City of Morgan Hill Economic Blueprint.docx

❖ SUPPORT DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT Downtown is not simply a business district. Downtown is the heart of the community, the living room for social gathering and the City's crown jewel. A successful Downtown can help attract investment throughout the City and lure a young, creative workforce. In order to support Downtown as a thriving retail destination and to manage growth in Downtown, the City should Identify Parking Management Strategies (Action #19) and continue to Encourage Housing Development & Office Development (Action #20) to support existing and new business growth. Downtown needs continual care and nurturing. Unlike shopping centers that have one or limited number of owners, Downtowns are comprised of many owners, both property owners and business owners.

This makes it complicated to care for the Downtown business district. Often property owners or business associations need to come together to promote and enhance the Downtown. The City should work with the Downtown property owners and Downtown businesses to Create Business Improvement District (BID) to Support Downtown Improvements and Programming (Action #21). In addition, the City should continue to work with the Morgan Hill Downtown Association to host events and market Downtown as a unique destination. Another action that can help Downtown is to Terminate Administrative Permit Process for Morgan Hill Plaza Shopping Center (Action #22) which currently requires retail tenants to get an additional permit to go into that center

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