Measure H passes in landslide, allows stores to vie for Target’s
spot
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly lifted a zoning restriction to allow a grocery store to take Target’s spot at Cochrane Plaza if one eventually decides to.
The new zoning rules came with Measure H, which passed with more than 80 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s California primary election. Out of 5,175 votes cast, 4,239, or 81.9 percent, favored the measure while 936 opposed it. The totals reveal 31 percent of Morgan Hill’s 16,681 registered voters decided the issue’s fate, but historically voter turnout in primary elections is low. Countywide, less than 30 percent of voters exercised their civic duty on Tuesday, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
As for Measure H’s wide margin of victory, it was no surprise to several city officials who in recent weeks and months predicted such, calling the ballot initiative a common-sense move.
The Morgan Hill City Council placed the measure on the ballot this year, and unanimously backed it in the election’s voter guide.
The impetus of Measure H was an environmental impact report, completed last year, that showed a new shopping center across the freeway from Cochrane Plaza would likely entice the plaza’s Target store to relocate to bigger digs. If so, the study found, Cochrane Plaza may suffer financial setbacks because a previous voter-initiated zoning law (Measure B, 1987) prevented the possibility of having a supermarket slide in when Target picks up and moves, possibly by the summer of 2007.
Bearing this in mind, Mac Morris, owner of Cochrane Plaza, suggested to city officials that a the zoning law enacted by Measure B needed to be amended. Last fall, Morris chipped in $5,000 to help cover the city’s cost of putting Measure H on the June 6 ballot.
“It was just the right time for the initiative,” said Morgan Hill City Councilman Greg Sellers, adding that Measure B had met its goal of ensuring enough shopping outlets beyond grocery stores.
Measure H proponents argued the stability of Cochrane Plaza was at stake because other businesses in the shopping center may have departed after Target moves next year, if a new occupant couldn’t be found.
Morris could not be reached for comment by press time.
“I don’t see why a grocery store wouldn’t be interested,” said Morgan Hill Director of Business Assistance and Housing Services Garret Toy, adding that Target’s brokerage firm has been contacting supermarket retailers about the space.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 or tb*******@*************es.com.
