HSR, more development on the Nov. 16 council agenda
High Speed Rail, more downtown development and new plans in the industrial park are among the topics of discussion and decision on tap for the Nov. 16 Morgan Hill City Council meeting.The council will consider sending the final draft of a “scoping letter” to California High Speed Rail Authority officials. The letter will contain a list of concerns and questions regarding the HSR’s potential alignment through or around Morgan Hill, and how the construction of tracks and other facilities for the 200-mph-plus train will impact residents and businesses.The agenda item includes a public hearing, in which residents can voice their concerns to the council and city staff before the council approves the letter to HSR officials.The HSR will carry passengers from San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. Stations nearest to Morgan Hill are proposed in Gilroy and San Jose. HSR officials are currently considering four possible train alignments through Morgan Hill. These are:• At grade, on a berm, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks;• Elevated, in a viaduct, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the UPRR;• Elevated in a viaduct along the west side of U.S. 101;• Elevated in a viaduct along the east side of U.S. 101.The viaducts in the elevated options would rise 30 to 60 feet above the ground.While the city has no authority to determine the future alignment, the council hopes to influence the project developer (HSRA) to choose an option that will result in the least disturbance to residents and businesses, according to city staff.The HSRA board of directors is expected to choose its “preferred alignment” through Morgan Hill by spring 2017, according to city staff.Church/Depot realignmentCity staff want to connect Depot and Church streets where they intersect at East Dunne Avenue by contracting with a residential builder to redevelop a portion of the Community and Cultural Center parking lot.On the Nov. 16 agenda, city staff recommends the council enter an “exclusive negotiating agreement” with Brookfield Residential Properties to “negotiate for the sale, exchange or lease of the (CCC) parking lot area and the section of Depot Street between Dunne Avenue and Fifth Street, to facilitate the realignment of Depot Street, construction of new housing and the construction of replacement public parking.”Conceptual plans for the roughly three-acre site show Depot Street would be realigned with the existing traffic light at Church and East Dunne, where a main entrance to the CCC parking lot is located. This entrance would be transformed into a continuation of Church Street into Depot Street.The existing stretch of Depot Street—approximately from the southern end of the Caltrain lot to East Dunne—as well as about the southeastern half of the existing CCC parking lot, would be redeveloped with new housing, according to the city staff report.The city’s economic development staff have been “working with many housing developers to explore opportunities that could lead to redevelopment of the Hale Lumber site (on Depot Street at East Dunne) as well as the realignment of Depot Street and, most importantly, a project that would be able to replace all of the CCC parking disturbed by roadway realignment.”The conceptual plans include building a two-story parking structure with about 145 parking spaces at the northern end of the CCC parking lot.The residential portion of the project would include 56 new townhomes and a replacement of all 240 CCC parking spaces to be eliminated by the project, city staff said.The Hammond family, which owns Hale Lumber, entered into contract negotiations with Brookfield in the summer of 2016, according to city staff. Among the city’s objectives in redeveloping the site is the relocation of Hale Lumber to “a more appropriate industrial business location.”The realignment of Depot to Church Street has been “envisioned” by city planning documents—including the Downtown Specific Plan, the Infrastructure Master Plan and the General Plan 2035 update—for several years, according to the staff report which comments on the currently awkward street alignment.If the council approves the exclusive negotiations with Brookfield, city staff and the developer will “explore options and financing for the project.” If the two parties agree on favorable terms all around, they could draft a “proposal and development agreement” by January 2017, according to city staff.550K square feet of industry proposedThe council will also review the preliminary plans for an industrial project proposed by Mwest on the west side of Butterfield Boulevard near Jarvis Drive.This project would consist of about 550,000 square feet of industrial development, consisting of 10 industrial buildings on 32.9 acres; about four acres of park improvements on the north side of a proposed extension of Sutter Boulevard; a one-acre landscaped “greenway” for the joint use of residents and employees of the area; the possible use of a 7.9-acre city-owned property for recreation, currently used as a drain basin; and the extension of Sutter Boulevard between Butterfield Boulevard and Digital Drive.The property is vacant, and sits within the western portion of the 387.5-acre Morgan Hill Ranch Business Park.In September 2015, the council approved the conversion of 19.5 acres of Mwest’s property to residential, from industrial uses. This residential portion of the project has not yet been approved, but Mwest has submitted an application for 383 residential units for the site which is currently under consideration by city planning officials.The developer wanted the council to see their industrial plans before submitting a formal development proposal to city staff.Consent calendarItems on the Nov. 16 consent agenda, which consists of items considered routine and unlikely to generate discussion, include:• Authorize the purchase of five mechanical chest compression devices from Physio Control for $83,283;• Development impact fee report for fiscal year 2015-16;• Raising the single-game bingo prize limit from $250 to $500;• Forgiveness of an outstanding loan of $425,000 plus about $73,000 interest to the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara. The loan was provided to the county agency by the city’s Redevelopment Agency in 1991, to partially finance the acquisition of the San Pedro Gardens site.The council meeting will start 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at City Hall meeting chambers, 17555 Peak Ave.
