New proposal before Morgan Hill City Council will incorporate
new land and establish greenbelt around the city
Morgan Hill – Disagreements that dogged planners through three years of debate about a new urban growth boundary still linger as city leaders prepare to draw a development line with a semi-permanent marker.
On April 19, Morgan Hill City Council members will vote on a series of amendments to the general plan that would bring new land into city control and establish a greenbelt around Morgan Hill.
But after nearly two hours of discussion at last week’s council meeting, it’s clear that contentious development issues are still unresolved.
“It’s very difficult to see how the planning commission recommendations will be adopted as they are,” Morgan Hill Councilman Greg Sellers said, adding that he and his colleagues on the council have a number of reservations about some elements of the proposed growth boundary.
The goals of the growth boundary and a newly proposed urban limit line are to direct outward growth in the city for more than two decades and establish a permanent circle of greenbelt space around the town, a vital need for a city with a history of scattering housing developments like grated cheese.
“What’s important is that the council is identifying areas that it wants to preserve as a greenbelt,” said David Bischoff, a retired city planner who manages the project. “They’re are putting programs in place to ensure that scenic value is maintained over time. That’s a major step for the city.”
But there are niggling issues, in particular two potential residential developments that would be allowed by the proposed urban borders: Oak Meadow, a 60-house project on 20 acres bordered by De Witt and Edmundson avenues, and development of Black Rock, 18 acres bordered by Watsonville Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
Planners, on behalf of a planning advisory committee that met more than 25 times over two years, have recommended clearing the way for the projects.
But the projects are being criticized by those who think they involve too much development too soon, and those who feel left out because their properties won’t be inside the growth boundary.
Those opposed to the projects say they will detract from Morgan Hill’s rural charm, make it tougher to develop downtown, and cause traffic and drainage problems. Many residents at Wednesday’s meeting invoked the worst slur most South County citizens can imagine – comparing the Mushroom City to its giant neighbor to the north.
“The city should be working on true infill and stop pushing the boundaries outward,” Sycamore Drive resident John Kilkenny said. “Let’s not be another San Jose.”
Each of the four council members at Wednesday’s meeting, including Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Mark Grzan, who were on the advisory committee that crafted the proposal, expressed reservations about the projects.
They all expressed support for possible modifications, such as allowing fewer homes in the Oak Meadow project.
“We could have half-acre lots feathered to a full-acre,” Steve Tate said. “We can do something there that’s a lot less dense.”
Grzan was the one council member to vote against a February memorandum of understanding to allow the Black Rock project in concept. Wednesday night, he said, the growth boundary and urban limit line should be inviolate and suggested the city hold a vote to make the lines permanent.
“The purpose of having an urban limit line is to give comfort to residents of Morgan Hill that open space and precious resources we have can be preserved,” Grzan said. “If at some time we decide we need additional land, let the voters decide and not five members who may be sitting here.”
