Published in the March 27 – April 9, 2019 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Asit Panwala
A group of Morgan Hill hotel owners submitted 3,965 signatures March 6 to the city in an effort to stop two proposed hotels from being built in the Madrone business park.
The city council unanimously voted Feb. 6 to rezone the property off Cochrane Road to allow a Home2 Suites by Hilton and a Fairfield Inn and Suites to be built. The coalition of hoteliers followed with a petition drive to prevent the property from being reclassified. They need 2,390 signatures verified by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, and paid people to gather signatures.
The petition asks the council to repeal the amendment or place a referendum on a ballot.
The county has 30 days after submission of the signatures to the city to verify them.
“I hope the city council recognizes that people took the petition seriously as there was vigorous public debate regarding it in the news and on social media,” said Asit Panwala, an attorney involved with the petition. His family owns the Comfort Inn in Morgan Hill.
Asit said the developer of the property hired people who followed the gatherers and advised registered voters against signing the petition.
“The number of signatures should be seen as a sign that the people of Morgan Hill are unhappy with how the city makes development decisions. In this case, I believe those who signed were unhappy with the city’s decision to rezone land to add hotels that are not needed, while providing a huge financial windfall to the developers.”
