Julie Borina Driscoll knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to
speak out – and her voice is important because as the general
partner and trustee of the Borina Tennant Enterprises LP she has a
say over what happens with five acres of land along Tennant Avenue,
about a mile away from the soon-to-be-built American Institute of
Mathematics.
MORGAN HILL
Julie Borina Driscoll knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to speak out – and her voice is important because as the general partner and trustee of the Borina Tennant Enterprises LP she has a say over what happens with five acres of land along Tennant Avenue, about a mile away from the soon-to-be-built American Institute of Mathematics.
While at least six other family trusts own up to 20 acres apiece in more than 1,000 acres that comprise the area known as the Southeast Quadrant, farmland east of Highway 101 and north and south of Tennant Avenue, most haven’t been as vocal about selling their lands to developers.
“I’d like to see our particular family property go,” Driscoll said.
Although it’s very early in the process, the city of Morgan Hill is on the same page as Driscoll, although it’s not interested in annexations because the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission’s policies are generally against urban sprawl and the city annexed land on which the Aquatics Center and the Outdoor Sports Center (OSC) were built.
Instead, the city is considering public-private partnerships to better align OSC lands with developments elsewhere in the quadrant. Private property owners would be able to request amendments to the General Plan, “pre-zoning, urban service area expansion and annexation applications” for projects, according to a Community Development Department report first presented to the city council in January.
Further, after considering the findings of a study that looked at the availability of industrial land, prepared by consultant The Pacific Group, the city council decided it had enough industrial land for the next 30-60 years and wouldn’t pursue designation of quadrant lands for industrial use.
“We’re probably going to come back to the council Dec. 5 to describe the process,” said Morgan Hill Community Development Director Kathy Molloy-Previsich.
The way Councilman Larry Carr sees it, “we’re going through a process that all agreed to,” he said.
“I think there are some people that want the SEQ to remain exactly the way it is today,” he said, referring to fellow Councilman Mark Grzan, who expressed concern at a Nov. 7 council meeting that the farmlands should be preserved as much as possible.
“That very well may be the way it will be. But there are development proposals for that property as well,” Carr said. “We’re trying to be proactive.”
Grzan said he was only in favor of limited development west of Hill Road.
“There’s no benefit here and the types of developments that are being proposed, such as a flea market, RV park” aren’t the best use of the land, he said.
Sports and recreation facilities in the quadrant would be redundant because Morgan Hill has “sufficient land for recreation and we just opened (the Outdoor Recreation Center),” Grzan added.
Property owner Driscoll, who is unabashedly pro-development, said with the math institute going in, “you just don’t want to show blight to the global visitors” that the institute will attract, she said.
“People can’t farm because it’s not profitable,” she added. “It’s an embarrassment the way it is now. We need to do something.”
