The city’s idea of looking at the future of the Southeast
Quadrant is forward thinking. The city needs to go through the
process of delineating what will happen years from now on the 1,200
acres of mostly undeveloped land outside the city limits.
Local officials need to go through the process of planning
The city’s idea of looking at the future of the Southeast Quadrant is forward thinking. The city needs to go through the process of delineating what will happen years from now on the 1,200 acres of mostly undeveloped land outside the city limits.
Already planned for the area are a Catholic High School campus, an artificial snowboarding and ski mountain proposed by Snowflex, and more sports fields including privately owned cricket and polo fields proposed by Chiala Farms owner George Chiala. About 280 acres of the region will remain agricultural, and at least 190 acres would be zoned sports-recreation-leisure. That label would apply to the city’s Outdoor Sports Complex on Condit Road. Chiala has also proposed a mixed-use residential and open space development on 305 acres he owns in the southeast quadrant – land that is currently used for farm production.
The alternative is the status quo
So what is the alternative? John Telfer, a Morgan Hill developer, said the only other option to the current SEQ plan is the status quo, which will allow the rural properties to become residential developments.
“Some of (the SEQ parcels) can be further subdivided,” Telfer said at a meeting in which the project description was approved. “If it’s left alone, economics will dictate a lot of these properties will be converted into mini-ranchettes.”
Currently slightly more than half the SEQ – about 695 acres – is used for agriculture, and is considered “prime farmland,” according to consultant Gregory House, who studied the quad’s agricultural viability on behalf of the city.
Let the process play out
And while the Local Agency Formation Commission – which will have to approve the project – sent a strongly worded letter to the city saying the current project description violates the commission’s policies, the city’s project description, approved earlier this month, supports devising agricultural mitigation rules to ensure that when any developer transforms agricultural property into more urban landscapes, they will help the city permanently preserve an equal portion of open space or farmland elsewhere in town. Who better to oversee that process? City council members elected by Morgan Hill residents, or Santa Clara County Supervisors?
There needs to be a balance between sensible development and dense development, which is what this process will accomplish. Let the process play out. Conduct the Environmental Impact Report, and figure out what is best for the area and how to mitigate any future development.
