The City Council will undertake two matters of wide public
interest on Wednesday when it revisits the
“auto dealer strategy” and also begins to discuss what to do
with the police department building about to be vacated and sold.
Council will review three “statements of interest” from two local
groups proposing brew pub/restaurants and an out-of-town business
offering a restaurant alone for t
he police building at Monterey Road and West Main Avenue.
The City Council will undertake two matters of wide public interest on Wednesday when it revisits the “auto dealer strategy” and also begins to discuss what to do with the police department building about to be vacated and sold.
Council will review three “statements of interest” from two local groups proposing brew pub/restaurants and an out-of-town business offering a restaurant alone for the police building at Monterey Road and West Main Avenue.
An hour-long workshop concerning the auto dealer strategy is scheduled for 5 p.m. before a 6 p.m. closed session – to discuss expected litigation and the City Manager’s performance review – and the regular council meeting at 7 p.m.
Council, having recently made decisions that affect the original auto dealer strategy set in February 2002, asked city staff to change the strategy to reflect a promise Mayor Dennis Kennedy recently made to Supervisor Don Gage.
Earlier this month how about last month the city requested of the Local Agency Formation Commission on which Gage sits, that the 19-acre Kubo/Patel parcel, now a mushroom farm, be brought into the city limits and Urban Service Area. The land is between Condit Road, Highway 101 and Diana Avenue.
Kennedy promised not to allow any more dealerships in that specific area area, other than the already-approved Ford, though the strategy suggests three or four more. Instead, council will now look at other sites that may be appealing to dealers: Condit Road between Dunne and Tennant avenues and property behind the vacant Kmart store, in the Lawrence Oaks shopping center that includes Safeway and Blockbuster Video. Land next to South County Chevrolet might also be suitable.
• Since the police department building anchors the northern entrance to downtown, considerable interest surrounds its future use. Geno and Cindy Acevedo of the local, award winning El Toro Brewing Company and Rick Page, a local businessman, joining forces with an established out-of-town brewery/restaurant whose owners live in Morgan Hill, have both proposed brewpubs with restaurants.
The Bold Knight, a 40-year-old steak restaurant in San Jose, has also submitted an SOI. The timelines, expenditures and scope of use for the project are similar. City staff recommends moving to the RFP step (requests for proposals) that provide more specific information on plans to renovate the building, operate the business as well as a business plan.
City Council meets Wednesdays in City Hall Chambers, 17555 Peak Ave. Council meetings are broadcast live on cable access Channel 17. All council meetings are open to the public, which is invited to speak on items on or off the agenda. Details: www.morgan-hill.ca.gov or 779-7271.
