Reagan Library Plan Advances at Stanford Despite Protests

SAN JOSE — Despite objections from some residents, Santa Clara County officials have given preliminary approval for construction of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library at Stanford University.

The county Planning Commission voted 4 to 2 Thursday that plans for the library meet the requirements of low-intensity use. The decision was the first in a series of hurdles that the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation must clear before the county Board of Supervisors gives the final go-ahead for construction.

Several Stanford students, staff and faculty members and area residents opposed the proposed location of the library, saying it will attract too many tourists to the quiet neighborhood.

“We believe that the size and scope of the library is not consistent to the open space of the land,” said Sam Brain, a senior research associate in Stanford’s radiology department.

Brain said the library and the traffic it would generate would ruin the aesthetic beauty of the land and prevent joggers, hikers and bird-watchers from enjoying it. He showed up at the hearing with 2,500 signatures of people who he said agree with him.

Opponents suggested that other places at the university might be more appropriate.

The Stanford Board of Trustees offered the 20-acre plot on a bluff overlooking the campus when Reagan made known his desire to have the library at the university.