Morgan Hill City officials eased off their fast-track plan for a
downtown development project that includes an upgrade of the
Granada theater. The crowd of about 25, mostly downtown
stakeholders, and the majority of the council agreed that more
input from the community was needed.
Morgan Hill
City officials eased off their fast-track plan for a downtown development project that includes an upgrade of the Granada theater.
The crowd of about 25, mostly downtown stakeholders, and the majority of the council agreed that more input from the community was needed.
The Morgan Hill City Council unanimously voted Wednesday night to extend their decision making to Feb. 18, to allow members of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association to meet with city staff to go over the details of the plans.
The council, in an attempt to move quickly to spur development on some of the nearly $20 million in property the city bought in the past year, was ready to give the green light on a a two-story office, retail and theater complex downtown with a multi-screen, 600-seat theater on the second floor, located on the southeast corner of Monterey Road and Second Street.
The association, led by Executive Director Jorge Briones, sent a letter to the city requesting the delay.
“In order for us to make an informed consensus-type decision, we need to see the presentation again and come up with some sort of collaborative decision to bring back to you,” Dennis Kennedy, vice president of the association, said, adding that this was a two-week delay on a project that would last 20, 40 or even 50 years.
At a joint workshop of the council and planning commission Jan. 20, the two bodies were presented with four decisions and agreed that the council would make a decision on one of them on Feb. 4.
But the downtown association understood that its members would have a chance to provide more input to the city after another meeting to talk about the details of each project. That meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12.
Some council members thought that more input from citizens, too, was needed.
“My concern is, I think we need to reach out to our citizens,” Councilwoman Marilyn Librers said. “I think we owe that to our citizens.”
Not everyone on the council agreed.
Councilman Larry Carr noted that this was one of the few times that the bureaucracy of business slowed the speed of government.
“I’m a little disappointed. We bought this property a long time ago. We always agreed there was going to be a theater component. We all agreed to be ready to be bold. I hope we come back to make some decisions.”
Councilman Greg Sellers continued on that note with, “For three years we’ve been hearing it’s imperative (to move quickly)… As far as a public hearing, we have one: it’s the city council meeting on the 18th.”
