Published in the March 2-15, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Photo by Marty Cheek
A worker plows under mustard plants in a field in the city’s Southeast Quadrant, the subject of a controversial annexation project.
Although we don’t possess a crystal ball, we wish to take a chance in the art of prognostication and make a prediction about the outcome of the March 11 meeting of Local Area Formation Commission of Santa Clara County. That’s an important public forum for residents interested in sustaining the quality of life in Morgan Hill for future generations because it will address the big question of how to protect our region from the encroachment of urban sprawl.
The LAFCO commissioners will decide on the city of Morgan Hill’s requested annexation of 229 acres of the 1,195-acre Southeast Quadrant, as well as 71 acres of unincorporated land in the Watsonville-Monterey roads regions.
Our attempt at augury sees that the LAFCO commissioners will likely deny the request for the SEQ annexation. And, more than likely, they will also deny the request for the Watsonville-Monterey roads annexation into the city’s boundary.
There are several strong indicators for these outcomes. The most significant is that LAFCO’s mission is the preservation of agricultural lands and open space in Santa Clara County.
The nearly 500-page staff report, released Feb. 15, prepared for the upcoming meeting recommends that LAFCO deny the SEQ Urban Service Area amendment application the city of Morgan Hill submitted in October. The staff presents a case to commissioners with several reasons for denial of the city’s request. It questions the need for the proposed USA expansions, saying that “The city has nearly 100 years of vacant lands supply that could potentially be utilized for the city’s proposed development purposes. The benefits of using lands within the city’s existing urban footprint are that it enables the city to maximize efficiency for delivering services to these lands, plan for improved transit, bicycle and pedestrian access in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and preserve the surrounding farmlands.”
The city seeks to annex the 229 SEQ acres to allow for the development of a private high school on land purchased by the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, a baseball/softball complex, various indoor and outdoor recreational and sports facilities, and commercial businesses such as retail stores, hotels and service stations. The city would like to see this area grow as a sports-recreation-leisure destination that will help build Morgan Hill’s brand as a youth sports community and bring visitors here, thus enhancing economic development.
The LAFCO staff report also questions the city’s reasoning that development of the SEQ properties will generate agricultural mitigation funding which will be used to preserve the nearby farmland.
It points out that there are “serious deficiencies” within the city of Morgan Hill’s agricultural lands preservation program. Including the SEQ land within the city’s USA will result in this property being committed in perpetuity for urban development. LAFCO staff are concerned about the city’s evaluation of providing the infrastructure, services and investments needed to develop the area.
The city, on the other hand, says it has a plan for this. Every acre of land would have a $15,000 fee charged to developers, but this falls far short of the conservation easement costs which are $50,000 an acre. City Manager Steve Rymer said that the difference will be made up from funds collected for open space or agricultural preservation from residential projects competing in the city’s Residential Control System (RDCS). More than $5 million is now available in this fund and the city projects ongoing administration of the RDCS will generate up to $1 million a year in additional funding.
“We have about $6 million in the bank right now in developer fees for open space and the city council has pledged the money to make up that difference,” Rymer told us. “Not only are we having developers here pay, but other developers have paid into that to help preserve ag.”
The city of Morgan Hill has spent more than 10 years developing its plan for the SEQ. The plan is driven by a belief that if the city does not begin to implement this smart growth program for the SEQ, the existing farmland will continue to be nibbled away as the county allows the land to be developed with “McMansion” residences on five-acre plots, something similar to what has been happening in the San Martin region during the past 20 years.
Recently, five new 5,000-square-foot homes at the end of Trail Avenue were built, an example of the threat to agriculture within the SEQ if action is not soon taken, Rymer said.
“Every single group and the city have the same interest in mind,” he said. “We all want ag preservation, we want smart growth, we want to do this the right way. The difference is how you get there. We believe that from a city’s standpoint, we really have found a responsible, forward-thinking way of looking into the future.”
We at Morgan Hill Life want to see our community wisely manage the potential risk of Silicon Valley-driven urban sprawl spreading in the South Valley region. We also want to see the city develop smart growth policies to enhance the quality of life for our residents now and in the future.
We want to see the development of more sports-recreation-leisure opportunities in the region of the city now holding the Outdoor Sports Center and the Dennis Kennedy Aquatics Center. And we encourage the development of the proposed St. John XXIII College Preparatory High School, a 38-acre campus at the corner of Tennant and Murphy avenues that will hold more than 450 students. But we also see the reality of these projects, that high school and sports traffic will congest the roads of the SEQ, maybe even pushing local farmers to decide raising crops there is no longer worth the effort.
If LAFCO denies the city’s request for the SEQ annexation, we hope the city staff will continue efforts to preserve this section of farmland from urban sprawl.
We encourage the city to do outreach and hold more public forums and workshops to hear from environmental groups and residents on what they would like to see in the SEQ.
And we encourage the city to work with the county to explore a new effort to use millions of dollars based on a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also protecting farmlands. Santa Clara County is eligible to get a chunk of $40 million in cap and trade money in concert with the California Strategic Growth Council, which provides funding for purchase of conservation easements. The county is considering a framework of Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy and South San Jose ag land that will allow for preservation through this funding mechanism designed to prevent the loss of agricultural land in the state.
If you are passionate about the future of the SEQ and how it will impact Morgan Hill, attend the 10 a.m. March 11 LAFCO meeting and share your thoughts.
