Plans for an artificial snowboarding complex in Morgan Hill’s
southeast quadrant are on hold.
The Snowflex project, which would have brought snowboarding to
Morgan Hill on a synthetic surface, was proposed to be built on a
39-acre parcel off Tennant Avenue east of U.S. 101.
Plans for an artificial snowboarding complex in Morgan Hill’s southeast quadrant are on hold.
The Snowflex project, which would have brought snowboarding to Morgan Hill on a synthetic surface, was proposed to be built on a 39-acre parcel off Tennant Avenue east of U.S. 101.
However, project developer Leading Edge Slope Developments has withdrawn its plans from consideration under a large-scale environmental study of Morgan Hill’s southeast quadrant.
“Morgan Hill is certainly a site of interest, and we will evaluate Morgan Hill, as well as other possible sites, at the appropriate time,” said Martin Benik of Leading Edge, by e-mail.
Benik declined to say why the project was withdrawn.
The city will proceed with an environmental study of the 1,200-acre southeast quadrant, roughly the area south and east of U.S. 101 and Tennant Avenue, according to Morgan Hill senior Planner Rebecca Tolentino.
The EIR will proceed, but with a lower-impact use to be studied on the property, which is owned by the Puliafico family. The Snowflex project would have occupied about 10 acres on the property, for which there is now no specific project.
The EIR will proceed as a “program level review,” Tolentino said.
Dan Puliafico, one of the property’s owners, said the EIR will likely study a basic use such as sports fields for the property.
Other applicants for developments in the southeast quadrant are still in, and are sharing the cost of the EIR with the city, Tolentino said.
Those projects include a private high school, a planned development proposed by George Chiala, and more sports fields including privately owned cricket and polo fields.
Already established in the southeast quadrant are the Outdoor Sports Complex and Aquatics Center, owned by the city. Another property owner has proposed a 43,000 square foot “sports retail” complex just south of the Aquatics Center near Condit Road and Tennant Avenue.
The overall environmental study of the southeast quadrant will cost about $480,000. The city will pay about $173,000 of that cost, with property owners with development plans in the works putting up most of the remaining cost.
The southeast quadrant is currently outside the city limits. The city hopes to keep growth and development controlled within the area, which it intends to eventually annex, in hopes of maintaining a greenbelt around the city limits.
The area currently consists of a patchwork of residential and agricultural uses, plus the city’s sports facilities.
