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Surrounding Royal Oaks Mushrooms on Watsonville Road in southwest Morgan Hill was virtually “nothing” in the way of homes or any other kind of development when Robert Vantassel, now the farm’s operations manager, started working there in the 1980s.He remembers some scattered row crops in the area, and what his grandparents called “permanent pasture” in the vicinity of the mushroom farm. He faintly recalls a gas station across Monterey Road, which forms the eastern boundary of Royals Oaks’ property.Now, most of those fields host residential neighborhoods, new roads and small retail businesses. Monterey Road is a bustling commuter throughway. Oakwood School and Morgan Hill Bible Church (which also houses a school) neighbor Royal Oaks to the south and east, respectively.There remain some vacant fields and active farmland—as well as large residential lots—to the south and west of the mushroom farm, but the increasing mixture of urban and rural land uses in such close proximity is at the crux of the debate over whether the City of Morgan Hill should annex properties such as Royal Oaks and farms in the Southeast Quadrant into the city limits.“In the mid-1990s they built the school, and then the condos across the street, and it became very difficult for me to continue to farm there,” said Royal Oaks owner Don Hordness. “I decided to move my business. In order to do that, we needed to get this thing sold.”In 2013, the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission approved the annexation of Royal Oaks’ Morgan Hill farming operation, which employs 55 people on about eight acres. But Royal Oaks owns about another seven acres (mostly vacant) to the west of the mushroom growing facility.The city’s proposed extension of its Urban Service Area boundary around the remainder of Royal Oaks’ property, Oakwood School, Morgan Hill Bible Church, adjacent residential properties, a strip mall and other remaining farmland—collectively known as “Area 2”—will be considered by the LAFCO board at its March 11 meeting. (“Area 1,” the SEQ project, is on the same meeting agenda.)The Area 1 proposal has been in the works for about a decade, Hordness said.Hordness wants to complete the annexation of his property and move his agricultural operation to a less populated area. He plans to one day develop the Morgan Hill site into a 123-unit senior housing complex if LAFCO approves the USA extension—a precursor to a city limits expansion.The Area 2 request includes a total of 17 parcels. Other properties are the 24.5-acre Oakwood School campus; a 2.2-acre property owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District; the 8.7-acre Morgan Hill Bible Church site; an approximately three-acre commercial site consisting of a hair salon, masonry operation, tool supply and the Bay Area Chrysanthemum Growers’ Co-op; and seven low-density residential properties, according to the LAFCO report.LAFCO staff has recommended denying the project, primarily because the city limits already encircle ample vacant land to develop the kind of projects proposed in the USA extension request.“The City has enough residentially designated vacant land within its existing boundaries to accommodate its residential growth needs for the next eight to 24 years,” reads part of the LAFCO staff report. “The proposed USA expansion would result in unnecessary conversion of prime agricultural lands and would create further land use conflicts with surrounding agricultural lands and encourage development of additional lands.”In addition to the senior housing complex on Hordness’ property, other proposed changes in the USA request area include an expansion of Morgan Hill Bible Church, more sports fields and classrooms at Oakwood School, and about 117,000 square feet of unspecified, non-retail commercial uses on six of the smaller parcels, according to the LAFCO report.The city and the property owners submitted a nearly identical USA extension request to LAFCO in 2013, but the seven-member commission approved only the mushroom farm. The other properties were rejected for similar reasons cited in the current staff report.This time, City Hall and property owners think they have a better chance of gaining LAFCO’s blessing because the city now has an agricultural mitigation policy. The city council adopted this policy in 2015, requiring any developer who builds on farmland within the city limits to pay a mitigation fee that goes toward the permanent preservation of an equal acreage of agricultural property elsewhere in Morgan Hill (preferably in the SEQ, which sits on the east side of U.S. 101).The city even submitted an agreement to LAFCO, signed by Hordness Jan. 13, in which the Royal Oaks owner promises to provide such mitigation when he is finally able to develop the residential project. Hordness said the LAFCO staff recommendation is “irritating.”“The city and myself have worked really hard to get the plan in place,” Hordness said. “After the (agreement) was done, I gave it to LAFCO and thought they would be happy, and they weren’t.”Long time coming?Other properties in the Area 2 expansion request, such as Morgan Hill Bible Church, simply want to use nearby city services to facilitate their growth.“We’re wanting to be in the city so we can take advantage of the water line in front of our property instead of staying on a well, and move away from having a septic field and take advantage of local services,” said Pastor David Whitaker.LAFCO staff say including this property in the USA would “potentially increase urban/rural land use conflicts for adjacent/surrounding lands and likely put undue development pressures on those lands.”A letter from nearby homeowner Rod Braughton stated his and neighbors’ opposition to the USA expansion and a proposed cell tower on the Bible Church’s property. Attached to his letter is a petition signed by 17 of his neighbors.The homeowners think the USA expansion would “add to urban sprawl (and)… add an intrusion to a quiet, rural setting.”The LAFCO report also notes that some of the properties in the Area 2 USA request are already in the city limits, but not in the USA.Mayor Steve Tate, who voted along with the rest of the city council to approve the LAFCO request in September 2015, said this creates an awkward boundary situation that the city hopes to rectify. He added that while there is “definitely” a supply of properties within the city limits available for development, the 67-acre area south of Watsonville Road is a “prime” area for the type of growth proposed there.“We put Butterfield Boulevard all the way through it. It’s close to good transportation corridors. We think it’s suitable for development going forward,” Tate said.Royal Oaks and other mushroom farms in South County appear to be thriving, as the fungus is the number two top money-making crop in the county (behind nursery crops). The mushroom industry in 2014 made about $72.1 million.However, mushrooms grow in compost, which can emit an unpleasant odor for nearby residents. While Royal Oaks doesn’t produce its compost at the Morgan Hill facility, on days when they move the material from Hollister the neighbors can be affected.Oakwood School Executive Director Ted Helvey said he “couldn’t be more supportive” of the redevelopment of the nearby Royal Oaks site for this reason, even though the school is in favor of local agriculture in general.Hordness added that the surrounding housing and proposed development at Royal Oaks makes it difficult to improve the agricultural site, and commuter and residential traffic is not compatible with the transportation of farm equipment. “I couldn’t go in there and expand the facility, and make it state of the art,” he said. “Urban use does not fit with agriculture.”Royal Oaks has production properties in Gilroy and Hollister that can accommodate the existing Morgan Hill operation and workforce, Hordness added.

The Morgan Hill Police Department is warning residents about a possible Internal Revenue Service scam during this tax season that has prompted numerous calls to local authorities.

Injuries caused from flying into windows are one of the most common reasons for birds being brought to wildlife rehabilitators. Over the years, WERC, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill, has received countless window-bangers ranging in size from tiny hummingbirds to a huge turkey vulture. 

Petty theftA resident of Oak View Circle found the doors open on her Toyota Corolla open the morning of Feb. 4. A thief or thieves stole a purse, wallet, a makeup bag, gift cards and other items from the vehicle. The total value of the stolen items was about $600. The crime was reported 8:12 a.m.Someone stole baby formula from Safeway, 840 E. Dunne Ave., and left the area in a U-haul truck. The crime was reported 6:21 p.m. Feb. 9.Stolen vehicleA white 2007 GMC pickup was stolen some time the evening of Feb. 5. The theft was reported 7:30 a.m. Feb. 6.A black 1999 Honda Civic was stolen from the area of the 200 block of East Dunne Avenue. The crime was reported 7:39 a.m. Feb. 6.Auto burglaryA thief or thieves stole a stereo from a Dodge Ram on Bender Circle. The theft was reported 7:11 a.m. Feb. 8.Someone broke into a gray Nissan Sentra on the 15100 block of Concord Circle. Stolen was a bag from the front passenger’s seat, and purse containing a driver’s license, blank checks and credit cards. The crime was reported 12:49 p.m. Feb. 10.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.

Design efforts will continue for the development of new downtown parks that will be connected by a walking path, but the Morgan Hill City Council might have to scale back the vision for the recreation effort in the coming months as the projected cost has increased by more than $1 million.The council voted 5-0 Feb. 3 to approve a design contract with Verde Design to develop a “turn-key” design for the three new downtown parks. The contract cost is $393,569, which includes a 10 percent contingency reserve.The parks project is intended to complement the city’s overall “downtown placemaking investment strategy,” which is under way with street and infrastructure improvements and the recent installation of public art pieces.At the Feb. 3 meeting, Community Services Director Chris Ghione updated the council that the projected overall budget for the trail project, including construction, has jumped by about $1.1 million since he first presented the proposal in October 2015. The total budget is now projected at about $4.3 million.City staff advised the council to proceed with the design contract, then consider their options when the designs are complete. These options include allocating more park impact funds to the project or reducing the size of the effort. City staff will continue to pursue grant funding for the parks as well.Although the project appears on existing drawings as three separate parks, Ghione described them as a single project connected by walking paths and improved sidewalks.Based on conceptual drawings, the project will turn a city property and two Santa Clara Valley Water District parcels on the west side of downtown into a walking path with a foot bridge crossing over West Little Llagas Creek. This trail would traverse the vacant properties between existing homes and a shopping center from Second Street to Third Street. The existing Third Street bridge sits between one of the SCVWD properties and the city-owned property.Travelers on foot can be seen occasionally ambling through the tall grass and dry creek bed that currently occupy the properties.The Third Street bridge would likely be improved as West Third Street is re-routed as a one-way passage for vehicle traffic, in order to make room for the walking trail to continue up the hill to the city’s water reservoir, according to Ghione. This trail would lead to a hilltop park and rest area.Ghione told the council Feb. 3 that the city will have to purchase the two SCVWD parcels from that agency. The total fair market value cost of the properties is $126,000.The project also includes a “Depot Park” on Depot Street, on the east side of downtown Morgan Hill. This park would replace dozens of parking spaces adjacent to the railroad tracks with playground equipment, shade trees, benches, new fences, artificial turf, bike parking and other amenities like a giant wooden xylophone, according to city staff.This park would include public restrooms, estimated at about $150,000. When city staff requested design bids from firms in November, they received two bids—one from Verde Designs and one from BFS Landscape Architects. Verde Designs submitted the lower bid and passed the test for being the better qualified of the two contractors, Ghione explained to the council.On Third Street, just on the west side of the bridge, resident Chuck Mross said he was unaware of the creekside parks proposal, which would be located just a few feet from his front door.“I think it would be OK,” said Mross, a Morgan Hill resident since 1978 who just moved to his current home a few months ago.

The South Valley Islamic Community has resubmitted plans to build a mosque, community center and cemetery in San Martin, more than three years after its previous proposal raised a stir among the rural unincorporated community’s residents.The Santa Clara County Department of Planning and Development will host a public outreach meeting on the project, known as the Cordoba Center, 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road.The applicant, SVIC, has applied for a use permit, architecture and site approval, grading approval, cemetery permit and environmental study to establish a “religious institution” on the 15.8-acre property at the corner of Monterey Road and California Avenue, reads a notice from the county.The institution would include two buildings—a worship hall and a community center— as well as the burial site, according to SVIC spokesman Hamdy Abbass.The SVIC submitted almost identical plans for a worship center at the same property in 2012. Before the Board of Supervisors approved the project, numerous public hearings and informational meetings on the plans drew scores of San Martin residents opposed to the Cordoba Center.Many of these residents said they were concerned about the project’s potential impact on groundwater, traffic, storm runoff and other environmental concerns. Some opponents of the project openly voiced their hostility to and fear of Islam and its followers.After the supervisors approved the project 5-0 in September 2012, a group of residents calling themselves the “People’s Coalition for Government Accountability” filed a lawsuit demanding the county rescind the use permit. The suit claimed that the county did not take a full account of the Cordoba Center proposal’s potential impact on the nearby environment in accordance with state and federal laws that mandate such accountability.The SVIC and county officials insisted the project approval followed exhaustive studies of the potential impact of the project. But the SVIC withdrew its plans in August 2013 in response to the lawsuit.“We withdrew our plans because there was no correspondence back from the people that sued,” Abbass said. “They sued under the pretense that the county did not ask us to do the due diligence. We tried to talk to them, and there was no response.”Abbass thinks the lawsuit was really about a group of residents “not wanting us to be there.”Plans for the property have changed in only minor ways since the SVIC originally submitted them in 2012, except this time the proposed facilities are “maybe a little bit larger,” Abbass said.Previous specifications called for a 5,000-square-foot prayer hall, 2,800-square-foot multi-purpose hall, a two-acre cemetery and a children’s play area.The county notice announcing the Feb. 25 meeting says the facilities will be designed to accommodate up to 300 people for scheduled religious services with “greater anticipated capacity for occasional special events.”The SVIC represents about 80 families from San Jose to Hollister and beyond, and the Cordoba Center project is meant to serve their prayer and worship needs. SVIC members have also said the site could be available for community use through rentals for the future community center and special events sponsored by the SVIC.