Pre-application permits have been filed for a new suburban tract at 1245 Diana Avenue in Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County. The builder’s remedy has been invoked in the property owner’s goal to construct 106 homes on the 20-acre site. San Jose-based Borelli Investment Company is sponsoring the application.
MH Engineering Co, the civil engineer, is responsible for the application. SDG Architects will be responsible for the design. Illustrations shared by the county planning department show the firm is considering four distinct architectural styles to cover the two-story structures: Craftsman, Farmhouse, Italianate, and Spanish Revival.
1245 Diana Avenue Italianate-style single family home, illustration by SDG Architects
1245 Diana Avenue craftsman-style duet, illustration by SDG Architects
Construction would bring 95 structures spanning nearly a quarter million square feet, with 84 single-family homes and 11 duplex structures to contain the affordable housing. Full build-out aims to bring 106 units across the roughly 20-acre site, averaging a density of 5.3 units per acre. Since 22 units will be affordable, the developer can invoke Senate Bill 330 and the Builder’s Remedy to streamline the approval process while sidestepping local zoning restrictions.
The property is owned by Nicholas Gera, a Saratoga-based individual who is linked with over five dozen other properties across Santa Clara County. Public records show it was last sold in 2015 and is estimated to be worth around $1.1 million.
The proposed tract is located at the corner of Diana Avenue and Condit Road, close to East Main Avenue and US 101. Future residents will be about two miles from Morgan Hill’s primary commercial center and the Caltrain station.
1245 Diana Avenue site map, illustration by SDG Architects
The estimated cost and timeline for construction have yet to be established.
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Builder Remedy should not apply to more sprawl
All new housing is a positive.
That said, I am actually a fan of building dense apartment complexes on the periphery of metros. Nobody thinks this way, but this pulls a lot of the economic activity into the periphery and makes new areas viable for small businesses like restaurants.
Since it says that the site is 2 miles away from Caltrain, its still okay to build SFH. What is criminal is to have SFH within a mile of Caltrain or BART.
Now YIMBYs support suburban sprawl? There’s farms all around this site. The front of the house is simply a garage, so sterile suburban streets lined with garages. Not all housing is a positive. This proposal is a negative.