Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Do you have any?

The

other people from the healthy neighborhoods.

Okay. Okay. Gonna call to work. Good evening. Thank you for attending the October 14 Planning Commission meeting. Jenna, can you call the meeting to order, please?

Thank you, Chair Wilson. Chair Wilson?

Here.

Commissioner Habib?

Yes. You're muted.

Habib? Here. Can you hear me? Yeah.

Yes. Thank you. Commissioners Lake?

Here.

Mueller? Here. Tonda?

Here.

Lovato?

Here.

And commissioner Downey has an excused absence. If it may also declare the posting of the agenda.

Okay. David, could you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Okay.

You wanna do the posting? Okay.

I pledge allegiance

to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty, with liberty, and justice for all.

You. Okay.

Jenna, can you declare the posting of the agenda, please?

Tonight's meeting agenda is duly noticed and posted in accordance with government code section five four nine five four point two.

Public comment members of the public are entitled to address planning commission concerning any item within the Morgan Hill Planning Commission subject matter jurisdiction. Public comments are limited to no more than three minutes except for certain specific exception. The commission is prohibited from discussing or taking action on any item not appearing on the posted agenda. Do we have any speakers that wanna comment on any non agenda items, either in person or on speaker cards?

I don't see any raised hands.

Okay. We'll close that. Public comment. Orders of the day. Commission, any changes?

No change. Okay.

Minutes approval. Item one is 08/12/2025 meeting minutes. Item two, 09/09/2025.

Move to accept the minutes. Second.

Roll call.

Let's see. Hold on one moment for me. Who was the seconder? Thank you. Chair Wilson?

Aye.

Commissioners Habib?

Aye.

Lake?

Aye.

Moeller?

Aye.

Tonda?

Aye.

And Lovato? Aye. Motion passes six zero zero one.

Thank you. Our first item, public hearing is item AAE twenty twenty five zero zero zero three, tenant the tenant station PUD amendment to the tenant station plan development to modify the maximum square footage allowed in the existing fitness use and add an administrative function to make minor changes to the square footages in the future. The property identified by the assessors partial numbers 81706041, 81706055, 81706056, 81706057, and 81706058 is located on the Southeast corner of Monterey Road and Tennant Avenue, CEQA categorically exempt pursuant to section one five zero six b three common sense exemption. We'll open the public hearing.

I I interrupt just a a second, mister chair. Did we approve both minutes or just one?

Both.

At the same time? Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

So Jennifer Carmen is giving our staff report.

Thank you Chair Wilson. Jenna can you put up the slide? Thank you. So staff was approached by representatives for Tennant Station, namely for Fitness nineteen, the gym at Tennant Station, and they wanted to expand into a vacant storefront that existed on the Northeast Side of the complex. This overall site is a little over 21 acres, actually almost 22 acres.

It is designated commercial in our general plan. It was pre zoned back in 1973 and the PD that we're looking at today was adopted in 1991. That PD did the master plan and all the guidelines for the center. When Fitness nineteen came to talk to us, we pulled up the PD and realized that the major uses at the center actually had very specific limitations on the amount of square footage they could have. We were actually quite surprised by just how specific.

And in order for them to move forward they had to amend the PD which is as you saw from our last conversation about the auto PDs and condit, it's a very involved process, it's a very expensive process and as an ordinance it actually has to go all the way to City Council. So what we wanted to do was rewrite the section that limited the amount of square footage to be more flexible for future expansion of the main uses at the center and so we've proposed the edits that you see on screen basically instead of needing to amend the PD the uses would be reviewed by the director. If there was any impact that we thought there could be from any expansion then the appropriate permitting would follow. And so that is what is before you tonight we would strike all the square footages in this PD and then add the sentence that it's reviewed by the director instead of going back through a process every time and the recommendation is to adopt a resolution recommending this change to City Council and if it is adopted today it would be at City Council on November 5.

Any questions?

Wayne?

Well I had a question of the applicant if they're here.

I don't know if they're on yet.

Oh yes he is here.

I am here.

Go ahead Mitchell or Commissioner Tonner.

Yeah I'm here. Yeah please I'm here to answer any questions you guys might have.

Is okay. The voice is that the applicant?

Yes. That

is. Well, let me wait until we go into public hearing then we can keep this all official.

Sounds good.

That was it.

No.

Only have one and could you go back to the change? There. In the staff report, there's one sentence that I think should be added to this. And I don't have the staff report laid out, but it basically tells, says what Jennifer just relayed to you is if there's an impact, it states that the next step would be to go to the regular processing, right? As opposed to going through the administrative one. And I think that would be very good to add right at the end of this. So that it's very clear that if there is no impact, the staff can make the decision. If there is an impact, it's gotta go through the regular process.

So you basically wanna copy what's in the

Yeah, just one sentence out of the staff report

covers. So

that sentence would read, if an increase to the size of the above uses results in impacts to the center, the appropriate permitting process would be required.

Yes,

Yes. We're talking that the footprint of the entire center doesn't change it's just interior expansion?

Correct.

And

if it was an expansion of some sort we would be looking at the overall center what would actually be needed to happen but we have to read update CEQA. It would be more formal.

Alright.

Can I ask you Jennifer does that mean if as an extreme if the fitness center wishes wish to expand and take over the movie theater that that would definitely qualify the major impact?

We would definitely look at it as an impact. The current proposal is to occupy roughly 5,000 square foot space. I think it's a little bit less than that. Let's say they were very successful and the restaurant that is immediately adjacent to them that ended up being space they could expand into they would have to go through this entire process again the way the PD is currently written and so that was the idea was to make things a little more flexible for all the uses and I do know the movie theater actually went through a PD amendment to expand the movie theater at one point long before I arrived so it is something that's happened over time.

Actually have have a question. So Sure. So we talked about building impacts, in this study was there included a parking or traffic impacts now added now that we're gonna be adding in more people using a possible gym? Was there a study done to see what the traffic or the parking impact would be?

No, more basically there are no, we can't mandate parking in this area and the equivalent use of the retail that used to be in this site it ends up being a net.

Like a wash?

Yeah it's a wash.

Okay. Alright just one. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. So when someone takes over the Rosso space, this will help them?

No, they're not on this list. Oh, oh, it's specific to the It's specific to the Bowling Alley movie theater and fitness Okay,

alright, interesting. Okay. Anything else? Shall we open

Sure. Up I had I had a quick question or maybe two.

Oh, sorry, Habib.

So first question, maybe for staff. I believe as you're reading the the statement there, chair, for the title, it talks about a minor minor change when it comes to the PUD. I wasn't able to locate any location what's signifying as a minor change. Is that someplace else in the PD or maybe I missed

it? No. This this was The edits we're making to this are minor. If there was a way to administratively make a minor change to the PD, we would have done that. But I could find no methodology to allow staff to make this approval because of the language that's currently in the PD and it's so specific that we had to move forward on this process.

Okay. And just the the other point that one of the commissioners brought up was adding the additional detail for any significant or more major changes that may be including additional development and expanding the current footprint. For that, is that stated anywhere within the PUD, or is that something new that we would be then adding to the proposed definitions or someplace else?

No. I mean, the minor edit that we're doing to this PD is simply to allow the Fitness nineteen to be able to expand into an existing storefront and we aren't looking at any other thing with the any other aspect of the plan development there was a comment regarding lights and a more general sense across the PD but because this is a very minor amendment we were not doing a wholesale review. That would be a much more involved process and would entail the ownership of all the different parcels to play a role in deciding what needs to be changed in the future.

Yeah. And I I think it actually makes total sense when it comes to these minor changes and the the current changes that are proposed. Along those same lines, I'm also curious, Jennifer, too is are there other similar PDs that might benefit from some of these minor changes that are allowed? And the reason I'm asking is because as you're doing a review of some of these modernizations of the outdated PUDs, is there maybe a benefit to including other ones that we can just have go through the the same process all at once? Or is it really this the only one that has this, I guess, more outdated limitation with this PUD?

Oh, we have a lot of outdated PDs in the city. Okay. And we're coordinating with the economic development team

Okay.

As as we go, and we're grouping them together. In this particular case there was no opportunity to group because this was due to an application for a building permit to expand into the space and we found that we couldn't approve the building permit until this PD was updated.

Got it, Thank you.

Okay. Any other questions before we open the public hearing? Jenna, do we have any speakers or any speaker cards besides the

I I don't have any speaker cards. We have the applicant online.

Okay.

And I don't see any hands raised.

Michael?

Mitchell. Mitchell. Mitchell Gardner. Nice to see everyone tonight. Oh, we don't have anything to add. We were we were as surprised as you guys to see how this thing had been written, was very curious. So we appreciate you participating in the process, understanding what we're trying to do, and look forward to being able to move our permit forward and fill in some vacant retail space in the city.

Great. Wayne?

Yeah. Thanks a lot. Are you then a representative of Fitness nineteen?

Hold on. Your mic wasn't on. Go ahead.

It is on.

It is on now.

Oh, yeah. I heard him.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'm the I'm the architect and general contractor for Fitness nineteen. I've built all 50 something of their locations. Unfortunately, Bob Roger, who's the operator, is at a conference in Chicago. We spoke before the meeting, and he asked if he needed to be on and I said, didn't think so. This looked pretty straightforward. So but I've been with these guys and been their builder and their architect for seventeen years, so I can probably answer any operational questions you might have.

Hey. The question I had is the additional 5,000 feet that you'll be expanding into. I'm a member of that fitness center and its predecessor And I'm not familiar with any open space there.

It's it's a there was an old radio shack on the corner that I think was subsequently changed into some sort of office space over by the auto repair side. I know it's been sitting vacant for quite some time, and I think that's probably due to the busyness that you get over there in that corner from the auto repair facility. So I know that the ownership after speaking with Mike LaBarbara, the operator there at the shopping center, that they're just having some real trouble getting traction over there because there's really no place for anybody to park to operate that facility. So it really made sense for us.

Okay. It's not the one then across from the lube shop?

It is directly across from that corner across from the lube shop.

Okay. That used to be a realtor's office? It's on the Northwest corner of the same building that Fitness nineteen is located at. That's the okay that is the site. Okay I thought I had misunderstood that it was on the Northeast. It's actually the Northwest. Okay, I'm familiar with that. So that'll be turned into or assimilated as part of fitness nineteen?

That's correct.

Okay. Okay. Fine.

And what we're gonna do is that group exercise room there is really big. And we've been going through and rebranding a new room called the vault, which has a bunch of specialty equipment things in it. So what we're gonna do is take the existing group exercise room, which is 3,200 square feet or something like that. It's really way too big. Making that the vault and then making the classroom out on the edge, which will actually be a nicer finish because then you'll be able to see some of that activity from from the parking lot.

Yeah. Great. And maybe this would be for your for yourself or maybe for staff, but if you continue to expand and this allows you to do that this change in the PUD it well you could have done that anyhow but this makes it maybe a little easier for you to continue to expand And let's say, again as a member, it's a very successful club. You got a lot more people than you used to have. You were to expand, let's say, into the other that currently is a new restaurant, and I wish them the very best. Hopefully, they'll be very successful, but nobody has at this point. It's one right next to the theater.

Yeah. Mhmm.

Would this allow them to expand into that without having to modify the PUD? Yes. Okay. Okay.

Yeah. And, you know, the curious thing about it was those it's all one building. Yes. Structurally, there's nothing different inside. So it was very peculiar that those two corners were carved out. We were surprised to see that.

Okay. We were too.

And let me ask this may sound a ridiculous question, but in discussing this with my wife because she hears me complain every time I come home about how busy this how successful Fitness nineteen is, she said oh they're going to build a second story. I go no and I thought wow, that may not be that bad of an idea. Would this allow them to build a second story?

No, that would be a significant increase in space and we would need to look at permitting for that.

Okay. Thank you.

David? He's a No. Habib?

Yeah. Actually, just one real quick question for staff. So I think it's similar, I guess, based off of the the peculiar nature of carving at the corners of the the building and not really knowing the reasoning. I I'm wondering, you know, Jennifer, when you do have some of these requests that do come forward for you, is there a way that you do document some of the reasoning behind the intentions? Should you have, you know, some something like this come forward again for the specific for the specific PUD where someone can go back and refer to some of the reasoning on why, for example, we did something like this.

Yes. So there's some type of historical, maybe narrative that someone can refer back to should they need some additional reference, you know, maybe decades from now.

It it would be the PD itself and then the staff report explains why we did this. Okay. And then that's all in the record that would stay with the application or in the files I should say.

Okay. And then and so in this instance there was really nothing to refer back to the reasoning behind what we were saying?

Well the findings and the resolution and why we made this PD change. So the PD is what guides everything in the center. So we're making that small amendment to it.

Sure, but I was referring to the original one back in what was in the 90s or early 2000s. Was there any other reference to some of the No,

went through staff reports. We can, we, in a lot of our earlier planned developments in the city, the City Council was I think trying to curate uses amongst town that's why PD's got so specific and why square footages are in a lot of them depending on where they are but that's not really the most efficient way to allow businesses to evolve and flourish, having to come back and go through a process like this every time. Especially at a center like this with these larger uses, we wanted to make it a little bit easier for the future.

The CEQA helped too, right?

The CEQA helps as well.

Thank you.

Joe, anything? I'm good, discussion?

I do have one comment through the chair. I am given that we know Commissioner Tanda is a member of the fitness center. I don't believe he should vote. I think you have a potential conflict and I just wouldn't want to see any potential issue pop up on that. Great questions though.

Discussion? Maybe, I guess, one more point of discussion is, Jennifer, I think given the the broad nature of the vote, you know, again, like, sometimes I'll go to the Safeway and so on. And I don't know if that's something that more of the details we need to go to or if we go to some of the shops and take advantage of the services that those commercial establishments are providing or those retail establishes are establishments are providing. Given that's gonna affect the entire area, would that then mean if any of us are utilizing any of the services that we would need to accuse ourselves?

No. The standard customer interface, no. But because this is directly related to the fitness use and we're doing this for the fitness use to expand that's why I have a concern and I would call out that reasoning for any commissioner just to make sure that no one could ever call it the FPPC that which is the Fair Political Practices Commission and create a potential claim.

Okay.

We're gonna close the public comment and hearing. Thank you Mitchell, appreciate your input.

I'll make a motion to approve the amendment to the PUD.

Second. Second. Vote, roll call.

Chair Wilson. Aye. Commissioners Habib.

Aye.

Lake.

Aye.

Muller.

Aye.

Tonda. Obstained. And Lovato.

Aye.

Motion passes five zero one one.

Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you, guys. Can I can I ask one question before I I jump off of here, which is this now goes to council on November 5? Jennifer, will this be a consent calendar item or will they actually be on the agenda?

As an ordinance, it's a public hearing. So it would be very it would be more than likely faster than here. Okay.

Thank you guys appreciate it.

Thank Okay Our next item is the Healthy Neighborhood For All workshop.

If we can take a quick five minute break before we go to healthy neighborhoods. So we're working out interpretation right now.

Oh, okay. Sure. Okay. So how about 07:31 we'll start. So I think they have some kind

of technical. I don't know if they do the translation to Spanish.

Translation to Spanish. It's a lot of.

Right. Because it's mainly their neighborhoods. Right? Okay. To Mitchell.

Yeah.

You could go into the business and tell me.

Moving forward. Okay, we're gonna get started.

Alright. Good evening. Sorry our interpretation wasn't working correctly. I'm Adam Peskowski, principal planner with the city. The item before you tonight is healthy neighborhoods for all.

And so this would be a new element. And so the reason why we're doing this is there's a senate bill, s p 1,000, which states that we would address pollution and other hazards that this disproportionately impact low income communities and communities of color, and that we're gonna address eight different topics that we would look on ways to reduce pollution exposure, promote public facilities, promote food access, promote safe and sanitary homes, promote physical activity, reduce unique or compounded health risks, promote civic engagement, and with through all these how we achieve all that by prioritizing the needs of disadvantaged communities. So as I go through this, I want everyone to think both on the Planning Commission and also out in the audience and for the anyone who may be joining us virtually. Why should this be important to us? Why should this be important to Morgan Hill?

So Healthy Neighborhoods for All is a plan to ensure that everyone has a right to clean air, to clean water, and a healthy environment regardless of where you live in the city. And so that no certain group or any portion of our group of people should have more pollution risks than other areas of the city. And that people within those communities should have a say on what makes their neighborhoods better. This plan through the slides I'm gonna present is part of what's gonna make Morgan Hill, what's gonna make our future. It's gonna be part of our general plan, and so there's gonna be multiple goals, policies, and actions in order to achieve a more safer community for everyone.

So I was before this commission back on April 22 where I shared the background review report. That report goes into deep detail based on census tracks. I'm not gonna go through that report tonight, just an overall summary. And so on that report, this is the on the last page of that report that compares all the different indicators by census track. And this pretty much right down the middle in census track five one two three point one zero, you can see that there's multiple indicators that are affected within that census track.

It's lower income, there's a lot of different health risks, a lower life expectancy, diabetes, stroke, poor health, and then also food access issues, as well as barriers to engagement. And let me go back to for a second. As as you look at these total indicators within the census track, it's almost double compared to the next closest census track. So that community that has all those issues that were identified in that chart is South Of Dunn Avenue, primarily between Highway 101 and Monterey Road as shown on this map. Within this entire project, we call it an opportunity neighborhood because an opportunity for us to make Morgan Hill better specifically with this community.

And so we released the outreach and engagement summary just a couple months ago in which we did at that time when I wrote that report, we did 59 events reaching about 1,500 people. We have now done over 60 events. And through this engagement, we broke up the topics into seven different segments. The first one was inclusive public engagement and city decisions. How can we get people more engaged?

What are the key issues that are facing that does not allow them to come to planning commission meetings, city council meetings, or even interact with with staff or with elected officials. So key issues that were identified were challenges such as distance, time, and childcare. They although a lot of people didn't know how to get involved or were uncertain how to engage with the with city issues that are being heard. There's challenges around access to technology, transportation, and then of course language barriers. Another topic is the pollution exposure and also air quality.

Within these areas based on that background review report, we identified lots of different environmental concerns. People within these communities also identified that air and noise pollution resulting from heavy traffic affected them, that there's a need for more trees or green spaces, more community gardens, and also they suggested that there be some type of air filtration or air purifier programs for their homes in order to combat those issues. For promoting physical activity, people identified that activities within Morgan Hill are not affordable to everyone, especially membership costs to the CRC or other physical activities such as the splash pad hours that are free. However, those hours of operation for the splash pad is limited, and so they want to see closer parks, parks for all abilities and teenagers. In the background review report, one of the indicators was the number of parks in the community.

Within that whole community there's only one small park within that opportunity neighborhood. Other issues that residents and community members talked about was food access and or actually affordable healthy food access. And so they were looking for ways on what type of education programs can be provided to residents. They may get food from food banks or from other donors or or other mechanisms, but the food that they receive, they may not know how to cook or use those types of produce or or different types of ingredients that they receive. And so they express a need for some type of nutrition program and the cooking classes.

They want to see expanded locations and hours for food banks. If you've been to a food bank, the hours and locations are very limited. It's hard for even for people who work in order to take a to use those services. Just across the street, they're only open during the lunch hour basically or a little bit after lunch. Other things that people identified was that there's a need for more Hispanic grocery stores.

There's one there's a grocery store in Morgan Hill, but a lot of residents have indicated to me that they travel outside of the city to do all their grocery shopping and that there needs to be that checks and balances on groceries. Residents and community members came up with ideas on how to make groceries more affordable and that's to allow permanent fruit stands or produce markets as well as mobile food vendors. For safe and healthy homes, an overall theme was that there was a need for more affordable housing, that there needs to be some type of policies regarding displacement, And that there's also a need for low cost loans or critical home repairs, grants or other ways in order to repair their homes for weatherization. When people were are able to go outside, they do feel unsafe due to high speeds from cars driving fast, and so they don't feel safe riding bicycles on the shoulder or in bike lanes or even sometimes on sidewalks. And overall they felt like they need more education programs on how to keep a healthy home.

If there's other things that they need to be aware of on how to maintain a home that extends a lot further in what the county can offer. On increased overall health, there's a big throughout all these topics, there's a big need or expression that we need to provide more educational materials. Both in Spanish and English, for example, for increased overall health, it's educating the public about asthma, health nutrition, and also budgeting programs. Many community members identify that the need for hospitals or medical clinics and mobile dental clinics within Morgan Hill and that there's a need for bringing back some type of Mogo type of last mile transit or a similar rideshare program. A lot of residents also identified that we need to mitigate extreme heat.

There are residents that have air conditioning, but however they don't use it due to the high cost. And so it's looking at other things on how can we mitigate that extreme heat by using shade structures or trees planted in their correct locations to help mitigate that impact. For public facilities and infrastructure, there was a lot of talk about active transportation and connectivity and connecting people from where they live to where schools are located. They want to have trails to schools as well as making sure that there's wider sidewalks, bike lanes, human scale light, and making it feel safe even at night. Quite a number of residents identified that they walk or bike to work and that at night they feel unsafe.

So there's the lighting issue as well. So before I go into the healthy neighborhoods for all element and the goals, policies, and actions that are in there, one of the things that I think about is, so what? Why should we do this? Someone mentioned to me that there's two signs in Morgan Hill that welcome residents from Monterey Road, north and south. It says Morgan Hill, a caring community.

And so expanding that caring community is making sure that we expand it to everyone, that we include everyone, that no one's left behind, that we look out for our residents. This population within our community that we're talking about is in need. There there's ways that we can improve the livelihood, make sure everyone's treated equal, that we're not segregating a community just based on where they live, what their health impacts are, and really promote and uplift and elevate those community members to make sure that everyone's treated equally. We need to think about not just what can we do, but how can we get their voice heard. With this outreach that I've done doing 60 outreach meetings to hear those voices and to reflect those voices not only in this document but invite them to our community meetings, make sure that we hear them in the future, and that we come up with avenues for them to provide public comment and provide those ideas.

Our Hispanic population, our Latino population within Morgan Hill is more than a third of our population. Morgan Hill demographics is changing and we need to include everyone. We want to hear from everyone. We don't want to just leave people out because they can't come to this meeting. They don't know how to engage and we need to do a better job ourselves in reaching our population.

So we need to show up for them through this healthy neighborhoods for all element. And we've done other work through the Elevate Morgan Hill and also the small business and entrepreneurship program. And so we're moving the needle further. We're trying to come up with a better ideas on how can we move Morgan Hill in a better direction where everyone is included. So with that, I will be jumping into the goals, policies, and actions.

I I guess direction from chair Wilson on how you wanna proceed. My idea is there's a lot of text on here. I don't plan on going through all these policies and actions. But my idea is to pause at each end of these slides so that the Planning Commission can provide comments, a discussion on anything within these slides. And so if that

That's probably the best way to do it.

Thank you.

I agree.

So this first one is regarding inclusive public engagement and city decisions. So goal h n dash one is equitable access to decision making, safe and welcome civic spaces, and the resources necessary to live in healthy, connected, and empowered communities regardless of race, national origin, income, or neighborhood. So one thing I want to state is that the goals is just the overall picture. It's what we want to achieve. A policy gets a little bit more specific on what do we how are we going to achieve that goal and then

the

action is really the nitty grit, the meat part of the of the goal on how we're gonna achieve that. What are we actually gonna do? And so going to the actions, we have interpretation at public meetings, translation for public notices, how we're gonna distribute information to all community members. Engagement, how are we gonna encourage engagement from residents? And then for evaluate the need to recruit, train, and compensate healthy neighborhoods promotoras.

And so with that, I'll pause and see if there's any comments from the commissions. Comments?

Just a couple. So for the policy, for me, the policy on community partners goes hand in hand with the engagement. If you have strong community partners, thrives the engagement. So, what is the plan as far as community partners? Do you have a running list of community based organizations that you're continually updating? Because as you know, community based organizations change names, funding, go in, go out of existence. What are we doing to ensure that community partners is an active running list that you're using when you're engaging? Because these community partners will push the engagement. You can host a meeting, but will the room be filled? Partner posting goes hand in hand with engaging the community.

Starting with the community partners is valid in my book.

Yeah. So depending on what the topic is, there are multiple community partners or community organizations that we would work with. So the short answer is it all depends.

But are you working off an existing list of Do Do you have a listing of every community based organization or community based organization within the city limits that you're working off of?

So we do have a list. I don't know if I would say we have all of them cause new ones are created every now and then, but we do have a list that we we do contact regularly.

Okay. And there were various orientations, Some from the county who are working with this community already that were attending our meetings and are In my reaction to the discussions they were very interested in it and very willing to work with us.

Okay.

And then I don't see some of them here tonight but there are other organizations and also the county who we were partnered with. The county public health department has been a strong advocate and working with the county on achieving not just what's in on this slide but on future slides as well.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Yeah, I mean Adam the only thing I would say is that I'm a big believer in the so what and what you said about why we're doing this. I couldn't have said it any better. And, you know, Joe and I have been in the workshops with you and I see Simone out there and also some of the representative community partners and also members of the community. So, I think it's a great credit to Morgan Hill that this is now going to be part of our master plan Because I think it's the right thing to do for Morgan Hill and for the future of Morgan Hill.

Commissioner Habib, do you have any questions?

Yeah. I was actually just gonna maybe add. Are you looking for recommendations or just comments? Can you talk a little bit more about that, Adam, or just overall discussion? I'm just trying to see how I should provide the feedback.

Sure. Yes. So tonight is a a workshop. We will be coming back next month for a public hearing. So tonight, what we're doing is just collecting feedback.

If there's any edits or anything like that that you want change on here, or if there's something that you think that we shouldn't that we missed that we should think about. One other thing that I want to mention is that we had a steering committee, so it's a Morgan Hill Prospero steering committee. That group has provided comments, but those comments have not been combined with the what's listed tonight on these slides or in the draft element. And also, there's also some representatives from CAPS, Climate Action Pathways for Schools. I partnered with the school district to get a grant where we have high school interns assisting with this project as well, and they provided comments and ideas and edits regarding these goals, policies, and actions, but those changes have not been reflected on what's being presented tonight.

But when we come back in November, we would incorporate those changes as long as well as the feedback from the commission tonight.

Got it. So I guess maybe one comment. So the the very first part of this goal talks about equitable access to decision making. Right? And you you touched on this a little bit, Adam, when it comes to people not, for example, necessarily knowing the best way to engage civilly.

The the first three actions talk about interpretation, translations, distribution of information. But I think one of the areas that, you know, might have some opportunities is also the explanation of that information and, like, simplifying it. And the reason I say that is because I I know for myself personally that the first several years trying to figure out that the city jargon took me a long time. And even to this day, you know, chair Wilson, you're reading, for example, the just as the the previous item on our agenda, which was the the tenant station, and it was a huge amount full. Right?

It's I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but it's a e two zero two five zero zero three tenant tenant station PUD amendment to the tenant station plan development to modify that maximum square footage allowed for the existing fitness use and added administrative function to make minor changes to square footages in the future of the property identified by so on and so forth. I'm actually, like, halfway done through that statement. And so the reason I'm bringing that up and the point I'm trying to make is if people can't even understand what we're talking about, let alone even for us to digest and, you know, having done this for years on end, like a way to really simplify what we're even talking about in our agendas, in our meetings. So instead of that whole mouthful of a statement, again, which was probably not even halfway through what I was reading, instead of saying maybe, like, oh, yeah. There's an update to a tennis station plan so that the existing gym can be larger and city staff can make future improvements to small changes or something that is digestible.

And so I think something like that for me would be really important to add into one of the actions if we wanna make sure we have that equitable access. Again, not necessarily the translation or interpretation aspects of it, but really breaking down and simplifying the content so people can even understand what it is that we're talking about.

Okay. Thank you.

Anyone else? Just one follow-up for policy 1.3. Are you including faith based organizations when you can say community partners, community based organizations? Is that encompassed in there too? I didn't see faith based anywhere.

Thank you.

Should we go to the next?

Yes. So the next slide is about pollution exposure and air quality. So the goal is pollution reduction in opportunity neighborhoods with no segment in the community disproportionately burdened by environmental conditions. So the actions within this one is sense of site protection. So require new residential development and opportunity neighborhoods located within 500 feet of the highway or adjacent to Butterfield Boulevard.

Implement appropriate measures to reduce exposure. Action two point b talks about heavy duty truck routes and possibly, revising our ordinance regarding truck route and parking ordinance. And then two point c, reduce potential pollution exposure. And then two point d, evaluate and consider zero emission standards for businesses.

Okay.

I think this one does what Commissioner Habib. It's very specific so I think this one's good. Does this though coordinate with the existing municipal code or codes in Morgan Hill or will there be some tweaking needed? Yeah. They're dependent on which ones. There's some

that will be tweaking ordinances and then others would be our objective standards possibly modifying those. And then by putting these in our general plan, it could also be conditions of approval for land development applications.

Good. Okay. Questions? Commissioner Habib, anything?

No. I was actually gonna ask a similar question, Chair Wilson, was how this ties in with possible, like, overlays or or zoning, or is there any actionable steps that we can integrate into current city documents?

Yeah. So it'll be the same thing. It'll be either a ordinance or our objective standards.

Okay.

Joe? Okay, thanks Adam.

And so right now it's about eight p. M. If we wanna take a short minute in case any of the high school students needs to leave. Okay.

If

any of the students want to stay, we're more than happy to allow you to.

See Jenna. And they've all been here for an hour?

You can also come up here and we can sign

right. We can.

Mr. Chair, I have one of those students who would like to make a comment.

Okay. Okay. So we will open the public hearing for her comment.

Hi, my name is Ella Enquiano, and just like to address the lack of like engagement, I think something that's really big nowadays is like the social media platforms. I know that Facebook is like really popular amongst the older population, and Instagram is more for the younger population, but I just think that maybe making an account with the name of the program, and like posting like your details about it just so that it can reach the community better and even like asking the Morgan Hill newspaper to include it in like one of the headlines so that way it also reaches the people that read the newspaper.

Good. Very good. Thank you.

Thank you.

So since we've opened the public hearing, does anyone that wants to make a comment have a time constraint and would like to give us their comments now?

If I can if I can have you state your name for the record?

Hi my name is Frankie, Frankie Luna.

Go ahead.

Yes, so I just wanted to say that I completely agree with the Healthy Neighborhoods for All moving on all that and like I because I live near AMPM, it just for example but I just wanted to say I completely agree with commissioner Habib, really is confusing when you guys saying all those numbers just it's just numbers to me. And I I mean to a couple meetings before then before the one that came to you today but I think the way to really get community engagement is get is I think I was reading it was like h like action h a h one e something like that, but I I think the best way to get engagement for the city is get representatives from each neighborhood and be like, hey, I live in this neighborhood and then we wanna see this from for the city, you know, for for example. That that's what I think. Just could just have like like certain representatives from each neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you. May I

ask a question?

Yes, sir.

So are you aware that the city, other than the mayor, the city council members are elected in a district for a particular part of town?

I actually didn't know that, no.

Okay. So the city council, the four other city council members each represent different districts in the community. Because several years ago, due to a law change and somebody pushing it, they pushed us to district the city so that each one of the districts would have a council member that would represent them, except for the mayor who's elected by the whole city.

Okay.

Okay? But I fully understand what you mean by somehow building into the agenda some simple language that doesn't necessarily meet all the legal requirements, but in a common sense way explains what the item is doing. Right?

Yes.

So it doesn't have all this planning numbers and terminology that maybe isn't understood by all that many people.

You said you divide Morgan Hill up into, you said four?

It's in four districts. If you go to the Morgan Hill City web site and look under the city council members, I believe there's a web page that describes each of the districts.

Yeah, it tells you which district they're Right under their name, photo.

Because I was thinking like the best way to get community engagement at least just just an idea is that you would have representatives from each neighborhood then you'd have of that representative from each neighborhood they would go door to door and like hey to each house and like hey what do you want to see from the city? What do want to see from the city? And then all those representatives from all the neighborhoods would come to the city council meeting, one of these, and be like, hey, I live in I live near Tennant Station, and this is what we think should happen. Okay. Just just an idea.

Oh, understand the idea. Yes. I would ask you to look at the districts

Okay.

And then send your comments to us.

Okay. Sounds good. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Sarah. Hey. Was just gonna ask for the the commenters. Do we have their contact information just in case you wanna follow-up and maybe take some of those ideas into fruition?

We can get it if they're willing to provide it.

Do you wanna put it

on on blast right now or

No.

Maybe you

can walk

up to the city clerk and share your information as well as the previous commenter. I think all these great ideas, you know, if there's folks that wanna take some action and get some additional involvement, that would be a great idea.

Okay. She's Jenna's getting it right now.

So, he's getting that information, I could add what he is describing is a stakeholders working group. Not an elected person Yeah. But a person who represents small neighborhoods, neighborhood association. So that is in existence now. So what he has already exists in the world is just putting it into action. So a stakeholder working group of a representative from a neighborhood, a community who represents a small portion in whatever study that you guys are doing. That's something that's definitely doable.

And Adam, how many members are on your stakeholder group?

It's a good question. I'm gonna say there's between ten and fifteen.

And from those 10 to 15, do we know which districts they're in, neighborhoods, who they represent, or are they just you have 10 slots, 15 slots, and first come, first servants filled?

Yeah. So I don't know what districts or anything, but we do know what organizations they represent and if they're at large just community members.

Okay.

Good evening.

Hi. If you can state your name for the record.

My name is Jesus. Sorry. I get a little nervous public speaking, but I work for affordable nonprofit for housing here in the community. And I've been at this job for seven years, so I get to see firsthand how some of the stuff in the community limits what they can do. And what you guys are talking about would really help them integrate more into the community and I like to thank Adam because he actually went to my property and spoke with the residents in my community and they were talking about the meeting for over a week.

They were excited that they got to voice their opinions and they being validated and they were gonna be considered by the city to you know, take action. You don't know how much it uplifted the community, it made them feel part of it. Some of them are got involved more in the community through either the alliance or some promotoras or different non profit groups. So, mean, I think this is a great start. We have a great community and there's a lot of stuff here that benefits everybody, it's just how do we connect more people to get involved, to know what's going on, that engagement that everybody's talking about, and we tend to do things that are inside the box, but what about things that are outside the box?

For example, you guys could do a community board at the major stores, so people need to go to the stores, Safeway, Nob Hill, Region. What about having a community board when you enter so you can see what's happening in the community? Yes, I know about social media and that works fantastic, but not everybody, you know, likes social media. So just, we need to hear what the community needs in order to you know, just make them feel proud to be part of Morgan Hill. One of the things that my residents did mention were we have great bike lanes that will get you through the city, but we forget that we're using the bike lanes to go to places.

Now, when you could get to that place, is there a place where you could safely lock your bike or for example, the high schools. Like, there's a trail that runs right through the freeway through the stores that you guys are paving right now, but then it locks right after Target and they can't get to the high school. So, that's a safe route that they could take if they can't afford to ride the bus and then I have a lot of kids that have to ride to either do wrestling or some kind of after school activity and their parents are working or they can't make it and they have to go through Monterey which is not they don't feel safe. I hear stories all the time where they almost got hit by a car that wasn't paying attention. These So, are the little stories that we need to hear to make better improvements because it's not like we're we're not trying, but we can't try as hard or or better if we don't know the concerns that the citizens have.

So, doing outreach to the part of the community that doesn't get listened to is a great start.

Thank you.

Well, good evening everyone. My name is Simone Ganavathi and I'm here to support this wonderful Healthy Neighborhoods For All initiative. So, am speaking tonight as a member of the Morgan Hill Prospera Steering Committee as a representative of partner at u w Morgan Hill because equity for all is not only important to us but it is part of our mission too, and also as a resident of Morgan Hill. I do want to start by saying how very impressed I am with the youth of our city. It was so wonderful to see that they were engaged and with great ideas and questions and they weren't just here for their civics requirement.

And that was wonderful and thank you to Jesus for your wonderful comments. In our group we do have representatives from various organizations that go out into the community and they have got that very input and I know that Adam and his team went to 60 different places and did indeed get that information especially about how riding to school, to the high schools was so very unsafe. So, this initiative apart from being mandated by Senate Bill 1,000 really represents something very important. The belief that everyone regardless of where they live does deserves a safe clean and healthy neighborhood and the policies and actions are about making sure no one's left behind especially those who historically have borne the brunt of pollution, poor facilities, or lack of investment and Adam said it beautifully, no matter where you're from, what you look like, your economic status, we all we all need these basic requirements and of course the goal is to help those but especially who are often unheard residents for inclusive public engagement in city decisions. I think all the ideas that were bandied about during our discussions and also today it's just so very important.

I'm sorry if I think it's Commissioner Habib what he said actually really you know I took to heart it's really important to have verbiage that's accessible to the public so that they feel confident to come up and give comments. Think that was really important too and also you know safer streets, cleaner air, more green space, access to healthy food options, safe and healthy homes, public facilities and infrastructure and basic health protections. These are not luxuries, these are necessities and it's not just planning it's a collective responsibility for our fellow residents and we need to be as Adam said already a truly caring community. We said so twice already right in our signs that we definitely I'm so happy that we're doing this. We have the opportunity to shape a future where every person in Morgan Hill has an equal opportunity to thrive regardless of their zip code, their income, their background and it's imperative that we do this.

So I fervently urge you to take these recommendations to heart to be able to integrate them meaningfully into the city's 2035 general plan. Of course, I know you're going to be we're gonna be you're gonna be meeting again next time and it's our City Council who will be voting on it but I have no doubt that they will also support this because I know that together we can build a healthier, more just Morgan Hill for all. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Doug Muirhead, Morgan Hill resident. You already have my speaker card request. One of my soapbox issues is the limitations we have on our heating and cooling centers. You heard in the presentation tonight and are probably aware that many of our residences don't have air conditioning.

And if you're unsheltered, you definitely don't have air conditioning. The presentation and the element talk about urban heat. Urban forests is a solution. Mitigation for heat islands is another solution. Missing from those two sources is the comment in the original report which talks about cooling centers not being available in these opportunity neighborhoods.

And in fact, we have pretty much a concentration in the downtown area, the recreation center, the community center, our cooling centers. Those county library is a cooling center. And I believe we funded some enhancements to the Morgan Hill Grange that would allow it to be a cooling center as well. I call the the offerings we currently have amenities, not core services. And I say that because they're only available when city staff or county staff are working.

And if we have a 100 degree day on a weekend, on a holiday, you know, you're just out of luck. And I've raised this issue with the county librarian. I raised this issue with the city council goal setting meeting. And I wanted to go ahead and mention it here since it seems to me to be an appropriate addition to the the proposals under goal h n six. Thank you for your time. Appreciate

it. Thank you.

Good evening, my name is Ramirez and I am happy to be here. Wanna start by thanking Adam for trying to provide interpretation services for me. This is one of the things that the Latino community is been waiting for to feel a little bit like they belong more and feel accounted for which is translation services for you to take that into account. There's a lot of Latina There there are many Latino members in the community that want to come here and they wanna share their thoughts with you but they don't feel they know how and they don't feel welcome because there is no mechanism for them to come and communicate to you. She conveys that there were many members in her community that wanted to come that she spoke to, but they chose not to come because they knew that there was not translation services.

She's also expressing disappointment in the city that we know that there is a need and we haven't done it and yet other communities have moved forward with more assertive translation interpretation services. I'm here to support Adam's plan. It's not healthy neighborhoods, it's Adam's plan. And speak specifically on behalf of the youth and to promote youth safety. The city of Morgan Hill still has many streets that do not have sidewalks.

There's also many of the playgrounds in the city need repair. Also playgrounds within the school district. So perhaps this is something that the city can collaborate with the school district to address the fixing of existing playgrounds that need repair. She's very nervous, but she's happy to be here. Thank you for listening to me, to her.

And she is excited about the future for Morgan Hill with the conversation.

Thank you. She she brought up a great point about the translation because that's really an easy fix that we're really engaged. So that's something we should probably really look into. Do we have any other speakers?

I don't see any raised hands.

Okay.

And there's no raised hands online. Oh, we go.

Hi, I'm Christopher Clara Duran. What do I like to see improve? Like, I wanna see more, I guess more clubs for kids and stuff, you know? Because I don't know. I feel like there's not enough clubs for kids because they're usually on their phones now and like, you know, it's not like how it used to be where they're always outside because you know I was always outside as a kid and you know I had fun out there and they're kind of not like going outside anymore since they have their phones and they're just watching all this like like stuff that doesn't make sense or isn't important in their lives, in their future.

And I think they should just be outside more than being on their phones just brain dead and all that, you know. Yeah, that's my idea.

Okay. I got a question for you. Are you at one of the high schools?

Yeah. Live Oak.

Live Oak, okay. Yeah. Can you give us an idea of what kind of clubs you would like to see?

I think that if we made sure that the high schools get more involved, I think kids are more easily influenced by the older kids that they think are cooler or just have more experience. I think that if we made some high school students do volunteer programs after school, or maybe have them run some pickup games in the park, or just a field day kind of activity that high school students could run, so that way those kids are more active.

Okay. Sounds like a challenge for Chris. And so you know that's the director for public services and he's part or has the community rec center and outdoor sports complex and things like that under his tutelage. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah. Just a quick question for

Okay. We got a question.

Or

maybe just a comment. I I I was just gonna mention to you, chair, if I may. I think both of you have so far brought some really excellent points and and feedback. And so, I think if you feel comfortable enough to share contact information with Citi staff, whether it means being directly involved or connecting you with the right resources to be able to, you know, get some of those ideas to fruition. I think it's an excellent place to start when it comes to the the great comments and ideas that you've shared so far. So if you wanna touch bases with city staff afterwards, and this includes anyone else that has come forward so far, to be able to have that information by the city so that way we can connect if needed.

Okay. Thank you.

Thanks. You can go to the mic please.

Is

it possible for part of the program to include some kind of program with the city where people could, the county has a program already where people could do some kind of internship for a stipend. Now if you could have a stipend with the city where it's meant for the people in this community, it gives them a chance to get involved and make a difference but actually learn how you guys function, As typhoons not a lot of money, but it will make the difference for them, but most important is they get to know you guys, they get to know the city and they get to feel that they made a difference and if they have kids, that they could express that with their kids and hopefully inspire them to get more involved in the city, but I'm not sure if that's something that could be part of this or is that something that would have to be looked somewhere else.

I'm thinking that it might be something else unless we relate it to health. But it is something that

because usually the state has worked with the nonprofits, yeah.

Yeah, and figure out how we can partner.

Alright, if you could point me in the right direction, I'll ask that question over there.

Great, thank you.

Adam, one possibility and this would be high school level, would be the Youth Action Council.

Right.

Right? So, I mean, that's a program if they wanted to get involved with for the older students to influence. There's a lot of activity goes on with that one.

Right, that's what I was thinking with Chee Hee and what we can do with partner with her and what programs she can bring forward with the high school students.

Yeah, And I was thinking along the same lines. Know, David was mentioning these community representatives. Like youth ambassadors from the same neighborhood who can engage with the youth of the neighborhood and also be educated in how we work and give them an opportunity to really participate at that youth level. Think that would be something we should think about.

All good ideas. Any other speakers?

There are no more speakers.

We're gonna close public comment.

Adam? I was just gonna mention that I brought it back to this slide, the healthy neighborhood is Pulmatoras. That's maybe something that we can expand on within this section with those comments from Hazy and from others.

I think it's really important to get the youth engaged.

What if we had, with the high school students, what if we had them sit in in the actual planning commission meeting? Like they do for the board meetings of the districts, they have a student sit in. And then they could actually see what's going on. Right? Jennifer? I'm trying to think of it. We

would need to explore how that would function, but it's an interesting idea.

Okay.

Yeah. I was actually just gonna mention briefly, chair, if I may. I think that's actually a a really interesting idea because maybe each one of us can have a a student that is accompanying us, and they can help us, for example, make decisions or vote on the ballot for specific motions and and so on. So I think that's actually a really interesting idea to see if they can be directly involved in the voice of, in this instance, the commission. Maybe expanding it to other commissions and just pilot testing some of that involvement.

Okay. Good.

Okay so I think I was on this slide for promoting physical health. So the goal is to geographically accessible, safe, inclusive and active public spaces for all residents. So the actions were health and fitness, provide educational information regarding the availability of financial assistance and no cost memberships to the CRC. Being inclusive parks for the design of new parks and then also transforming existing parks. And then for three point c community events and recreation.

So expand community events and free recreation opportunities. And then the last one is, I guess this was kind of a major one with residents as well. Ensure an equal distribution of parks within the city, strive to achieve a goal that all homes within opportunity neighborhoods are within one quarter mile walking distance of at least one usable park and or open space.

Okay.

On HN3D, the park distribution, on an established neighborhood, does the city have a program of or grant to purchase properties or open space or parks?

Right. So we there are vacant properties within this area that are for sale currently. And so we'll be working with Chris to see what opportunities there are and what funding is available in order to help achieve this. This is one of the policies that when it comes to parks that will take time to achieve on availability and then what funded we can Yeah.

Know he mentioned it last time when he was here about it. Okay. Questions?

So this one's affordable access to healthy food options. So the goal is equitable access to fresh healthy and affordable food within a short safe distance from home. So action 4.1 is fresh produce sales and cultivations. This is amending our code to permit the sale of fresh affordable produce through produce stands. Also looking into mobile produce vendors, additional community gardens, and urban farming.

Four point b is looking to expand our food banks and pantry distribution. Four point c is continuing our senior nutrition program that provides free lunch, and that's at the CRC. And then four point D is education. So working with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department to provide multilingual health education regarding wellness classes, nutrition, healthy cooking classes, and so on.

Comments?

I just have one question, just curious. Policy 4.2. Have we seen any interest of any large Mercado chains wanting to plant roots here in Morgan Hill? And if so, where are we at in the process of getting one?

So by

I was teeing up, sorry

I saw one of my teammates jump up. I'll turn it over to

Good evening commission, Edith Ramirez, assistant city manager for development services. The question regarding grocery stores, two comments to share. The city's economic development team is often in conversations with grocers that we are interested in attracting to the community, and based on, and there are conversations, but nothing to share publicly yet. In regards to this particular effort and in response to the feedback that we were receiving from the community where some community members said that a Hispanic grocery store was needed here because the existing grocery stores might be a little bit expensive for them, and that they often have to drive to Gilroy for their groceries, and specifically, they were asking for Hispanic grocery stores here selection. To that end, the city's economic development team has made is reaching out to some of the regional grocers to see if there is interest, especially now that we have spaces like the Rite Aid that have become available and we have some bigger footprints that could be filled.

I hope that answers your question.

You're looking into it but nothing to promote yet as far as anyone that has shown general interest?

Nothing that can be shared at this point.

Okay, alright. Thank you.

Thank you.

I think the one we have right now that I think of is the

one

in Nob Hill store one, which is over at Hale And Maine. There's a grocery store in there, right? Region's?

Yeah. Correct, that is the largest ethnic grocery store that we have right now. There is a small one also on Wright And Monterey, a very petite store that also has produce and meat.

Right, right. And the feedback we got is what either was mentioning there that some of the ones we have right now are expensive for the opportunity neighborhood.

Absolutely.

Okay and so they were looking for something that's lower in cost, more affordable, and that's why they're traveling out of town, right? It's more difficult but when they weigh their household budget, that's what they have to do.

And I will also add that not in this effort, but the economic mobility study that the city put together a couple of years ago, when we asked the community what was their number one concern, we issued a I Belong Morgan Hill survey and the number one issue for everyone, we issued the survey in Spanish and in English, everyone said the number one issue was housing, but for the Spanish speaking community the second issue was access to food. Thank you.

Okay. For the next topic, it's safe and healthy homes. So the goal h n five is safe affordable and stable housing for people to thrive in their communities regardless of race national origin income per neighborhood. And so the we have three actions here. One is to revise and update our mobile home rent stabilization ordinance.

The next one the five point b is conduct a feasibility analysis and develop a program to protect tenants through legal assistance, prevent foreclosures, provide rental assistance, or enforce fair housing laws. So it's doing an analysis to figure out which one will be the most meaningful and what we can achieve. And then in five point c, it's exploring the feasibility of a program to provide residents with air purifiers or resources to retrofit their homes to filter contaminants.

Wasn't there just a meeting on the mobile home with one of the communities?

I think we gotta leave the conversation right with what Adam did because some of us are involved in a rent panel as we speak. And it would probably not be appropriate to talk about So I'd ask in we

didn't finalize then. Yeah. All right.

And if there's no questions or comments, I'll go to the next slide. So, this one's increased overall health. So, the goal is equitable access to physical activity, recreation, and wellness opportunities for all residents, especially within opportunity neighborhoods. So the first one is to partner with the county public health department on education. Six point b is to amend the code or looking into the code to allow mobile preventive health and dental care clinics.

Six point c is regarding amending our landscaping code to have asthma friendly landscaping. A six point D is to look into funding for a micro transit program similar to Mogo. And then the last one is extreme heat mitigation, increase urban tree canopy, shaded areas, and open space within opportunity neighborhoods. I'll pause unless there's no other, or if there's no questions.

I have a question.

Oh,

okay. I got one more slide. So this one's public facilities. So the goal is safe, well maintained, and accessible public spaces, facilities, and infrastructure that support active lifestyles and community well-being. So the policies are safe and active transportation. Seven point b is partner with a school district to implement and expand safe routes to schools. Seven point C is about Leiden. And then seven point D is provide public amenities that promote free opportunities for physical fitness.

Okay.

And if there's no comments on that.

I had one question and one comment. My question has to do with the fact I'm very surprised and my surprise is based on my experience in San Jose, LA, and Salinas. And, in each of those areas I knew for a fact because I was there and one of the places I was born and raised that in our areas, LA, were huge, at the top of the issues there would always always be homeless, I hope I'm not, but I am concerned about those who impact my neighborhood. Second thing was crime and it all boiled down to the third thing gangs. And I don't believe you know based on my experience that that our primary issues in Morgan Hill and it appears based on the residents of Morgan Hill who could be impacted is not an issue either.

I didn't see those terms used anywhere in the entire report. And, so my question is am I accurate that, those were things they could have brought up but they did not because they aren't issues here in Morgan Hill.

Yeah. So, through this conversation it was focused mainly on these issues, the seven basically on these seven slides. What we on the safe and sanitary homes section, transients was brought up as a concern and then for being out at night especially in not areas that are not well lit. So that was a concern. And so the idea from the public was that if we provide good light in pedestrian scale light in that would help deter bad behaviors and then also provide them a safe place to walk and get to point a to point b.

And that's almost a refinement. You know, when you're getting to that point, you're living in a pretty good community. Actually, if

you if your big issue was traffic congestion, you actually have a good community because traffic congestion is nothing compared with gangs. And so I just want to make sure that as we're doing everything we can to bring all of our neighborhoods up along with rest of the city that we aren't missing a gorilla or what what is that an elephant in the room and if that's the case fine but maybe somewhere in the report it should be noted that these these really trigger points that really point out that you have a really big issue in certain parts of the city don't exist in Morgan Hill because by not saying anything I read it that way that wow this is this is great. That's kind of a question. It was a question as why isn't it in the report and if it's not because it's not an issue fine versus we just kind of missed it.

Yep. It wasn't those other issues were not brought to my attention by any from any of the outreach that we

Then then and I'm sure they were told told don't talk about gangs or, you know, about crime or homeless. Okay. The other one I had had to do with when I I looked at all of these, these are all good things that maybe most of them are doable. All you need is more staff, volunteers, and or funding. And there is a pet project of mine that I I'd like to see get funded, but I I knew when Mogo, the very popular Mogo, ceased ceased, it was because of funding, not because of demand or need or desire.

And, I knew you're competing against all of the other cities for that funding because I'm

involved

in some of that. And, the thought is maybe you have a maybe you uncovered an angle, and that is to implement the findings that you have, the actions for the healthy neighborhoods. Maybe there's specialized funding that you

could

access, and if you could, there's not only Mogo who allows all of our residents to go anywhere within the city of Morgan Hill at, you know, a very reasonable cost or you could even have a discount where some segments because of their age or, income get ride for free. Or there's another option that's even cheaper and very desirable, and that's ride hailing. And ride hailing is basically a subsidized Lyft and or Uber program that is very, very affordable and very, very, very popular. So, know, there there I I just see that maybe there is some category that we can get lined up first and go after and address this concern not only for this community or these neighborhoods but for the whole city the whole city loved those programs so that was my comment

yeah just to build off that so when working through these goals policies and actions with the Morgan Hill Prospero steering committee, the idea was to try to figure out what can we actually achieve. So we didn't want to create a whole long list of different programs. We want to be mindful of what can be most meaningful. And then to build on to your comments by having a this healthy neighborhoods for all element and identifying the opportunity neighborhood, It does set us up for future funding, availability for funding. And so by having this element, there's the possibility of getting grants in the future to achieve some of these actions that are listed in here.

So I I appreciate those comments.

Sure. If I may, I I just had a brief comment, maybe a point of clarification. So I'm not sure if this is a VTA related matter, but, you know, as we're talking about the policies around active transportation and public amenities and lighting and so on, I think one of the things I've always noticed quite frequently, especially as I'm passing through, our folks at bus stops, especially during the heat when there's no shades at night or maybe in the more evening times where, you know, around 05:00 now, it's gonna start getting, like, pretty dark and so lighting around those bus stops and so on. So those bus stop standards, if I'm not mistaken, they're probably BTA, but can that be related to opportunity neighborhoods?

Yep, because we do have a policy in here regarding that, regarding Leiden at bus stops. And so, we could plan for that and work with VTA to ensure that or really work together with VTA on future bus stops to have quality light in and shelters as well.

Okay. And so would that be an action? Because I'm not sure. I might have missed it. Was it under a policy or was it under an action? Because I'm not sure if I remember seeing either one.

I'll have to look it up. Okay. Thank you. Come back.

I have a question. First of all, great work and the goals are fantastic. My question is though, are each of the actions measurable? How do we know what kind of progress we're making?

Yes. So annually, as you know, with the housing element, have to do an annual progress report which is very detailed for the housing element that that we report to HCD. But we also do a separate one that goes to LCI, previously known as OPR, Office of Planning and Research at the state. And so part of that report we also do a general plan report. So we will be providing updates to the state annually as well on what goals and actions that we achieve or policies and actions that we achieve.

So we would report it that way as well.

Well I'm boiling it down to more specific like physical fitness park amenities. How are we gonna measure that? That we put in equipment at three parks or?

Yeah. So I guess I would say that there's nothing that requires us to have mechanisms like in the housing element that states that we do one park a year or something like that.

No, no, I'm talking about us and Morgan Hill, our community. How do we know if we're making any progress?

It will be if we, as long as we, because we're working towards maintaining that within five minute walking distance from all residences within that community.

Those type of achievements are reflected in our general plan annual report where we go through the general plan elements and look at achievements for the year.

Great. So you quantify?

As much as we can.

Okay. Great. And that's what I was trying to state for the

Because at some point, somebody's gonna ask the question, where are we at in relation

to all

the goals? They're all fantastic goals. Don't get me wrong. Great work. It's just at some point, we gotta let the public know where we're at.

Yeah. I really like what Jesus brought up, that idea of the community board. So, you know, when you when you're passing on a freeway, says something like your tax dollars at work. I imagine if in Nob Hill and those places, say, here's what we did in this particular goal area. We built one park here. We got Mogo revived. Just, you know, something like that. Very tangible where people can actually see this is what the group did.

Yeah. I think the critical thing right now is the opportunity neighborhoods, residents, and others have spent time talking to Adam, a lot of them. They've spent time coming to meetings. It's absolutely critical to build on that early engagement by delivering on some key items to do it. Like, and to me, what was said earlier tonight, more people would have come if they believed there was gonna be reasonable translation.

Right? Yep. I would really like to try to do something for our next meeting here and for at least the City Council meeting, right? To show that we can deliver some translation services to start with as quickly as we can because that would give them the confidence to come. Because we saw a lot of willingness from the community and they're wanting to work with us. It's up to us to deliver some things in the short term now and then build on that.

I think that's a very easy step to build trust.

It builds more than trust. It builds we're listening. We're gonna try and take some things to address your concerns. I just think it's key. They've spent a lot of time. I'm not saying the rest of us haven't spent time, but the community has. The community we're trying to help has. Now it's on us to

deliver. Absolutely.

Yep. We're up to that.

I wanna invite the public who's in attendance tonight to see if they have any additional comments based on the last several slides.

Certainly. So we'll open the public comment.

Hello again, Simone Ganapathy. Loved all the comments. I just thought about when the question was raised about is it measurable, I'm guessing if you had like a new park or something, we measure and see how much is it being utilized and that's one way we would know. Also, when it came to community boards, I believe the community boards were to be in the opportunity neighborhoods, not at Nob Hill per se. This way people in the community neighborhoods would know what's going on.

We could tell them translation services are now available and one thing we did back in PTA meetings in Cupertino where my kids grew up was we had childcare during PTA meetings and I was wondering if that possibility where we'd have volunteer high schoolers maybe looking after kids and then parents could be then, you know perhaps you could also have some healthy, I don't know fruit and fruit and you know a healthy bars or something a little bit of snacks too for the kids and that way if you were to tell them there's translation services, there's childcare, there's snacks and then reaching out perhaps like a shuttle to meetings from opportunity neighborhoods right up here that would be one way to show them that we not only care, we're doing all these things to make sure that it happens that we this is how we are helping you out. I think that would go a great way in building trust because it's one thing to say, okay, we have translation services, please come and then they still can't because there's no childcare and they don't know how to come so I just thought I'd mention that.

Thank you.

Good comment, thank you.

Do we have anyone else in the audience that would like to add any comments, questions?

So we're gonna close it again. Gentlemen, anything?

Just a couple of questions on just basic process. So, if I'm in a neighborhood and I just happen to hear that there's an agenda item that I know about that I wanna participate, but I don't speak English. I'm gonna need a Spanish translator. How do I let the city know that I want an interpreter here for me? What's the process? Is it stated? Because I don't see it on the agenda. Call this number by twenty four hours before the meeting to request translation. Is it there? Did I miss it?

I ask because if I want that service, how do I let you know in due time so that translation or interpreter is available? So that's one. That ensures that now I can participate. Another, is there a reason why we can't have our slides in another language? So if I'm sitting in the audience, I can hear it, I can see it, and I can formulate a better question when I'm up at the podium.

These are just some things I'm noticing, because I'm in communications for VTA. We have extreme standards when doing public information. One, we have to post how to request interpreters for public meetings before it's even hosted. Ensuring that interpreters are available before public meetings. Having them there available during public meetings, even if no one asked for them.

In most cases, when we know the subject matter is something of another language, the interpreters are already there before we ask. The presentations are in another language. So, that may mean a couple more slides, less bullets on each slide, but every line has Spanish right underneath it. So if I'm in the audience, I'm with it with the same information. So that is something that we can look at doing is not only having a list of how I can request interpreters at the meetings prior so we know, but also having this information, maybe not here in real time, but if a Spanish version is at the front desk, then I can follow along. Those are my suggestions.

I'd like to add on to that. As somebody who's hard of hearing, even if you have an interpreter, let alone the speaker, I sometimes don't understand what they're saying. But, I can read and this service that you have is extraordinary. It it is not getting everything exactly right but you certainly get the gist of it. Can you have a service that is doing it in English and in Spanish?

That way the listener could see what's going on. That way the audience can see what's going on and that would mean you would not need an interpreter who bless their hearts get a lot of it exactly right and some of it they're probably missing. Edith did a fantastic job but that isn't her primary job. So, yeah, is that a service that I'm imagining you just pay a little bit more and you can get this put up Spanish as well and somebody therefore could speak in Spanish and it shows up in English. Right.

This is something that our communications team has been looking into and so we're looking to we're evaluating it and seeing what options we have and what programs because it is a different I think it's a different program than what we currently use right now. And so they are looking into that. And to build off those comments and that's why these first two actions are trying to beat that those ideas to provide that interpretation translate public notices and then it's building further upon that providing everything, like providing the PowerPoint slides in Spanish as well. So it is something that we are looking into, but we have not implemented. And then of course it would require direction from the city council as well.

So a thought on that. We have two big screens up here on either side of us. Why couldn't one side be in Spanish?

We're not sure if that's possible given the way the audio system is set up, but we've had a lot of great comments tonight about things that the commission would like to see. So we could definitely explore it with our team.

I

mean even the idea of having dual translation on Zoom, that's something we're gonna need to look into to see if that's even possible. The translation or the transcription that we do have that was a new thing that we incorporated a year ago, a couple years ago. So it's I mean you know before the meeting started we were even talking about earbuds that do translation for you now. You can listen to your music and translate whatever you're hearing. So I think the technology is moving faster and faster as to how we can get there and help the community.

Old school translation services where you have someone in here we've done that for certain meetings but it's a tremendous resource that we don't currently have. We have to contract for it when we have those specific meetings or rely on our teammates who do have that skill set. So we're continuing to try and improve on all of those counts.

Okay.

Just really briefly, I was just gonna mention, Jennifer, as you're talking about exploring different technologies. If I'm not mistaken, I've actually seen the interpretation option for Zoom under certain accounts. So, again, it might be, a paid account, but I believe there is that. I've seen it maybe, like, a year or so ago where someone is speaking a different language, they'll transcribe it live. So, again, to your comment there, commissioner Tonda, I I do think it's possible. You might just have to pay a little bit more for a premium account.

That's great to know. Thank you.

Anything else?

I mean, I'll just add that you can actually do because we have to do it at VTA. You can have up to five different languages all simultaneous in one meeting, different languages. So, I'm giving the presentation of a Spanish interpreter on one channel, auditory, but you're seeing everything in whatever language you're presenting, and that you are doing Vietnamese, you're doing Tagalin, and it's all happening simultaneous. And everyone is either at their house, at a library, but the audience sees the presentation, sees the presenter, but hears in the language they choose. So, that is an option, yes.

Okay. And I just want to respond to Commissioner Tanda's earlier question about Leiden at bus stops. And I pulled up my the entire document of the healthy neighborhoods element. And so and I remember now, so seven point c light in a public spaces. Originally, when I worked on draft with the steering committee, I had different wording in here and we decided to revise it to be more simplified and not have it and be more something that we can affect as a city.

So we reword it to be public spaces to ensure that all that they are well lit to enhance comfort and usability. So we weren't specific on bus stops, but we want to focus on things that we can actually achieve since it's out of our purview.

That's a great comment, David. How come we don't have lighting?

I I was I was wondering when to push my button on that. Okay. So so bus stop amenities is a tricky business because jurisdiction is very different from a bus shelter, bus stop, bus bench. So it really comes down to each location who oversees the jurisdiction of each stop. So sometimes VTA has a very large footprint that they can add lighting to a bus shelter or bus stop, but sometimes it's city and then here it's county.

We know the director of development. I'm sure we can get it approved.

No problem. Yeah, it is definitely coordination with the bus stop service department when a bus light is warranted based on safety.

I mean, can a city or town request that or send in?

Yes. I think VTA has the transportation department or division that they work hand in hand with VTA and they put in those recommendations for bus stop amenity upgrades.

Okay great.

Thank you. And then just on my last slide is just a timeline to just this we're at the end of this. We have our we're gonna have our planning commission on November 11. That'll be a public hearing and the commission will be providing a recommendation to the City Council. And then we plan on going to the City Council on December 3.

And

that's all I have. Thank you for your time.

Great report.

Thank you.

Adam. Nice work, Adam.

Thank you everybody that came. Right? Everybody that came and spoke. Students and audience. I mean, it's important. That's what we needed. Director Schroeder. Director Schroeder.

Thank you Joe.

A few things to report. Many of you may have seen on Friday that the governor signed SB79. That is the newest and greatest housing everywhere law and we are wrapping our arms around it trying to figure out where Morgan Hill fits into that law. Our transit service isn't robust enough to fit into the top tiers of requirements but we will fit somewhere in that law. And then speaking of loss, AB 130 we've talked about a little bit that hugely compacted timetable for a CEQA exemption.

We will have two items coming to you next meeting on that. They're both smaller housing projects. One's 24 and then the other one I believe is 16. So, but traditional infill with some challenges so, on the twenty eighth.

Anything else, gentlemen? Adjourned. You know what? That's that's why it's great that you kept Joe

next to me.

Keep me in He's a great mentor. Every time I screw up

Sorry. See, hot boy.

I It's great. Yeah. Public comments are There

are multiple languages. That's it. Announcement?

Yes. Exactly. Yeah. I screwed that up. Yeah. They all No. It's great that you're sitting here.

Languages in The Philippines. But we would have