In response to ongoing reports of unsafe and “inappropriate” activity atop the downtown Morgan Hill parking garage, the city will partially close the structure’s top floor until some permanent safety measures can be installed, according to city staff.
At the Sept. 6 City Council meeting (which took place after the Times’ print deadline), elected officials were scheduled to consider up to $200,000 worth of enhancements to the structure in order to protect its edges from rogue pedestrians. This could include some type of fencing or screening to keep people from accessing the edges and rooftop areas of the structure, which is located in downtown Morgan Hill between East Third and Fourth streets, according to a city staff report.
Other recommendations before the council Sept. 6 included an update to city ordinances to allow Morgan Hill Police to enforce municipal codes within the three- story garage, according to the staff report. If the council approves this update, city staff will immediately post signs throughout the garage explaining the structure’s rules.
Until these updates are enacted, the city will keep about 50 spaces at the top of the garage closed to all public access. The closure started Sept. 1 and will continue at least through the end of October, during which time the safety-enhancing construction will take place, city staff said.
‘Reckless behavior’ throughout garage
Since the parking garage opened in March 2016, city staff have faced “several challenges” arising from unauthorized activity in the garage, Morgan Hill Communications Manager Maureen Tobin said. Most notably, this includes youth and adults climbing on the roof and the ledge surrounding the garage’s top floor. These ledges are currently unprotected.
“We can’t be aware of this type of activity and not do something,” Tobin said. “Obviously, we don’t want people on the ledges and the roof of the top floor of the garage.”
MHPD Capt. Shane Palsgrove added that the most pressing concerns in the garage are the frequency of skateboarders rocketing down the garage’s multiple levels, and people—mostly children—climbing too close to the edge of the structure’s top floors.
“We’ve had a couple near misses,” with skateboarders almost colliding with vehicles, Palsgrove said.
According to statistics provided by MHPD, local police have received an increasing number of monthly calls to the garage since it opened.
From May through July 2016, MHPD responded to zero calls for service in the 270-space downtown garage. The call volumes started to pick up the rest of 2016, with between five and nine calls to police each month related to the facility.
In 2017, police calls for service began to reach double-digits, with the busiest month for officers being April with 21 calls. In July, police responded to 19 calls for service in the garage.
The highest categories of calls are labeled “disturbance,” “reckless driving” and “suspicious vehicle,” according to the statistics from MHPD.
Police have made four arrests in the garage since it opened—two for bicycle theft, one for domestic violence and one for a warrant.
Palsgrove classified the bulk of the calls as reports of “reckless behavior.”
“These may appear to be minor in nature, but when (skateboarders) are coming down around blind corners, it could be a life threatening event,” Palsgrove said.
He added that MHPD, working with the city’s Community Services Department, is also looking into efforts to slow down vehicles to prevent motorists from “drifting” through the corners or doing burnouts.
The top-floor closure starting Sept. 1 is part of a “three-pronged approach” to addressing the city’s concerns. In addition to the physical enhancements, that approach also includes enforcement and education, Tobin said.
“City staff are proposing an approach that other communities have utilized and that incorporates engineering, education, and enforcement with the goal of enhanced community safety,” reads the city staff report for the Sept. 6 meeting. “It is believed this combination will be the most appropriate to reduce the risk of accidents due to inappropriate use of the structure.”
Palsgrove added that officers have already started increasing their patrol checks of the garage, and monitoring live surveillance cameras that keep an eye on the facility.
More growth on the way
The downtown garage is only one of nearly a dozen new construction projects either recently completed or underway in downtown Morgan Hill. These projects include five new restaurants and three high-density residential developments.
While this type of growth in general inevitably brings more of a demand for public safety services, Palsgrove said MHPD hasn’t seen a “spike in activity” since the redevelopment of the neighborhood started over a year ago.
However, police have ramped up their presence in the downtown on evenings that bring extra traffic to the area, and when events are scheduled. For example, during the summerlong Friday Night Music Series at the Community and Cultural Center—which had its last event of the summer last Friday—MHPD has assigned extra officers to patrol the downtown, Palsgrove said.
This includes deploying the department’s new Neighborhood Resources Unit, consisting of three officers, to work with event organizers and business owners on security and identifying “best practices” to keep their patrons safe, Palsgrove added.
“We are continually assessing our strategy for the downtown,” he said.
Anyone who witnesses illegal or unsafe activities or uses of the parking garage can call Morgan Hill Police Department at (408) 779-2101.
Most common types of calls for police service at the Morgan Hill downtown garage since the facility opened March 2016:
- Disturbance: 44
- Reckless driving: 23
- Suspicious vehicle: 13
- Number of arrests:
- Domestic violence: 1
- Theft of bicycle: 2
- Warrant: 1
Number of cases opened by MHPD:
- Vandalism: 1
- Found property: 2
- Disturbance: 1
- Accident: 2
- Suspicious vehicle: 2
- Theft: 2
- Domestic violence: 1
Source: MHPD
