Morgan Hill approves 105 builder's remedy homes at Cochrane and DePaul, with a Sprouts center next door

Morgan Hill's City Council has unanimously approved 105 single-family homes just east of the Highway 101 Cochrane Road exit. Mayor Mark Turner said a state law gave the city little choice.

"I think in these cases we have to make the best of a bad situation," Turner told San José Spotlight.

The project

According to the city's project page, the Cochrane-DePaul project is an SB 330 and builder's remedy application. It includes a vesting tentative map for 114 lots and a design permit for 105 detached homes on about 15.8 acres at the southwest corner of Cochrane Road and DePaul Drive. The Planning Commission recommended approval by a unanimous vote.

Spotlight reported that the homes will be two-story, market-rate houses with two-car garages, ranging from 2,147 to 2,615 square feet. The project includes more than 21,000 square feet of common open space near the Madrone Channel Trail.

Why the city couldn't say no

The builder's remedy lets developers bypass local height and density limits when a city lacks a state-certified housing plan. Developer High Street Residential, a Trammell Crow Company subsidiary, applied in October 2023. Morgan Hill's housing element was certified one month later, Spotlight reported.

Under a settlement the city made to avoid litigation, the roughly 28.5-acre property was split three ways: the 15.8-acre home site, a 7.8-acre parcel along Cochrane Road for a shopping center anchored by Sprouts, and a 4.7-acre parcel for affordable housing that will be transferred to the city. The developer also agreed to pay $500,000 to the city's housing fund and more than $5.8 million in lieu of building affordable units.

The project's environmental impact report lists significant, unavoidable impacts, including the loss of nearly 11 acres of farmland and exceeding the city's per-capita vehicle-miles-traveled threshold by nearly four miles.

Morgan Hill must plan for 1,037 homes by 2031 under its state housing target. Housing director John Lang told Spotlight the city is 39 homes short of that goal with more than four years left.