The Morgan Hill City Council voted last week to prohibit distribution facilities known as “last mile delivery” centers in the city limits, and defined the size of “significant projects” that require planning commission review.
The measures—adopted at the council’s Oct. 28 meeting—are in response to increasing pressure from both the public who wants to avoid the impacts associated with such massive facilities, as well as growing demand from developers who are looking for sites in the South Bay to house fulfillment centers.
But the council’s decision—adopted as an amendment to the existing city zoning ordinance—may be temporary as councilmembers want to take a more in-depth look at how to effectively keep last mile delivery centers out of Morgan Hill. The council is planning to schedule at least one workshop in the coming weeks on the subject.
The zoning amendment approved Oct. 28 prohibits distribution centers “by clarifying that heavy distribution and parcel sorting uses are not permitted in any zone in the city,” says the city’s staff report. Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Martinez Beltran, who made the motion to accept the amendment, added an additional restriction at the Oct. 28 meeting that prohibits “parcel hubs” that service delivery vehicles and propose tens of thousands of square feet of floor area.
The council Oct. 28 also defined “significant project” proposals that require review by the Morgan Hill Planning Commission. Any project larger than 75,000 square feet; 40 feet in height or taller; or any residential development of 100 units or more must now go to the planning commission for review.
Previously, the city’s community development director has determined if a project is significant “based on subjective findings,” says the city staff report.
The zoning amendment adopted by the council follows several months of petitioning by the Morgan Hill Responsible Growth Coalition to bring an initiative to the voters that proposes even tighter restrictions on fulfillment centers in the city limits. Members of the MHRGC were motivated to start collecting signatures in July, after the construction of the massive new Shoe Palace building on Jarvis Drive and Trammell Crow’s proposed Technology Center speculative commercial/industrial development off Cochrane Road near U.S. 101.
Trammell Crow withdrew its plans for the Morgan Hill Technology Center this summer, but may propose a revised project in the future.
Opponents of fulfillment or last mile delivery centers have cited numerous adverse impacts to the community that such projects bring, including more truck traffic and noise, environmental concerns and jobs that don’t pay as much as other industrial uses such as advanced manufacturing.
While members of the MHRGC and other residents accused the council of trying to entice fulfillment centers to Morgan Hill, councilmembers on Oct. 28 stated that they do not want to see such projects here.
“For me, this is a temporary ordinance,” Councilmember Rene Spring said before voting to support the Oct. 28 zoning amendment. “We’ll start with a baseline today and we’ll continue. The initiative will force us to take a position as well.”
If the MHRGC collects enough validated signatures from registered Morgan Hill voters, the council must vote to adopt the citizens’ initiative (with amendments made under compromise) or place the question on a ballot. The MHRGC initiative would prohibit and define “fulfillment centers” as “any structure with greater than 75,000 square feet of floor area that has more than one dock-high-door per 25,000 square feet and a clear ceiling height of more than twenty-four (24) feet over more than 25 percent of its floor area.”
Spring added Oct. 28, “At the end of the day, I hope there will be a compromise that will not require the initiative go to a vote.”
Councilmember Larry Carr said for the upcoming workshop, he would like to discuss how the city could use conditional use permits to apply rigidly specific restrictions to commercial/industrial proposals that are likely to bring more delivery traffic to Morgan Hill. Some of these restrictions could include the types of vehicles visiting the project; times and days of deliveries; requiring all-electric vehicles when possible; and fleet size limits, Carr said.
Carr added he agreed with members of the public about a “sense of urgency” in prohibiting fulfillment centers in the city limits. “The private development community is interested. The residents of Morgan Hill have some urgency and anxiety on this issue as well,” Carr said.
City officials also took some members of the MHRGC to task for making public comments at the Oct. 28 online meeting that suggested city staff and councilmembers have been untruthful about their motives or unwilling to discuss fulfillment centers.
“I don’t know how many times I, and other members of the council, have said we do not want fulfillment centers,” Mayor Rich Constantine said. “Yet tonight we still have members of the coalition say that we’re lying. We cannot work together if we’re not going to listen to each other.”
City staff will announce details about an upcoming workshop in the next few weeks.
