Our Pick
Posted on @rawstates
Bair Island is saved from 20,000 houses by 42 votes
1982
Redwood City, California
formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mobil Oil Estates bought this 3,000 acre marsh from Leslie Salt in 1973 and won city approval for 20,000 homes, a shopping centre and an office complex. Redwood City voters killed the plan in 1982 with Measure O, which passed by 42 votes out of nearly 18,000 cast. The Peninsula Open Space Trust bought the island for 15 million dollars in 1997 and passed it to the Don Edwards refuge, where it is now habitat for the endangered California clapper rail.
That was 1 of the hidden places.
Location: approximate area
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