenbelt Alliance has been the San Francisco Bay Area's advocate for open spaces and vibrant places, with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Fairfield, and Santa Rosa. www.greenbelt.org