A recently released environmental impact report for the proposed Morgan Hill Technology Center identified a number of issues that could cause “significant” impacts on the city’s transportation network and other factors.
The report prepared by David J. Powers & Associates offered numerous mitigation measures for the developer to follow in order to reduce many of these impacts to a “less than significant level.”
The public review period for the nearly 260-page document ends on July 14. City officials will hold a virtual meeting on June 30 to allow residents to voice their comments on the project.
In early 2019, Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company purchased more than 60 acres of land adjacent to De Paul Health Center, just off the intersection of Cochrane Road and De Paul Drive near Highway 101.
The latest plans submitted to the city show six buildings, ranging from 79,900 to 219,600 square feet. Original plans proposed three buildings at 191,160 square feet, 320,340 square feet and 533,220 square feet.
A mix of industrial, residential and commercial uses are proposed for the project.
According to the report, the industrial buildings will include a total of 124 loading dock doors distributed between the six buildings.
A rough timeline in the report has construction on the industrial project beginning in January 2021 and lasting 15 months. However, it is unknown when the project will be considered for approval.
According to Trammell Crow, at full build-out, the project could add 1,300 industrial jobs and 200 commercial jobs.
But it would first have to contend with a number of impacts outlined in the report.
The report estimated the project at full capacity could add more than 10,000 daily vehicle trips, including 248 daily truck trips. It analyzed various roads in Morgan Hill, concluding that many would not be impacted.
However, sections of Cochrane Road would operate at “unacceptable levels” without mitigation measures, the report stated, suggesting that adding various dedicated turn lanes along the road and a traffic signal at Mission View Drive and Half Road would alleviate the traffic flow.
The project is also expected to add more traffic to Highway 101, which already operates at an “unacceptable” level during peak hours from Highway 85 to San Martin Avenue, the report noted. Widening the freeway could help, but such a project was “not feasible” for a developer, nor is such a project in the works by Caltrans or the Valley Transportation Authority, according to the report.
Other impacts outlined in the report included air quality, noise and biological resources.
It also analyzed a number of project alternatives. While a 70 percent smaller project would be an “environmentally superior alternative,” such a project would not meet its objectives, mainly the number of jobs, the report concluded.
To view the report, visit tinyurl.com/ybcbmjto. Comments can be made by mail to Attn: Adam Paszkowski, Development Services, 17575 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037; or email to ad*************@mo********.gov with the subject line “Draft EIR Comment.”
