with technology for citywide street
lighting, with automated alerts to the
central office when lights come on,
come off, or fail, the City can achieve a
quicker more streamlined response.
The City of Morgan Hill is also
a partner in multiple initiatives
organized under Joint Venture Silicon
Valley. These include the Silicon
Valley Economic Development
Alliance (EDA), of which John Lang
is Chair; the Joint Venture Wireless
Communications Initiative, of which
Lang is a Steering Committee member;
and the Smart Region Initiative, which
counts the City of Morgan Hill as
a member.
Leslie Little:
Smart City
Planning
In 2017 the City released its Economic
Blueprint, focused on furthering
Morgan Hill’s quality of life through
investment, development, and jobs
that will ensure continued economic
prosperity. This report is founded on
guiding principles from the General
Plan, Morgan Hill 2035, and incorpo-
rates feedback from over 400 residents,
businesses, and community leaders
engaged and invested in the future of
Morgan Hill.
According to Leslie Little, the
Downtown Specific Plan was adopted
in 2009 and is being built out as
we speak.
“I’ve never seen an area transform
as quickly,” Little said. “Market forces
took hold, led by local investors and
developers who understood and had
confidence in Morgan Hill’s potential,
and other developers followed.”
“We planned and implemented
development based on ongoing
community engagement and input,
with more parks and more places for
36
families to enjoy a meal and spend time
together,” Little said. “Our Economic
Development team went out and
made the opportunities happen, shap-
ing our city’s identity and persuading
developers to ‘Choose Morgan Hill.’”
“We’ve made progress in bringing
industry here, and more jobs, as well
as a balance of residential options.
We are working to improve our infra-
structure. And we’re also introducing
more healthcare services. It’s all part
of becoming a complete, well-rounded
city. At the same time, we’ve had to
ensure the city’s fiscal health and avoid
overtaxing the community.”
“The challenge is between dreaming
about it, getting banks to buy into
it, and getting it done,” Little said.
“Our Downtown Specific Plan called
for two-story development down-
town. When the market returned, we
had a challenge; existing businesses
downtown didn’t want two stories.
We conveyed the value of two-story
projects to better utilize space and be
adaptable over time with support for
mixed uses and include office space.”
“ Depot Street was transformed into
mixed use along 3rd Street. When we
built the Downtown Parking Garage we
added retail and a wonderful outdoor
gathering space. Locating the garage
downtown created a hub for people
to park and walk easily to a variety of
places. That was in 2014. Since then,
downtown space has increased from
half a dollar to two or three dollars
per square foot. Some of our older
businesses had to move, and we helped
them,” Little added.
Studies have shown that mixed
neighborhoods tend to thrive. Little
said the City is seeking funding to
do a specific plan on Monterey Road .
Meanwhile, there’s a Block-level Master
Plan in place that Little described as
“more affordable than doing a large-
scale master plan and a great interim
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
june/july 2019
solution” for mixed-use flex develop-
ment from the City’s northern boundary
down to Tennant Avenue. It takes into
account traffic patterns, bike-ability and
walkability, and gathering places.
“Placemaking is hard to do at
the block level without seeing how
it ties into the rest of the neighbor-
hood,” Little said, “but it brings order
to development along Monterey. The
Specific Plan can ultimately build
upon this.”
Affordable
Housing
“We’ve done affordable housing for
years,” Little said. “Morgan Hill has the
best affordable housing track record,
per capita, in Santa Clara County. One
in 8 [rent and owned], or about 12 per-
cent, are affordable. Roughly 1500 units
are income restricted with 40-45 year
agreements in place.”
“We need affordable housing for
people at all stages of life and vary-
ing circumstances, and that includes
options for foster youth, young families,
and low-income seniors,” Little said.
“Right now the market is driving proj-
ects toward assisted living and memory
care. We also need to bring housing
down to scale so more young people
can afford to move into Morgan Hill.
We have to spread our effort across all
population groups.”
Preservation of
Ag and Open
Space Lands
Morgan Hill’s Conservation Strategy
Document outlines the City’s approach
to ensuring future open space and
agriculture lands remain in South
County. The document covers policy
and plan adoptions, tools that support
gmhtoday.com