Morgan Hill City Council Approves Program To Attract More Industrial, Commercial Development
Morgan Hill City Council recently approved a Department Impact Freeze Program to incentivize commercial and industrial development in the South Bay city. The program could offer new commercial and industrial projects a fee reduction by using the 2016-17 fee schedule for approved projects built within three years.
With construction and labor costs continuing to escalate in one of Silicon Valley's longest economic expansions, Morgan Hill wants to entice new commercial development by locking in impact fees and exempting them from the cost-of-living and other infrastructure cost adjustments, which occur annually.
This program is a product of the city’s economic blueprint, which was approved in 2017. It identifies four key industries in Morgan Hill: innovation and advanced manufacturing, retail, tourism and healthcare.
Its goals are to grow existing manufacturing; attract new industry; grow professional jobs; enhance retail offerings and strengthen commercial nodes; grow leisure, agriculture, wine country and recreational tourism; and foster and grow the medical service and diagnostics industries by attracting more services and facilities.
The city has about 247 acres of vacant industrial/commercial property available for development, a 1% industrial vacancy rate, a burgeoning downtown, access to affordable housing and can help create a reverse commute for companies in Silicon Valley.
