Police blotter: Stolen vehicles, petty theft
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.
City presses onward with downtown parks design
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.
Islamic community resubmits plans for San Martin Cordoba Center
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.
Green Glaze all about pottery
WHY BUY FANCY pottery when you can make your own and give it a personal touch?
Police blotter: Vandalism, auto burglaries
Auto burglaryA brown 2002 Jeep Liberty was broken into in the area of Jarvis Drive and Butterfield Boulevard. A stereo and other miscellaneous items were stolen. The crime was reported 2:53 p.m. Feb. 2.Someone broke into an Acura RL on the 17000 block of Monterey Road and stole a subwoofer from the trunk. The crime was reported 9:37 a.m. Feb. 3.Someone broke the passenger’s side window and a rear window of a 2000 Dodge Ram pickup on the 16200 block of Monterey Road. The crime was reported 9:11 a.m. Jan. 30.VandalismA vandal or vandals threw a brick through a car window on Park Way, then returned to the area later and tossed another brick through a house window. The crimes were reported 4:08 p.m. Feb. 2.Stolen vehicleA utility trailer was stolen from the 16800 block of Joleen Way. The theft was reported 9:34 p.m. Feb. 2.BurglarySomeone stole a safe from Subway restaurant, 15850 Monterey Road. An employee arrived at the sandwich shop to find a window broken and a side door open. The crime was reported 6:59 a.m. Feb. 3.Petty theftSomeone stole about $99 worth of merchandise from Target, 1061 Cochrane Road. The crime was reported 7:42 p.m. Jan. 29.FraudSomeone tried to cash a fraudulent check at Bank of America, 200 Cochrane Plaza. The crime was reported 10:34 a.m. Jan. 30.All subjects are innocent until proven guilty. Information is compiled from public records.
City celebrates Super Bowl windfall with new crosswalk decor
The regional hype of the National Football League’s Super Bowl 50, which will be played Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, has benefitted Morgan Hill in the form of a grant that is helping to fulfill the vision of downtown as a destination, according to city staff.The city received a $51,000 grant for the project from the PLAY 60 initiative by the Super Bowl 50 Fund and the NFL Foundation, Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez said.The grant will also fund a wayfinding signage program that will direct visitors to Morgan Hill to the major downtown attractions, such as the Depot Street train station, the Community Playhouse, and others such as the Fourth Street Garage which are under.New crosswalk decorations on the north side of Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue embrace “the friendly animals and insects found in our natural environment, scattered within a wine country-theme background,” Ramirez said in a press release.“We wanted to highlight what makes Morgan Hill special within Silicon Valley, and its access to the outdoors, nature and, of course, the wineries and farms,” Ramirez said. “This crosswalk represents that identity that our community is so proud of.”The new decorations, the installation of which was completed Jan. 29, are permanently and colorfully emblazoned on the crosswalk with paint.The administration of the grant and these projects is guided by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit that helps communities transform everyday, static spaces into engaging spaces to play in or admire, Ramirez added.“The playful aspect of this project is the fun signage created by our Youth Action Council,” Ramirez said. “Their sign additions will make people smile as they read the ‘official’ directional signs.”Examples of some of the titles to be used on the signs include “Bright Future,” “The Good Old Days” and “A Whole Lot of Fun.”“The bigger story is the renaissance of the downtown,” she said. “We’ve been working hard and furious since the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency (in 2012) to develop the former RDA sites,” Ramirez said.Highlights of these projects include the forthcoming Leal Boutique Hotel and market/restaurant proposed for First Street and Monterey Road (where the Downtown Mall is now), and the refurbishment of the Granada Theater next door.At Third Street and Monterey Road (former Simple Beverages store), developers Don Imwalle and Ken Rodrigues plan to build 12,000 square feet of retail space and four restaurants, Ramirez added.Furthermore, the site at Third and Depot streets (Depot Center), will be developed into a 29-unit mixed-use project with a combination of townhomes, live/work units and retail spaces, Ramirez said.These activities complement the city’s “Downtown Placemaking Investment Strategy,” an effort to use $25 million in former RDA funds to reconstruct downtown side streets and the Monterey Road streetscape, build the Fourth Street Garage, move utility lines underground, develop new parks and other infrastructure improvements.“A big component of the Downtown Strategy is to bring art and create placemaking opportunities,” Ramirez said. “The (new) crosswalk fits perfectly into this strategy by making this key intersection into a friendly, playful, fun gateway opportunity into our downtown.”
