Dear Red Phone,
What is going on at the property on the west side of U.S. 101 just north of town, where it looks like someone has thrown up a bunch of shed-looking horse stalls and there’s lots of junk scattered around?
The property you are referring to—which sits prominently on the side of the busy freeway for motorists stuck in afternoon traffic to gaze upon during their commute—is private land, zoned for agriculture, according to Santa Clara County Code Enforcement Program Manager Mark Ruffing. The site contains a number of small stables for horses.
Ruffing said his office has visited the property on a number of occasions, and has notified the property owners that they were in violation of county codes related to exterior storage and unpermitted construction. However, Ruffing said the owner has been cooperative with the county and is working on resolving the issues.
The property is located on the west side of U.S. 101, just north of the Cochrane Road exit. The site is accessed off Burnett Avenue.
Specifically, county code enforcement issued a compliance order for piles of debris stored outdoors. This violation included bicycles, motorcycle parts and appliances sitting out in the open, which is a violation of county code.
“Storing refrigerators, bike parts, household goods…is something that is not allowed,” Ruffing said.
Furthermore, some of the horse stables that are larger than 150 square feet in size were out of compliance because they were built without a permit, Ruffing added. Anything larger than 150 square feet in unincorporated county jurisdiction requires a permit, but most of the structures are not that large. County code also spells out a limit to the number of such structures allowed on a property, but so far the site in question does not exceed that limit.
There are also some outdoor pens for goats and other livestock on the property, but these are not a subject of the compliance order.
“I know it’s unsightly. We have gotten some phone calls, and that’s why we had staff go out there and investigate,” Ruffing said. He added that county staff were on site last week to monitor the removal of some of the debris piles.
Dear Red Phone,
Why is Ladera Grill allowed to take up valuable parking spaces on Monterey Road in front of their establishment for valet parking, when other downtown businesses are struggling to find available parking for their customers?
City staff assured Red Phone that Ladera Grill owner Dan McCranie acquired an “encroachment permit” to use those spots in front of his restaurant. Furthermore, the ability to gain such a permit is not exclusive to Ladera Grill, and other downtown restaurants are encouraged to offer similar services.
In fact, offering valet parking service helps with the downtown parking scarcity, as it frees up other spots that can be used by patrons of other nearby businesses, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. Ladera Grill staff parks the vehicles utilizing this service in the VTA lot on Butterfield Boulevard, on the east side of the railroad tracks—a lot that is seldom used by downtown patrons at nighttime, largely due to its distance from the neighborhood and popular restaurants.
“If other restaurants are interested in pursuing (similar uses), we as a city would be happy to help them activate their street front by using valet parking, and relieving the parking pressure downtown,” Ramirez said.
When the city started a series of construction projects in the downtown in early 2015, the city even began waiving the fee for an encroachment permit for downtown businesses who choose to make similar use of the parking in front of their shops, Ramirez added.
The city coordinated with VTA, which owns more than 50 percent of the parking lot on Butterfield Boulevard, to allow McCranie to use those spaces to park valeted vehicles, Ramirez added. There is no fee for Ladera Grill to use those spots, as the valet service only utilizes the lot in the evenings, and it’s free parking for downtown visitors anyway.
Ladera Grill currently offers valet parking on Friday and Saturday evenings.
