The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is looking to sell its commuter park-and-ride lot near the intersection of Main and Hale to the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
The VTA board of directors will consider the sale of the parking lot, which is adjacent to a commuter bus stop also owned and maintained by the local transportation authority, at its Sept. 1 meeting. The board will consider adopting a resolution determining that the parking lot is surplus property and “no longer necessary for the VTA’s use.”
At the same meeting, the board will also vote whether to negotiate the sale of the property to MHUSD at fair market value, or another buyer if that transaction “proves infeasible,” reads a VTA staff report.
The item is included in the VTA board’s consent agenda, which consists of items considered routine and not worthy of lengthy discussion.
The VTA purchased the one-acre parking lot at the Main/Hale bus stop in 1980, according to a staff report presented at the Aug. 18 VTA Administration and Finance Committee.
“The transit center is serviced by VTA bus lines 16 and 68,” reads the report. “VTA staff confirms that these stops can be accommodated by an on-street bus stop instead of the existing transit center. The park-and-ride lot is not utilized by any transit riders.”
The property is located in a neighborhood of mostly single-family homes, and is adjacent to ball fields owned by MHUSD. The local Pony Baseball youth league helps maintain the fields. Nearby schools are P.A. Walsh and Britton Middle School.
MHUSD staff sent a letter to the VTA July 18, notifying the agency that the school district is currently in the design process for a new campus for Britton Middle School, which adjoins the VTA property. “The district expressed its interest in acquiring the VTA’s property to allow an expansion of the new school campus,” the VTA staff report reads.
If VTA and MHUSD cannot reach a sale agreement, the VTA could offer the property for sale to an affordable housing developer. If that fails, the agency could sell the site through a public auction, negotiated sale or other type of transaction, the Aug. 18 staff report continued.
In the event that VTA ends up selling the property to a housing developer, new state legislation requires that buyer dedicate at least 25 percent of any future housing project to affordable homes, according to VTA staff.
The current fair market value of the park-and-ride lot at Main and Hale avenues is not listed on VTA staff reports. If the board approves the declaration of surplus property Sept. 1, VTA will use in-house appraisal and broker experts to establish the sale value.
The Sept. 1 VTA board meeting will take place 5:30 p.m. at the County Government Center Board of Supervisors’ chambers, 70 West Hedding Street.
