Final draft of Morgan Hill
’s Urban Limit Line nears completion, but a final decision on
the southeast quadrant is at least a year away
Morgan Hill – After nearly three years of trying to figure out where the city’s sidewalk ends, a final draft of the urban limit line is just about ready. But a final decision on the plan’s most contentious aspect remains at least a year away.
The urban limit line’s environmental assessment should be done in January, and the planning commission should consider the necessary changes to the city’s general plan in March. But the future of the so-called southeast quadrant, an area east of U.S. 101 and south of Tennant Avenue remains in doubt – and a point of dispute over whether the city is expanding too far as it tries to set a semi-permanent urban growth boundary.
“We believe there is plenty of land for industrial development for the next 20 years,” said Michele Beasley, of the Greenbelt Alliance. “Looking at the amount of vacant land that could be within the boundary suitable for industrial use, it seems premature to expand that land right now.”
Development has been a hot-button issue in Morgan Hill since 1978, when the first voter-approved growth-control ordinance was passed. In March 2004, voters approved Measure C, which continued a 250 per year cap on new homes.
In 1996, the city created an urban growth boundary that includes still undeveloped land. Land within growth boundaries won’t necessarily be developed, but is eligible to receive city services such as sewer infrastructure and road maintenance.
The growth boundary was meant to guide the city’s development over decades, but Mayor Dennis Kennedy wants a permanent boundary. In March 2003, he convened a committee to draw a new line that will forever lay out exact limits on development.
But that committee couldn’t reach consensus on the southeast quadrant. Environmentalists are afraid that developing that area will eliminate any rural buffer between Morgan Hill and San Martin. Landowners in the quad want to be included in the limit because city services would improve their property values and make the land more attractive to developers.
In June, the city council asked planners to conduct additional studies to determine how much land Morgan Hill needs for industrial growth and figure out whether the southeast quadrant is vital to those needs.
David Bischoff, a retired planner who’s leading the urban limit project, said that study should begin soon and be finished by next summer. Until then, the line will be incomplete. There are currently more than 600 acres of land suitable for industrial building, but Bischoff said the 1,250 acres of the southeast quadrant may be needed because the other land could be too difficult to develop.
“The point has been made that we may have 600 acres or a 1,000 acres, but it may be not well-suited for that purpose,” Bischoff said. “There are small parcels and many different owners and it would be difficult to get cooperation. There are other areas not likely to be developed for a variety of reasons.”
The quadrant is bounded by San Pedro Avenue on the north, U.S. 101 on the west, Carey Road on the east and Maple Avenue on the south. The quadrant contains property used for agriculture, large homesteads and undeveloped land plus some highly visible and attractive land. Under consideration is a 200-acre business park area near the freeway, commercial areas, new and existing residential development.
For Morgan Hill to implement any urban limit line policy, the council will have to make several changes to the general plan, including modifying the role of agriculture in the southeast quadrant and adding development policies for specific neighborhoods. To the north, the city will rely on the greenbelt planned in the Coyote Valley Specific Plan. To the west, the committee identified El Toro and the area bordered by Edmundson, DeWitt and Sunset avenues to be its highest priorities.
The city council is also trying to find a way to protect the so-called viewshed in the east foothills. In the next year, city staffers will try to identify land the city should purchase to prevent construction of houses where they are easily seen from the valley floor.
“The hillside is particularly important,” Bischoff said. “Any future development needs to be minimized and done in as sensitive a manner as possible.”
The urban limit line’s environmental assessment is scheduled to be completed in January. Changes to the city’s general plan are slated to be heard by the planning commission in March.
