Mountain View could be home to an experimental conservation center that could serve as a national model for regional environmental groups.
The Peninsula Conservation Center Foundation, Bay Area Action and The Foundation for Global Community are scheduled to ask the Mountain View City Council Tuesday to set aside 4.6 acres of land at Shoreline and Charleston avenues for the construction of the Silicon Valley EcoCampus.
The three groups, which developed the EcoCampus concept, say the campus will serve as a community educational center and a meeting place for regional environmental groups.
Organizers say they hope to promote sustainable regional development through the campus by providing classes, exhibits, and non-profit groups a place to collaborate and facilitate activities.
If approved, the shared meeting site would be a haven for some non-profit groups threatened by today’s tight real estate market, organizers said.
“It will be a real collegial atmosphere, a place to share information with one another,” said Mary Davey, a Los Altos Hills resident and director of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board.
Davey said the concept for the proposed EcoCampus developed because of space concerns at Palo Alto’s existing Peninsula Conservation Center, which serves as a conference center for several of the area’s conservation groups.
EcoCampus plans include a green building, or a structure that uses the sun’s energy; draught-resistant landscaping and a pesticide-free garden, Davey said.
Organizers said they targeted the Shoreline property for a campus site because the area is in the midst of several thousand corporate employees and is adjacent to a park and the Baylands.
The Mountain View City Council is also considering placing a hotel and conference center on a portion of the Shoreline site.
