The plan to take advantage of the latest in urban planning for
Morgan Hill
’s downtown is, we think, a good idea. The idea of mixing
retail, services and residential units in an area close to public
transit reflects urban planning at its best.
The plan to take advantage of the latest in urban planning for Morgan Hill’s downtown is, we think, a good idea. The idea of mixing retail, services and residential units in an area close to public transit reflects urban planning at its best.
The downtown task force has written a plan to take advantage of those things while maintaining the small town feel and gives the city its charm. This is good.
The hardscape and landscape renovations of 1980 gave the downtown its first, much-needed facelift and the city took that opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure by replacing the original wooden water mains at the same time.
Time has passed, as it does, and the area needs a shot in the arm. The Downtown Plan should be that shot. The plan suggests ways of making downtown more pedestrian-friendly, including a study of narrowing Monterey Road – between Main and Dunne avenues – to one lane in each way.
Two lanes in each direction have caused at least two fatal or serious collisions between pedestrians and automobiles in recent years. Drivers can’t miss the crosswalks, with their brick paving, but if one car stops, there is still danger from a car in the second lane, if the driver can’t see around the other car. One lane would boost the chances of a pedestrian making it across the street unscathed.
People who compare the less-than-successful one-lane each way stretch of Monterey Road through downtown Gilroy should realize that while Gilroy’s Monterey Road is a slalom so tight that VTA buses can’t negotiate through, Morgan Hill’s Monterey Road is straight.
Studying the two-lane construct won’t take place until both Hwy 101 is fully open and Butterfield Boulevard is completed to Tennant Avenue, when a more realistic picture of the true traffic situation will be available.
The new plan builds upon the reality of the downtown already in place – interesting little shops not found in malls or outlets that bring people back again and again. Art galleries, design and craft studios, antique and flower shops, music, book and toy stores and restaurants, coffee bars and movie theaters go into the mix.
It was to this business model planners turned when it became obvious that the big box stores – and their sales taxes – had gone to Gilroy – to the unfortunate detriment of that city’s downtown.
“We have already lost the sales tax battle with Gilroy over the big buck. But Morgan Hill residents have told us they prefer for us to have unique and unusual retail offerings, rather than the same old anywhere-in-America kind of merchandise,” said Brad Jones, co-owner of BookSmart and Thinker Toys and member of the downtown task force.
Providing important new building blocks to a vibrant downtown at the south end are the community center and playhouse. The north end may well be anchored in future by a restaurant or brew pub when the Morgan Hill Police Department moves into its new building on Vineyard Avenue and out of its current digs on Main Avenue. The move is expected toward the end of next year.
Connecting the downtown, via the extra-wide Third Street, to the train depot and, in the future, the new Santa Clara County Courthouse just across the tracks, makes sense, too.
There are a few worrying aspects in the plan, however. Higher density housing is part of new urban design – in transportation corridors – which this is. But the City Council should consider carefully all implications of the Glenrock Corp. plan for 35 units per acre on East Third Street. People might not be comfortable with going from A to Z without stopping at L or M, on the urban planning continuum.
We applaud the Downtown Task Force that studied, discussed and put together a plan that just might work. It will benefit residents, visitors and merchants alike in a true symbiotic relationship. It’s going in the right direction.
