RDCS allotments are issued to developers who wish to build residential units in the City of Morgan Hill through a project competition process. The competition is based on an evaluation system which utilizes a series of standards and criteria. For more information about the scoring criteria, refer to the Morgan Hill Municipal Code, Sections 18.78.190 – 18.78.330. Allocations are awarded on a fiscal year basis, requiring the commencement of construction in the fiscal year the allocation was awarded in. The evaluation system scoring standards and criteria are reviewed and revised following each competition.

(City Council typically updates scoring criteria on an annual basis usually during June-July.  While the municipal code on the webpage is deemed current, there maybe delays in revisions to adopted code.) 

The evaluation system used in the RDCS process benefits projects that are able to receive the greatest “points”.  In order to provide fairness in the competition, categories have been established in which projects are placed in and compared amongst. Categories can include the following (the City Council has the discretion to add or remove categories for each competition):

In addition to the competition categories, allotments are also given to ongoing projects. Ongoing projects are those projects that were awarded building allotments in previous competitions, however, were not fully allocated to complete the project. Ongoing projects can receive up 15 allotments (depending on available allotments) without submitting a new application.  Please see the Council's Residential Development Control System Implementation Policies for complete category definitions.

The City Council has policies for the RDCS to provide guidance in the implementation of the RDCS.  These include policies for:

• Exemptions
• Competition Categories
• Application Scoring
• Affordable Competition
• Definition of Physical Commencement
• Commitment for Offsite Subdivision Improvements

City Council Adopted RDCS Implementation Policies (PDF) (These were revised July 20th, 2011.  The updated policy will be posted pending final signature)

The RDCS competition is held every one to two years at the discretion of the City Council. The following is based on recent competitions (the schedule is subject to change, contact the Planning Division for the most recent schedule):

2012 RDCS Process Outline (PDF)


Filing Requirements

Subsequent to receiving RDCS building allotments, a project may need to file for typical land entitlements to complete the project including but not limited to: