UPDATE: Unfortunately Measure S did pass in the November 2016 election.
This measure, put on the ballot by the Morgan Hill City Council, amends the city’s main voter-approved open space protection policy, making it easier for the city to sprawl outward.
Measure S in Morgan Hill would amend and renew the city’s current Residential Development Control System (RDCS). The current voter-approved RDCS serves as the city’s primary open space protection measure. It is set to expire in 2019.
The proposed RDCS re-authorization includes several significant changes. Principally, it removes a crucial provision that prohibits outward expansion of the city unless there is insufficient land available for five years of residential growth.
The proposed amendments include vague language that would likely allow unrestrained expansion. Losing this protection could lead to loss of Morgan Hill’s natural and agricultural lands.
Morgan Hill currently has no voter-approved Urban Growth Boundary, other than a very specific provision limiting development on El Toro Hill within the city, so losing this provision would significantly erode the city’s principal open space protection tool.
Greenbelt Alliance opposes Measure S. We encourage the City Council or voters to return with a new measure on a subsequent ballot that retains the environmental protections removed by the City Council.
Greenbelt Alliance urges everyone in Morgan Hill to vote NO on Measure S.
