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NEW OFFICERS SWORN IN P2 | SUPE SEEKS SANCTUARY POLICY P9 | BULLDOGS 1ST PLACE IN BVAL P18 2019 BEST OF
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$1 • Friday, May 3, 2019 • Vol. 126, No. 18 • morganhilltimes.com • Serving Morgan Hill since 1894
Industrial project to face impact study RESIDENTS CONCERNED ABOUT TRAFFIC Erik Chalhoub Business Editor
➝ Trammell Crow, 16
Scott Hinrichs
Officials are preparing an environmental report for a project that would be one of the largest industrial developments in Morgan Hill. The city’s Planning Commission held a “scoping” meeting on April 23 for the 61-acre project, proposed adjacent to U.S. 101 at Cochrane Road, near the De Paul Health Center in northeast Morgan Hill. Earlier this year, Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow purchased the property and submitted an application to the city to rezone a majority of the land for industrial use. The project, called the Morgan Hill Technology Center, proposes construction of up to one million square feet of industrial and commercial space, as well as up to 300 housing units. Akoni Danielsen of David J. Powers and Associates, a consulting company that is helping the city prepare the environmental report, said the purpose of the meeting was to provide input on what should be studied about the project proposal. The draft environmental impact report is
LENDING A HAND Former Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate climbs a ladder while City Councilman John McKay stays on the ground as they paint
a local resident’s home at the Woodland Estates community April 27. Their volunteer efforts were part of Rebuilding Together’s South County work day.
Volunteers repair homes MORGAN HILL ROTARY PITCHES IN TO HELP ELDERLY COUPLE Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
More than 1,000 volunteers from companies, churches, service clubs and other community organizations spent Saturday, April 27 repairing and rebuilding homes of the needy in Santa Clara County.
Included among the 36 work sites for the countywide Spring Rebuilding Day, an annual project of Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley, were three residences in two Gilroy mobile home park, and another in a Morgan Hill mobile home park. In a thank-you message to volunteers after the event, the sponsoring non-profit said, “Your hard work and kindness to our neighbors, who cannot make these repairs on their own,
have made a huge difference for not only the homeowner but for our entire community.” The Saturday effort laid down 2,332 square feet of carpet, used 570 gallons of interior and exterior paint and cleared 450 cubic yards of debris, according to sponsors. At a house at the south end of downtown Gilroy, a 76-year-old retiree welcomed volunteers from the New Hope Community Church on Saturday. The work crew
repaired her siding, moved debris and installed a safety strap on her water heater. A team of workers from the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, armed with hammers and paintbrushes, descended on a mobile home off Walnut Drive to help an elderly couple, aged 95 and 87. They painted, replaced carpet and installed smoke detectors. The husband suffers from dementia and prostate cancer, and the wife
suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes. At a mobile home park off Murray Avenue in Gilroy, Lockheed Martin employees helped with repairs to the home of a 90-year-old Army veteran who suffers from kidney failure. Annually, Rebuilding Together provides no-cost safety repairs on over 400 homes. For more information about sponsorships and volunteering, visit rebuildingtogethersv.org.
Cordoba nears approval decision SAN MARTIN PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO MEET MAY 16 Jaqueline McCool Reporter
Santa Clara County planners and supervisors could vote this month on plans by the South Valley Islamic Community for a major multiuse project at 1405 Monterey Road in San Martin. In the works for more than a decade, the project’s final environmental impact report (EIR) was published in April.
The final EIR addresses public comments made following the draft report, and will be the subject of a series of public hearings—including the May 23 county planning commission session— in the coming days. The Cordoba Center, if approved, is set to include a mosque, a community building, a cemetery, a maintenance building, a caretaker’s dwelling, a youth camp, a field and playground, a plaza and an orchard. These facilities are proposed on a 15.77-acre lot at the highest point in San Martin, on a space currently zoned agricultural and residential.
One of the biggest points of concern from the public regarding the Cordoba Center has been the proposed cemetery site. San Martin residents had expressed concern over the cemetery's effects on San Martin’s groundwater. The draft EIR stated that the cemetery had the potential to affect groundwater supply if not mitigated, but that there would be a mitigation plan put in place. Santa Clara County Planning Manager Rob Eastwood said planners consulted with the regional water resource board when ➝ Cordoba Center, 14
CORDOBA CENTER PUBLIC REVIEW May 2: Santa Clara County Planning Commission and San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, 6:30pm at the Hiram Morgan Hill Room, Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Rd May 16: San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, 7pm at the Hiram Morgan Hill Room, Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Rd May 23: Santa Clara County Planning Commission, 1:30pm at Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, County Government Center, 70 W Hedding St, first floor, San Jose Comments regarding the project can be directed to Cordoba.Comments@pln.sccgov.org or by phone to (408) 299-5783. Documents for the project can be viewed at https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/ Development/Current/Pages/2145.aspx.