The City Council had another go at the draft environmental
impact report for the new county courthouse Wednesday, and went on
to present the county with a possible fix for the city
’s primary objection – the site orientation.
The City Council had another go at the draft environmental impact report for the new county courthouse Wednesday, and went on to present the county with a possible fix for the city’s primary objection – the site orientation.
The buildings’ architecture was criticized as huge, monolithic and “un-Morgan Hill-like” by residents who attended a workshop on March 27. Council had similar objections before it saw the three dimensional model of the buildings and color renderings presented by architects Charles Drulis and Mallory Cusenbery. But Wednesday, council spent its attention on the site plan and issues raised by the draft EIR.
The 80,000-square-foot, $40 million, two-building justice center is planned for Butterfield Boulevard and West Diana Avenue on a site next to the railroad tracks and south of the Caltrain park-and-ride lot. Six courtrooms, a holding facility for prisoners, jury rooms and related offices would occupy a 35-foot high building. A smaller one-story building would house district attorney, probation and public defender offices.
Several council members have taken issue in the past with the buildings’ arrangement on the site, with the primary entrance facing south on Diana Avenue, as far away from the pedestrian access to downtown as possible.
“This is the wrong site for this property,” said Councilman Larry Carr, as he has all along. But, he said, the council will try to find ways to make it work.
As the agreement was originally written, the city would provide land for the justice center and would be allowed to use any land not needed by the county. As planning proceeded, the surveyed acreage shrank to 7.8 acres and the buildings grew, leaving nothing left after allowances for parking and storm water retention were considered. “It is now our current proposal to put the fire station on adjacent property,” Mayor Dennis Kennedy said. The land between the courthouse site and the VTA parking lot – where the Interim Skate Park is now located – isowned by VTA.
“We are seeking interest from VTA to sell part of the parking lot,” said City Manager Ed Tewes. “VTA needs the money.” He said VTA was not interested in selling before but is waiting to hear back.
Morgan Hill’s Jim Dumas, senior project manager for community buildings, redesigned the county’s site plan, following council’s wishes. Instead of the entrance facing Diana, he rotated the buildings 180 degrees so they face north and are as close as possible to the pedestrian access to downtown.
An at-grade railroad track crossing, in the works for five years, is now under construction just south of the empty little depot at the end of East Third Street.
Dumas’s design connects the justice center to downtown restaurants and shops with a winding, landscaped pathway. He also added a landscape buffer between the large courthouse building and the parking lot.
County courthouse Project Manager Alicia Flynn took the design back to her office to share with the architects.
Wednesday night, the draft EIR concerned itself with storm water runoff and water use, traffic flow, parking, project size scope of work and aesthetics.
A smaller retention area – the result of Dumas’s altered plan – could be made more efficient by covering a portion for parking and increasing the depth used for water retention, said Jim Ashcraft, public works director.
The plan must accommodate 100 percent of the site runoff until Llagas Creek is improved, said Planning Manager Jim Rowe.
Councilman Greg Sellers, a downtown advocate, said he appreciated the parking issue being addressed.
“Only 12 of the spaces (for judges) will be in a secure area,” he said. “The balance will be accessible from downtown.” He said he was also anxious about the traffic flow through the parking lot. Sellers wanted courthouse workers to be encouraged to visit downtown on foot instead of driving.
With 1,000 visitors and workers visiting daily, public transportation was a concern to Kennedy, suggesting added Caltrain service and rerouting the #68 bus.
The City of Morgan Hill agreed to contribute $7 million in Redevelopment funds to the courthouse project in return for the county not challenging, legally, the extension of the city’s RDA. It is expected to open December, 2005.
Both county and city officials will meet again at a public workshop tentatively scheduled for Friday, April 18, at 1 p.m.
