Community

Even in rural, unincorporated San Martin, imminent growth is increasingly an issue among residents, but they’re excited about at least one forthcoming project that recently reached a crucial planning stage.Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman announced at an Oct. 21 San Martin Neighborhood Alliance town hall meeting that a committee he serves on has recommended funding for a new San Martin Animal Shelter—an effort that has been in the process for several years.The Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation (HLUET) committee Oct. 20 unanimously agreed the county should fund a new shelter, which is estimated to cost more than $20 million. The committee sent their recommendation to the full five-member elected board of supervisors, which will consider approval at an upcoming meeting.Partial funding for construction of the new facility could come from at least two key potential sources, according to the HLUET meeting staff report: a September 2017 lease revenue bond for a new county jail project and one-time funds from an upcoming county general fund budget.The current budget already includes $4 million for the design of the facility at the county’s former courthouse complex on Highland Avenue. A 2009 county study identified the need for up to a 32,600-square-foot new animal shelter in order to “safely and effectively care for the increased number of animals anticipated and to provide expanded services of an updated” facility, the Oct. 20 staff report continued.The existing shelter currently operates at maximum capacity, with excess animals often placed in foster care or with rescue organizations. The current space also has limited ability to handle stray or abandoned livestock.“A new, expanded facility...in San Martin could become a regional shelter with the capacity to fully serve both the unincorporated areas and the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy,” reads the Oct. 20 staff report.Morgan Hill and Gilroy contract with the county to house stray pets at the existing San Martin shelter.The board of supervisors has not scheduled a meeting date in which to consider funding the new shelter’s construction.“My desire is to get it to the board as soon as possible so we can keep the project moving forward,” Wasserman said.Lists of concernsSMNA President Trina Hineser said Wasserman’s announcement, which came toward the end the Oct. 21 meeting at the San Martin Lion’s Club, was the “highlight” of the session. More than 200 attendees erupted in applause as soon as the supervisor informed them of the HLUET committee’s endorsement.But Hineser added SMNA members felt Wasserman didn’t give the definitive answers they were seeking to questions about the growing impact of development in San Martin—including a slew of large-scale projects on the horizon in the rural hamlet.“Supervisor Wasserman’s presence was greatly appreciated, however the answers provided to community questions lacked substance,” SMNA President Trina Hineser said after the meeting. She said many of Wasserman’s answers to community questions were “passed off” as not the county’s responsibility, or residents were urged to contact a different agency with their concerns.Specifically, a request to hold a joint meeting with other South County agencies on the California High Speed Rail project, and questions on updates to the county’s “local serving” ordinance were met with such disregard, Hineser said.Joining Wasserman on the panel of county representatives at the front of the meeting hall were Santa Clara County Planning Commissioner Marc Rauser and County Planning Director Rob Eastwood.The Oct. 21 meeting agenda consisted of SMNA board members and residents asking the panelists questions about what they see as an encroachment on their bucolic lifestyle, and how to prevent the coming development from clogging up traffic, depleting or contaminating water sources, producing more garbage, creating more noise and visual impacts and impacting public safety.Among the approaching large projects that concern San Martinians are the state’s High Speed Rail project, which will cut through San Martin no matter which alignment alternative officials choose next year; a 124-space RV park at California Avenue and Monterey Road; and the South Valley Islamic Center’s Cordoba Center mosque and community center, on Monterey Road just north of the proposed site of the RV park.Wasserman explained numerous times throughout the meeting that these projects are in various stages of early planning. Environmental studies are yet to begin on the HSR and SVIC projects.An underlying issue among the local residents is the county’s update of its local serving ordinance. The ordinance was updated last year to exclude religious institutions—such as the Cordoba Center—from a requirement that they must serve a portion of the nearby residents, according to county staff.The county planning commission approved this change about a year ago, but it still doesn’t sit well with some residents in San Martin.Rauser said the amendments to the local serving ordinance were made for the “protection of religious organizations.”“‘Local serving’ implies someone has to check the residence (of those attending) at the door,” Rauser said. “That’s not something the county wants to do. We don’t need any case law. It’s pretty clear” in the federal law that protects religious institutions.Any privately owned projects such as the mosque and RV park will be held to the same standards regarding “scale, use and intensity” as any other applicant in the county’s unincorporated areas, Eastwood explained.The planning commission will consider further amendments to the county’s local serving ordinance Nov. 17, in order to address questions on “how mixed uses would be addressed,” according to a county staff report.Wasserman referred a number of questions—such as how to report illegal dumping and any potential building code violations—to the county’s code enforcement office. These violations are “complaint driven,” Wasserman said. The county is in the process of hiring two more code enforcement officers to pick up some of the burden of existing staff.Hineser and other residents also expressed frustration at the county’s alleged lack of acknowledgment of San Martin’s autonomy.Specifically, board members of the SMNA nonprofit take issue with the planning commission and supervisors’ disregard, in some instances, of input relayed to them by the San Martin Planning Advisory Committee. Wasserman and Rauser explained that decisions by those bodies have to stand up to existing laws and ordinances, sometimes in spite of the community’s expressed preferences.

While steady winds have blown in storm clouds above South County, the strongest possibility for rainfall will not hit until later in the week, according to Meteorologist Rick Canepa with the National Weather Service.

The last day to register to vote for the Nov. 8 presidential general election, which also includes a local growth measure, two city council seats and three school board spots, is Monday, Oct. 24.

Obtaining a rare neighborhood fire safety recognition has helped one east Morgan Hill neighborhood not only protect itself from a potential out-of-control blaze, but it has also helped strengthen community bonds among residents, according to participants.The Jackson Oaks Homeowners Association recently earned the national Firewise Communities/USA recognition from the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association. Firewise is a nationwide initiative that provides formal recognition to communities that take actions to protect people and properties from the risk of fire in the “wildland/urban interface,” according to CalFire officials who announced the local Firewise accolade last week. The designation is of particular interest to small communities and neighborhood associations that are willing to put in the work to mitigate wildfire hazards by adopting the Firewise program’s stringent criteria.Jackson Oaks is the first community in Santa Clara County to obtain the Firewise achievement.Jackson Oaks resident and HOA member Gale Hammond explained that she and two of her neighbors—Alan Bicho and Linda Vrabel—“got the ball rolling” on obtaining the Firewise recognition in February.“Given the drought, we thought the timing would be right,” Hammond said.The HOA went through a series of steps to educate the community and help their neighbors minimize the threat of wildfires on their properties. The first step is producing a wildfire assessment for the neighborhood, followed by a series of educational and community support efforts.“We’re one of three areas in Morgan Hill that is at high risk for wildfires, in the wildland/urban interface,” Hammond said of the Jackson Oaks neighborhood, which consists of about 500 homes.The recognition included a number of experts on wildfires in suburban areas who the HOA invited to speak at the community’s clubhouse. The HOA won a $500 grant from State Farm Insurance to assist with the education efforts.“What that does is tell people how we can take small steps to improve fire safety around our homes: Pick up dead trees and vegetation, not storing firewood right next to your home” for example, Hammond said.The “biggest” event the HOA organized on their path to Firewise was a “community Firewise day” in June, when more than 20 residents met at an elderly couple’s property on a Saturday morning to help the longtime Jackson Oaks homeowners clear away dead brush that had accumulated around their house.“We also had chipping days, where the county would come up—this was funded through grants—and chip the wood from the homeowners who had applied to have their wood chipped and taken away,” Hammond added.The residents worked with the Morgan Hill Fire Department and CalFire throughout the Firewise recognition process. Hammond said authorities have even asked the HOA to give some pointers to other communities in Santa Clara County that might be interested in the Firewise program.Jackson Oaks residents are waiting to see if the designation will have an impact on insurance rates, but the immediate benefits are worth the effort, said Hammond, who remembers a large wildfire in 1985 in the canyon just east of the neighborhood’s boundary.“It shows we are keeping ourselves educated and creating defensible areas—our properties won’t necessarily all burn if we have this defensible area,” she said. “And it has been a very good community bonding experience. It’s a very good opportunity to get to know your neighbors.”Local fire officials gave high praise to the east Morgan Hill neighborhood for their commitment to fire safety.“Firewise communities are invaluable partners,” said MHFD Fire Marshal Dwight Good. “They provide real grassroots resources to help homeowners deal with the risks of living in wildland areas. Owning property in wildfire prone areas of our state is a huge responsibility and I would urge every homeowner to seek out and become involved in local Firewise efforts.”The NFPA is a global, nonprofit organization “devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards,” according to their website. To learn more about Firewise and NFPA, visit firewise.org.

Morgan Hill native Kara Morris began to cultivate her love of dance as a young pupil at Lana’s Dance Studio decades ago. While her last name may have changed with marriage (now Starkweather), the 1996 Live Oak High School alumna’s passion for the performing arts has remained.

While some local residents believe the county has made changes to zoning ordinances to pave the way for an Islamic mosque project, others in San Martin feel like their voices are not being heard on a number of key issues they fear could lead to urban sprawl in the rural community.

John Garcia, a notable Grammy-nominated blues guitarist who performed with John Lee Hooker and then with his son, John Lee Hooker, Jr., died Saturday, friends and family reported.

About three-quarters of an inch of total rainfall is expected to hit the South County area beginning early Friday morning through Sunday evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass.

The second annual Morgan Hill Veterans Day Run will take place Nov. 12, with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. and the races starting at 9 a.m. outside The Running Shop and Hops, 17500 Depot Street.