Options for a new design for Monterey Road through downtown Morgan Hill will be devised and presented in the coming months, but some residents don't think the city's overall redevelopment strategy has remained consistent.
The city council unanimously approved a contract Wednesday with Callander Associates to conduct a public outreach process, and produce possible designs for a revitalized streetscape on Monterey Road.
The San Jose company will produce five possible concepts for Monterey Road between Dunne and Main avenues - three depicting a two-lane configuration and two maintaining the current four-lane layout.
The designs would depict a variety of aesthetic improvements, landscaping options and parking configurations - such as diagonal versus parallel parking on the side of Monterey Road, according to Brian Fletcher of Callander Associates.
Before those designs are produced, the company and its team of architects and engineers will conduct a series of open house and community meetings, combined with a variety of other methods including a booth at the downtown Farmers Market, to reach out to residents and determine what kind of streetscape they want to see.
"The success of the project is based on how well we engage the community and the stakeholders, and make sure we're creating solutions that are responsive to that input," Fletcher said.
City staff and the designer hope to complete the streetscape study and the design options by March 2011.
Some downtown business owners already like the idea of a two-lane road in front of their shops and restaurants. But some are also fearful about the effect of another long-term construction project that could slow the downtown economy.
Rosy Bergin, owner of Rosy's at the Beach, said a single lane going in each direction - wider than the two lanes in place now - would open the side of Monterey Road to diagonal parking, creating more parking spaces than there are now. On the other hand, she added, a downside to diagonal parking is it would potentially hide the storefronts.
But another advantage of a two-lane street is it would keep motorists from speeding, Bergin added.
The inconveniences undoubtedly to be presented by the construction of a new street are part of the city's "growing pains," she added.
"We're going to be really impacted by the redevelopment," Bergin said, referring to the construction of new mixed-use projects - which could begin by late next year - on the properties that currently house the empty Granada Theater and Royal Clothiers.
The construction of the Third Street Promenade project had a "moderately negative" impact on Bergin's restaurant, which has recovered since the street reopened in April, she added.
But the general manager of the Morgan Hill Cigar Company said the "disaster" of a two-lane Monterey Road in downtown Gilroy shows how such a configuration would work in Morgan Hill.
"I avoid downtown Gilroy like the plague," said the cigar shop's manager, Steve Boyce. "And if you move traffic out to Butterfield Boulevard (to the east), just watch these businesses move out to Butterfield."
Although the Cigar Company might be in a different location by then, as it leases space from city property that will be developed by Barry Swenson Builder, Boyce said the construction of Monterey Road will disrupt any businesses along the route.
And Teri Schindler, owner of The Raggedy Heart gift shop on Monterey Road, said the current four-lane street - developed about 25 years ago - is now "too busy" for downtown Morgan Hill.
She said a two-lane scenario would force motorists to slow down to "enjoy the quaintness of downtown Morgan Hill."
The contract with Callander Associates, which will cost about $245,000 in RDA economic development funds, was met with some resistance from residents, and some reluctance from council members.
Former mayor Dennis Kennedy said the "piecemeal" redevelopment of downtown, in the city's long-term effort to implement the Downtown Specific Plan, is not compatible with community interests. He said the city council and city staff seem to have approached the Third Street Promenade, Granada Theater redevelopment and Monterey Road projects as separate efforts, when they should all be tied into one consistent theme.
Kennedy has been active in a community focus group known as Beyond Measure A, whose purpose was to determine how residents think the city should go about improving downtown, which is expected to become residentially more dense with at least 500 more housing units built in the next few years.
"What we're seeing is it's kind of broken up by different projects," Kennedy said. "The intent is good, but it lacks an overall big picture of what the future vision is for the downtown."
The public outreach strategies employed by Barry Swenson Builder, and proposed by Callander Associates, will likely fail to "get a good perspective of what the greater Morgan Hill community wants" for downtown, Kennedy said.
Added Morgan Hill resident and business consultant Bert Berson, "The city council and city staff are not treating (downtown revitalization) as a single project."
Councilman Greg Sellers responded that the council should take "more of an active role" in the community outreach process for the various downtown projects in progress and on tap for the future.
City Manager Ed Tewes said the council has stayed consistent with the downtown strategy it outlined in December 2007, whose purpose is to create an "integrated" and sustainable downtown corridor.
"Nothing suggests downtown ought to be a single theme," Tewes said. "Rather, it needs to reflect our downtown values and the history and promise of Morgan Hill, and that is diversity."
One criticism of the city staff's implementation of downtown redevelopment came from the dais, as Councilwoman Marilyn Librers said Wednesday that the project should give preference to local vendors. Although she voted in favor of the contractor with Callander Associates, she was "disappointed" that Morgan Hill-based Westin Miles Architects was not a top choice among the 12 companies that submitted proposals for the streetscape design project.
"I'm hoping that as you develop this and it goes along, that you will consider using local talent," Librers said.
Michael Moore Michael Moore covers county and law enforcement issues for the Morgan Hill Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106, ext. 202, or mmoore@morganhilltimes.com.
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