Last-minute objections to annexation pour in

The planning commission tabled a decision on annexing 34 acres in west Morgan Hill into the city limits, after receiving a flood of last-minute letters and e-mails from residents, county offices and conservation organizations expressing opposition to various aspects of the associated residential project.
The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting announced the commission was scheduled to vote on a recommendation to the City Council, to approve or deny the annexation request. However, commissioners said without enough time to review the stack of letters before the meeting, they could not make an informed decision on the project.
They rescheduled a vote for Oct. 9, which is inconvenient for the developer who hoped to submit the annexation request to Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission earlier, in order to meet a deadline that would avoid a lengthy delay in the project.
Bethany Liou, developer of the proposed Oak Meadow project, said she has already spent $200,000 on a study for LAFCO, the results that will no longer be applicable next year, which is now the earliest date she can submit an annexation application.
Former mayor Dennis Kennedy, as a consultant for Liou, said the developer was “disappointed” in the commission’s decision, though he understands their need to fully review all the information.
Liou has planned to build a 54-unit on 20 acres out of the 118 acres that she plans to include in the Oak Meadow Plaza project since at least 2006. The properties are on West Edmundson Avenue, just east of DeWitt Avenue and west of Sunset Avenue.
Most of the property would be preserved as open space, and Liou offered to provide trail easements and to permanently protect the hillside and ridgeline areas of the property as part of the effort to entice approval.
Despite a list of protests from residents who live near the proposed project area, Kennedy added the project will benefit the community in the long run.
“The goal of the project has always been to create a greenbelt, and more open space for the city as a whole, to protect the hills and ridge lines from development,” Kennedy said.
The property currently sits in the unincorporated county area.
The developer was asking not only for the city’s endorsement of the 34-acre annexation request – 20 acres for houses and 14 for a vineyard – but also requested pre-zoning changes, urban service area changes, and a general plan amendment to allow the project to proceed.
The commission’s announcement that they would be unable to vote on the requests didn’t stop close to a dozen residents of an adjacent neighborhood from voicing their opposition to the annexation and development proposal.
Their grievances centered around the fact that there is already abundant undeveloped land in the city limits, that is suitable for construction, that should be used before annexing anymore land.
While the residents were amenable to the developer’s request to change the access to a new entrance on West Edmundson Avenue, city staff said this would not comply with existing ordinances.
Some residents even questioned if it would be fair or ethical for the city to make exceptions to the general plan and existing ordinances just to accommodate a single project.
If the city eventually approves the project, “We should go back and notify all the landowners (who have been denied similar requests), and explain why they couldn’t get in, and why they couldn’t get annexed,” said Barbara Sullivan.
Residents also noted that traffic is already dangerous in their neighborhood.
“If you already lack the ability to provide services to areas already in the city, why would you annex more property” for a residential development, asked Susan Collins, a resident of Cascades Court.
Residents also questioned the developer’s motive in offering open space protection to entice the city to support the project. Greg Dyck, a neighbor of the site, called this offer a “red herring” because the areas that would be preserved are so steep that building is not possible, and county regulations already discourage construction on similar lands.
Letters from LAFCO staff, the Audubon Society and the Committee for Green Foothills were among the last-minute opponents to the project, saying even the environmental study for the annexation request should be rejected.
“The initial study fails to disclose and fully analyze the project’s inconsistencies with applicable land use policies, plans and regulations that were adopted for the purpose of avoiding environmental effects,” a letter from LAFCO Neelima Palacherla said.
In 2006, the City Council approved a “memorandum of understanding” supporting the project on a 4-1 vote. Kennedy was mayor at the time and voted in the majority.