Morgan Hill – City leaders want a brighter, safer downtown with more parking lots for shoppers and diners.
Downtown merchants want the same thing. Efforts to enhance lighting and parking top a list of possible improvements for a $20 million investment in downtown over the next five years.
The money will come from the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency’s $330 million funding plan, which the council approved last November.
On Wednesday, the council discussed ideas for the investment as their efforts to implement the Morgan Hill Downtown Plan continue to edge forward.
The two-page list of projects prioritizes 10 ideas relating to lighting and parking. Under lighting, the suggested projects include brightening up side streets, parking lots and the median along Monterey Road. As to parking, the ideas include developing new lots, improving existing ones and developing structured parking and/or underground lots.
Additionally, the list includes seven other categories that are not prioritized, such as gateway features and signage, economic development and sidewalk improvements.
The ideas are short and general, such as “improve lighting on side streets.”
The council feels it would be premature to identify specific projects as no cost estimates are available yet. Additionally, an update to the downtown plan is expected later this year.
City Councilman Greg Sellers, chairman of the Community and Economic Development Committee, which drafted the list of possible projects, said some ideas could move forward quickly but most would have to wait. The purpose of Wednesday’s discussion, he said, was to inform the council and city staff of the direction the committee is taking.
“There are a few things we want to look at right away, a few things we want to monitor like the Granada Theater, but the vast majority of things will have to wait for the downtown plan update,” Sellers said, adding another important factor is the issue of increasing building density downtown, which is being considered by the Morgan Hill Planning Commission. Downtown’s housing directly affects parking needs, Sellers said.
The Morgan Hill Downtown Association provided input on the possible projects in a letter to city officials earlier this month. The letter asked them to wait for the downtown plan update before committing to major improvement projects.
“The Downtown Association board wants to make sure we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Theresa Kiernan, director of the merchants’ group. “But as we look at the next five years this will give us a very specific direction.”
At the same time, the association feels some projects can be completed right away. Kiernan said parking problems are frequently raised by merchants and side streets from First to Fifth streets make some people uncomfortable at night because they are too dark.
“There are some areas money can be spent in right away,” Kiernan said, including the possibility of converting a city-owned dirt lot on West Third Street into a temporary parking lot. Other fixes in the short-term could include adding attractive street lights, she said.
In February, the council committed $20 million in public infrastructure over the next five years to revitalize downtown. Sellers said the policy’s goal is to attract private investment down the road.
“Every dollar of public money brings in a lot more from the private sector,” he said. “That’s the goal with this effort.”
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
The Morgan Hill City Council wants to invest $20 million in public infrastructure over the next five years to revitalize downtown. The goal is to use public money to attract private investors who would bring more wealth.
