Plan proposes integrating shops, transportation and housing as
backbone
Morgan Hill’s five-block downtown is noted for a certain amount of charm but the city and the Downtown Task Force promise to raise the area’s appeal to a higher level as developed in a new plan.
The 2003 downtown plan builds upon a 1980 upgrade effort. At that time, according to city planning manager Jim Rowe, the city made improvements in streetscape – special paving, benches, trash receptacles, bus shelters and the tree-lined median from Main to Dunne avenues.
“They also replaced the original wooden water mains,” Rowe said. “Most of the concerns (in the 2003 report) are the same as they were in 1980 – new uses for buildings and parking.”
Larry Cannon of the Cannon Design Group, who helped the task force with its work, explained to council in May why the formal downtown boundaries were set, as they were, at Dunne, Del Monte and Main avenues and Butterfield Boulevard.
“We made the area smaller so it’s walkable and pedestrian-oriented,” he said.
Cannon said the plan emphasizes continuity of shops with interesting and distinctive store fronts.
The plan spotlights the commuter rail station influence on downtown with nearby housing, land-use strategy, how to improve Monterey Road. The plan asks for significant changes in the parking and paving codes and seeks a traffic study to consider narrowing Monterey Road to one lane in each direction. The City Council approved a study to uncover reasonable, low-cost ways to “calm traffic” in the downtown corridor.
The traffic study was delayed until after Hwy 101 opened to eight lanes and Butterfield Boulevard was completed to Tennant Avenue, a project currently under construction.
The plan gives shape and direction to several city programs meant to provide some financial assistance for residents with ideas. A façade improvement program for existing businesses has helped to spruce up building fronts and, lately, the city has collected ideas from residents to boost dining, shopping and living that might materialize with a bit of city help.
PARKING
The problem with parking, Cannon said, is “perceived, not real”, despite moments – such as during Friday Night Music concerts – when nary a spot is free within a two-block range.
“There are 1,120 parking spaces in the downtown area plus 531 more at the train station. They are normally 54 percent full,” he said.
Cannon said 100,000 square-feet of additional retail could be added before parking would be above 85 percent, the figure that would trigger expansion.
“Most of the time,” said Rowe, “there really is parking available.”
LAND USE
Land uses will soften the edges from the industrial uses of the past. Zoning changes are suggested for property east of the railroad tracks – the Isaacson Grain Co. and Hale Lumber property – from industrial to multifamily medium, and north of Main Avenue – the Gunter Brothers Feed Store property, among others – from commercial to mixed use.
Infill of vacant lots is a high priority. A continuous run of storefronts is considered beneficial to business – a philosophy adopted by the Chamber of Commerce.
Restaurants are the jewels in the crown of a downtown plan, bringing, as they do, clientele for other businesses. With so many fast food places located near the freeway interchanges and along major streets, planners want especially to promote a variety of sit-down eating establishments especially those with outdoor dining or window walls opening to the sidewalk.
Other land use targets are for entertainment – building on The Granada, food shops – bakeries, wine and cheese shops – home furnishings – building on Brotin Designs, art galleries – building on Gallery Morgan Hill and The Art Scene, and specialty retail shops open to local residents.
Mixed-use projects offering housing upstairs, retail, restaurants and commercial offices downstairs are the backbone of big cities and now have found their way into the downtowns of smaller towns. Mixed use avoids a deserted street after offices or shops close.
The plan would encourage a grocery store in the Albertson’s location, either keeping that store or – a move that would delight hundreds of residents – a Whole Foods, should that corporation decided to take a chance on Morgan Hill.
Downtown Association Director Dan Craig, who is leading the recently adopted Main Street Program, described his area of influence recently at the association’s first year celebration.
“The state of the downtown is excellent,” he said. “All is well.”
Craig got a big laugh when he told of living in Hollister – which he does – and hearing comments on that city’s growing pains.
“We’re not Morgan Hill yet,” Craig reported hearing.
Downtown Morgan Hill, he predicted, will see a major transition in the next year – upwards.
DEPOT INFLUENCE
Things have changed since 1980, Cannon told the council. Twenty years ago there was no train station, no Caltrain parking lot, no commuter train. Today’s transportation center includes all those things and is linked to Monterey Road by East Third Street, built intentionally wider than other streets. The plan looks forward to Third Street taking its place as a grand avenue, lined with shops and restaurants, leading to the train station and the county courthouse.
Considering the town’s very name is train-related, the transit-oriented plan might be seen as completing a circle. Hiram Morgan Hill and his wife, Diana Murphy Hill, frequently invited guests to visit their vacation home on Monterey Road just south of Wright Avenue. As the tale is told, passengers would ask to be let off. As the train approached Villa Mira Monte, not a regular stop, the conductor would call out “Morgan Hill’s!”
Details: www.morganhilldowntown.org or www.morgan-hill.ca.gov
