Affordable housing for Morgan Hill teachers went off in a new
direction when the City Council asked for fewer units on a tight
one-acre lot.
Affordable housing for Morgan Hill teachers went off in a new direction when the City Council asked for fewer units on a tight one-acre lot.
This is a change in direction for the council, who asked for more units per lot at a previous hearing, raising the number from seven to 12. Now it’s back to 10.
The joint City/RDA/South County Housing project was designed to retain young teachers by allowing them to buy a house in Morgan Hill instead of taking their talents to less expensive areas.
Neighbors of the proposed project have complained about the development’s density since it was first announced at seven units per acre.
At the council meeting on Dec. 17, resident Dan Kenney, who said he lives near the proposed development, disagreed with the wisdom of placing 12 units on the lot and with the estimated costs.
“Six to eight is ideal,” Kenney said. “There are so many conditions that will have to be changed at 12.”
In November 2002, SCH presented the council with plans for 12 two, three and four bedroom, 2-story attached units, ranging from 1249- to 1469-square-feet, on a small lot near the corner of Watsonville and Monterey roads. Twelve units would have a density of 12.6 units per acre, Planning Manager Jim Rowe told the council.
An adjacent development on Calle Sueno has a density of 7.5 units per acre with homes ranging from 2,934- to 4791-square-feet. The owners and residents of these adjacent houses have continued to lobby the council for a lower density, even when initial plans called for only seven units on the site.
During the latest meeting, council asked that SCH redesign its plans to lower the density to 10 or less, because of the density issue and because putting 12 units on the lot would require a high number of variances, or exceptions to city ordinances. Rowe described the number of variances as “fairly steep.”
Exceptions to the building codes include density, lo widths and depths, setbacks, residential street standards and parking.
Jim Yee of the Dahlin Group, architects for the project, explained the benefits of 12 units as allowing the maximum number of houses and a maximum return on the site.
“It’s perceived as livable, getting back to more of a traditional home,” Yee said.
Because the houses were designed with porches in front and garages in the rear, hiding the cars, some even fronting onto a greenbelt, Yee described them as “friendly to the neighborhood.”
His design picked up details from the Calle Sueno neighbors with tile roofs and porches.
Responding to council’s request for fewer units and fewer variances, Yee said he had such a plan but it would require front garages and a sound wall.
“You would lose the warm and pleasant architecture we are striving for.”
South County Housing’s Jan Lindenthal, director of housing development, explained the financial implications of the different densities.
“With seven units, the cost per unit is $499,013, has an RDA contribution of $1,233,088 and a $176,156 subsidy per unit,” Lindenthal said. At 11 units, cost per unit is $423,716, has an RDA contribution of $996,203 and a $90,563 subsidy per unit. At 12 units, cost per unit is $411,504, has an RDA contribution of $898,044 and a $74,837 subsidy per unit, she said.
Lindenthal referred to “an acceptable tradeoff to variances.”
Kenney said he considered the costs to be inflated.
“My company can build BMRs (below market rate housing) for less than this,” Kenney said. He suggested triplexes.
“With two or three of those you could get nine units. Twelve units feels excessive for the neighborhood.”
Resident Keith Gangitano said things were looking up.
“I’m happy that some people are looking at this with clarity, though I am disappointed that others are not,” Gangitano said. “The number (12) doesn’t work.”
He also disagreed with the ordinance variations.
“If this were a private builder it would never have made it this far,” Gangitano said. “Teachers need a place to live,” he said, “but there are better ways of doing it.”
Ramana Devaraj told the council she was really tired of the subject.
“I’ve spoken at meetings, written letters to The Morgan Hill Times and I’m really worried about the building codes.”
The community and aquatic centers are masterpieces, she said. “They shine like jewels – unlike these,” she said, referring to the teachers’ housing design.
“They will stick out like a sore thumb.” Devaraj said she was afraid the city would be starting a precedent by letting “substandard” housing to pass.
“Let’s not compromise on basic city codes, “ she said. “Let’s build it nicely.”
Rowe and the council discussed a current difficult right turn from Watsonville Road onto Calle Sueno, one the residents said would not improve if the teacher project was built.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy said the city could possibly use RDA funds to acquire land needed to make the right turn safer.
“The solution is for more creativity than the number of units,” Kennedy said.
Councilman Steve Tate spoke from his experience as a former Planning Commissioner.
“If I were still on the Planning Commission I would definitely have a problem with this,” Tate said. “It’s the sum total of code exceptions and it has gotten too dense. But anything less than 10 (units per acre) won’t accomplish what we want to accomplish.” Tate said he wants to see the implications on zoning variances going from 11 units down to 10.
Councilman Larry Carr, a former school board trustee, commented on Lindenthal’s “acceptable tradeoff to variances.”
”We’re trying to provide something unique here,” he said. Let’s weigh out what the benefit is against the variances. The important thing is the affordability of the units.”
Carr said the number must be higher than seven in order to make the homes affordable.
“If we can’t provide affordability for the units, it may not be worthwhile to do the project.
“If we can’t, perhaps Morgan Hill is not ready to do something so unique and innovative,” Carr said. “But I think we are.”
