Community

Archways bearing the city's name could one day span downtown

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.

Sara Alanis represented Morgan Hill's finest as she navigated a

Morgan Hill residents graduate from Biola University Morgan Hill residents Gabrielle Stieg (majoring in Public Relations & Strategic Communications), Sanford Kenyon III (Business Administration) and Kaitlyn Pershall (Comm Sciences Disorders) graduated from Biola University at the spring 2024 commencement ceremony. The ceremony took place on...

Operators of the Gilroy Gardens and the Garlic Festival Association have been busy working together to finalize details for the 2025 Garlic Festival—which is returning this summer after a five-year absence.  Tickets for the event will go on sale 12pm May 31on the association’s website.  On...

The Morgan Hill Unified School District is exploring whether to ask voters to approve a new bond and parcel tax as soon as November 2026, aiming to generate cash for campus improvements while providing a local revenue cushion against an uncertain funding future. District officials...

Horse owners, ranchers and agricultural advocates are sounding the alarm over proposed zoning amendments they say could force hundreds or more horses out of Santa Clara County and devastate an industry woven into the region’s rural heritage. The controversy centers on draft zoning ordinance amendments...

Dear Red Phone,What is going on at the property on the west side of U.S. 101 just north of town, where it looks like someone has thrown up a bunch of shed-looking horse stalls and there’s lots of junk scattered around?The property you are referring to—which sits prominently on the side of the busy freeway for motorists stuck in afternoon traffic to gaze upon during their commute—is private land, zoned for agriculture, according to Santa Clara County Code Enforcement Program Manager Mark Ruffing. The site contains a number of small stables for horses.Ruffing said his office has visited the property on a number of occasions, and has notified the property owners that they were in violation of county codes related to exterior storage and unpermitted construction. However, Ruffing said the owner has been cooperative with the county and is working on resolving the issues.The property is located on the west side of U.S. 101, just north of the Cochrane Road exit. The site is accessed off Burnett Avenue.Specifically, county code enforcement issued a compliance order for piles of debris stored outdoors. This violation included bicycles, motorcycle parts and appliances sitting out in the open, which is a violation of county code.“Storing refrigerators, bike parts, household goods…is something that is not allowed,” Ruffing said.Furthermore, some of the horse stables that are larger than 150 square feet in size were out of compliance because they were built without a permit, Ruffing added. Anything larger than 150 square feet in unincorporated county jurisdiction requires a permit, but most of the structures are not that large. County code also spells out a limit to the number of such structures allowed on a property, but so far the site in question does not exceed that limit.There are also some outdoor pens for goats and other livestock on the property, but these are not a subject of the compliance order.“I know it’s unsightly. We have gotten some phone calls, and that’s why we had staff go out there and investigate,” Ruffing said. He added that county staff were on site last week to monitor the removal of some of the debris piles.Dear Red Phone,Why is Ladera Grill allowed to take up valuable parking spaces on Monterey Road in front of their establishment for valet parking, when other downtown businesses are struggling to find available parking for their customers?City staff assured Red Phone that Ladera Grill owner Dan McCranie acquired an “encroachment permit” to use those spots in front of his restaurant. Furthermore, the ability to gain such a permit is not exclusive to Ladera Grill, and other downtown restaurants are encouraged to offer similar services.In fact, offering valet parking service helps with the downtown parking scarcity, as it frees up other spots that can be used by patrons of other nearby businesses, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. Ladera Grill staff parks the vehicles utilizing this service in the VTA lot on Butterfield Boulevard, on the east side of the railroad tracks—a lot that is seldom used by downtown patrons at nighttime, largely due to its distance from the neighborhood and popular restaurants.“If other restaurants are interested in pursuing (similar uses), we as a city would be happy to help them activate their street front by using valet parking, and relieving the parking pressure downtown,” Ramirez said.When the city started a series of construction projects in the downtown in early 2015, the city even began waiving the fee for an encroachment permit for downtown businesses who choose to make similar use of the parking in front of their shops, Ramirez added.The city coordinated with VTA, which owns more than 50 percent of the parking lot on Butterfield Boulevard, to allow McCranie to use those spaces to park valeted vehicles, Ramirez added. There is no fee for Ladera Grill to use those spots, as the valet service only utilizes the lot in the evenings, and it’s free parking for downtown visitors anyway.Ladera Grill currently offers valet parking on Friday and Saturday evenings.