Special paving, extensive landscaping, traffic roundabouts,
extended sidewalks, a public plaza and enhanced pedestrian
crosswalks could all be a part of the future for the Morgan Hill
downtown.
Special paving, extensive landscaping, traffic roundabouts, extended sidewalks, a public plaza and enhanced pedestrian crosswalks could all be a part of the future for the Morgan Hill downtown.
“I think it’s a fantastic and ambitious plan,” BookSmart and Thinker Toys co-owner Brad Jones said Thursday. “We need to really look at developing a unique retail sector in Morgan Hill, and the best place to do that is in the downtown.
“We have already lost the sales tax battle with Gilroy over the big bucks. 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.”
MHDA Executive Director Dan Craig said he sees his organization providing input to the city about the what business owners and their customers want for their downtown.
“As the plan goes through the process, I see the Downtown Association acting as spokesperson for the private sector, the business sector downtown,” he said. “A voice for the collective business and property owners. They hear from their customers, also what is important to them, and the businesses can pass that along to the city through the association.”
The association, made up of volunteers who want to promote the downtown as a retail entity, sees certain parts of the plan as priorities, Craig said.
“In the near term, we see some of the streetscape improvements that would contribute toward a traffic calming,” he said. “More specifically, the gateway treatments should make a difference. It is important for cars coming into the downtown area to get a sense they are coming into a new area, a business and pedestrian area.”
The plan calls for “tactile entry paving to slow speeds” immediately south on Monterey Road of the intersection at Dunne Avenue and at the intersection of Monterey and Third Street. Enhanced landscaping at Monterey and Dunne and at pedestrian crosswalks is also a signal that the area is more pedestrian-oriented.
The proposal by some business owners to make Monterey Road one lane each way through the downtown area, or to close it entirely to traffic are not something the Downtown Association is expecting the city to support at this time.
“Making Monterey one way each way is something more long-term in nature,” Craig said. “We’re not pushing for that. However, we would advocate a traffic study. We would be supportive of exploring that possibility.”
Another priority Craig said the downtown owners have is the renovation of some of the buildings in the downtown area. The plan calls for looking at a modification of the city’s facade improvement program, which gives financial assistance to owners upgrading their property but currently requires that the owners grant the city a facade easement. The plan recommends a modification of the program and focusing the program for downtown owners on display windows, entries and signage.
“We think the rehabilitation of some of the buildings downtown should be a priority,” Craig said. “Like the Granada. It can be a very important link to increased activity downtown at night.”
Downtown merchants in general are pleased with the plan; many are pleased that serious consideration is being given to improving the area.
“I really feel that the downtown plan is heading in the right direction,” Jones said Thursday. “I truly hope the property owners in the city that are the big players see the benefit of adopting it early and making it stick.”
“The city of Morgan Hill needs to decide whether we want to have a retail district or whether we want Gilroy’s traffic driving through our town.”
A final report from the City Council-appointed Downtown Task Force was released earlier this month. It was presented to the Planning Commission April 22, at a Morgan Hill Downtown Association (MHDA) breakfast Tuesday and will go to the City Council Wednesday night.
