A Morgan Hill property owner has offered a lengthy list of improvements she plans to make to public property and promises to protect open space in return for the city’s support for annexing a portion of the 118-acre parcel into the city limits, but neighbors say the project would have a far-reaching negative impact on the existing residents.
Bethany Liou, owner of the proposed Oak Meadow development, plans to build a subdivision of 54 single-family homes on about 20 acres, according to a city staff report. That land is part of a cluster of parcels owned by the same developer on West Edmundson Avenue, east of DeWitt Avenue and west of Sunset Avenue.
The entire 118 acres is currently in unincorporated Santa Clara County.
Liou will present her request to the planning commission Tuesday night to request pre-zoning changes, urban service area changes, and a general plan amendment to allow the project to proceed.
The meeting includes a public hearing on the proposal.
If these requests and changes are approved, the project will still require another strenuous set of approvals and permit applications through the city planning office.
Furthermore, an annexation request would have to be approved by Santa Clara County and endorsed by the City Council, who will consider the request in the coming weeks if it gains planning commission approval.
City planning staff have recommended approving the annexation request.
Kevin Pfeil, a nearby resident of Denali Drive, a proposed main access point to the proposed subdivision, said the proposal is a “bait and switch,” and the same owner presented the same project to the city in 2006. The pre-development ordinance amendment requests were denied by the City Council at that time.
City development policy prohibits service area extensions when there is already a minimum five-year supply of undeveloped land, suitable for residential use, inside the existing area, the city staff report notes.
However there are exceptions, which Pfeil called a “loophole,” if the property proposed to be added benefits the community. In this case, that benefit is the developer’s promise to permanently to protect most of the property for open space, and include easements for public walking trails.
However, Pfeil noted the open space sits on a steep hill that can’t be developed with construction anyway.
“The hilltop is owned by the city, but the steep slope is owned by the developer,” Pfeil said. “They’re preserving land the county would preserve anyway” due to the steep slope that prohibits building.
“To do something just to save something is just a moronic statement. It’s going to be a terrible impact for the greenbelt,” Pfeil said.
At the last planning commission meeting Aug. 30, the proposal was on the agenda for public comment on the environmental study that was still open. Numerous members of the public spoke about the project, pronouncing “a range” of comments and complaints about the visual impacts to the hillsides and neighbors’ homes, and traffic concerns, planning commissioner Joe Mueller said.
In a letter to the planning commission, Pfeil added other concerns including the lack of proper notice about the project and public hearings to surrounding property owners, a “significant oversight.”
He said Monday that back in 2006, after the council denied the request, that the developer was asked to meet with existing neighbors to come to terms on the density of the subdivision and access to the property. That meeting never happened, Pfeil said.
“I can’t tell if they’re being sneaky or just terrible at trying to get buy-in,” Pfeil said.
The project is “basically the same” as the one proposed at the same site by the same owner in 2006, Mueller added, but said he would know more details after Tuesday’s presentation and public hearing.
In 2006, Mayor Steve Tate, who was a council member at the time, voted against the request.
An exhaustive list of public improvements and mitigation efforts are recommended as either conditions for development, or offers by the developer to the city in exchange for its support to annex the property, according to a report from consultant MH Engineering.
Carrots to the city include improving two public streets – Bryce Drive and Sunset Avenue – to “full city standards,” installing stop signs at existing intersections, relocating a 10-inch water line and widening West Edmundson Avenue where it accesses the proposed project.
The current property owner will also provide trail easements across the property for public use, connecting to the Community Park and the city’s water tank property south of Edmundson Avenue.
Furthermore, the “mitigated negative declaration,” a kind of environmental study, lists dozens of measures the developer would have to implement to mitigate impacts to wildlife habitat, cultural resources, air quality, noise, geological resources, and traffic before any construction can take place.
Liou could not be contacted before press time Monday.
The planning commission meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 17555 Peak Ave.
