The county commission meeting where officials will determine whether or not to annex more than 280 acres into Morgan Hill’s boundaries has been postponed until March 11.
The Santa Clara County Local Formation Commission will hear two proposals submitted by City Hall that would extend the city’s Urban Service Area in different sections of Morgan Hill.
The larger and more complicated of these two plans is known as the “Sports-Recreation-Leisure District” (SRL) proposal, which is located in the city’s Southeast Quadrant. LAFCO will consider whether to include 215 acres of this region—located on the east side of the U.S. 101 interchange with Tennant Avenue—in the USA.
Most of the property is currently used for agriculture. The city’s plan would hasten the development of much of the property for sports and recreation uses (with a new “Sports-Recreation-Leisure zoning classification), and the construction of a private Catholic high school.
The SEQ is centered around the intersection of Murphy and Tennant avenues.
All the land in the city’s SEQ plan is currently in unincorporated county jurisdiction, which allows higher density residential and commercial development than what the city has proposed, according to city staff.
The SEQ project is coupled with an “agricultural mitigation” program approved by the council last year, which would require developers converting farmland to other uses to pay a fee that would permanently preserve an equal number of agricultural acres elsewhere in the city limits.
The other proposal scheduled for the March 11 LAFCO agenda is known as the “Monterey-Watsonville” project. Under this plan, the city wants to annex 17 parcels totaling 65 acres into the USA, according to LAFCO staff. The properties are located in the area of Monterey and Watsonville roads.
Specifically, properties in this area include Royal Oaks Mushroom farm and the Oakwood School, as well as a commercial strip mall. Oakwood, a private K-12 school, has a permit to expand to 776 students from 347 students, according to information submitted with the city’s LAFCO application. Royal Oaks owner Don Hordness plans to move his agricultural operation elsewhere and develop a senior citizens’ assisted living project (123 units) at the site south of Watsonville Road.
The City Council voted unanimously in late 2015 to submit the Monterey-Watsonville request to LAFCO. The same body voted 4-1 in December to submit the SEQ project to the commission, with Councilmember Rich Constantine voting against the proposal.
The proposals were tentatively scheduled to be heard Feb. 3, but city staff recently submitted more background information about the SEQ project at LAFCO staff’s request.
