County OKs $20 million for housing

Also included in the mix of housing developments were two Habitat for Humanity projects aimed at offering first-time-home-buying opportunities for residents, a 20-unit affordable condominium-ownership project at 612 Jefferson Ave. in Redwood City and an additional six units to be included at Geneva Commons in Daly City, according to the report.

Though the county’s sixth round of affordable housing funding allocations was largely met with enthusiasm by supervisors, it also sparked a discussion of whether $3 million in Measure K funds should be dedicated toward a 71-unit development called the Cypress Point Family Community in Moss Beach. Aimed at providing a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom below-market rate apartments for families along the county’s stretch of the coast, the development would make dozens of affordable units available in a part of the county that has historically lacked affordable housing.

A half-cent sales tax previously known as Measure A and extended by voters in 2016, Measure K has been used toward affordable housing projects, health programs and educational programs at county parks, among other initiatives.

Several Moss Beach residents stepped forward Tuesday with concerns about the development’s location and impact on the environment and traffic congestion as well as the relative lack of community resources near the 11-acre site where MidPen Housing is planning to build Cypress Point. About halfway between Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, the 11-acre site would be served by the same aging sewer infrastructure with which neighbors of the project have struggled, noted Moss Beach resident Dolores Silva.

Silva was joined by other Moss Beach residents in commending the project for increasing the county’s affordable housing stock, but urged supervisors to study the development’s potential impact on traffic congestion on the coast and the surrounding environment.

“I think these issues kind of do need a little bit more investigation,” she said, according to a live video of the meeting. “We’re not opposed to housing … we do think this could overwhelm our community and our infrastructure.”

Resident Marcia Yeates asked supervisors to also consider how close affordable housing units are to community services like grocery stores and medical facilities, noting the development could be miles away from residents’ jobs, stores and resources like child care and require residents to own a car to access them.

“I believe in growth, but I think it should be sensible and sustainable,” she said.

Supervisor Don Horsley, whose District 3 includes the development, said the site was pegged as the only one that could help the county fulfill its Regional Housing Need Allocation, or RHNA, the assigned amount of new homes each jurisdiction should build in coming years. Previously used as a homeless encampment, a skateboard park and a military training site during the World War II era, it could help house homeless residents who live on the coast in RVs and cars, said Horsley.

Though Horsley acknowledged the development was likely to affect traffic near the site, he noted the use of Measure K funds has been critical to getting affordable housing developments off the ground and available to those in need of them.

“Traffic is probably an issue and they’re going to have to figure something out,” he said. “That was what we passed Measure K for … Public money is really what’s required to be able to build affordable housing.”

Originally proposed for 148 units, Horsley said the plan was scaled back and has met the county’s requirements for infrastructure needs so far. County Planning Director Steve Monowitz added the development is in the early stages of its planning process, and would require review by the county’s Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission. Monowitz said review of the concerns neighbors of the project have raised would be evaluated throughout the monthslong planning process, and noted the earliest the Planning Commission would review MidPen’s application would be in four months.

Evelyn Stivers, executive director of the county’s Housing Leadership Council, said she was thrilled to see the list of affordable housing projects county officials opted to support this year. Stivers was joined by board President Dave Pine in noting the uptick in ongoing affordable housing developments in the county, which Stivers credited to officials’ focus on dedicating funds to the county’s housing needs in the last decade.

“It’s really the ongoing reliable source of funding that makes affordable housing nonprofits willing to look here for opportunities and find the places where we can create homes for people,” she said.

Horsley said he hoped Moss Beach residents would continue to participate in the long planning process ahead for the Cypress Point development and also looked to Measure W, a half-cent sales tax increase for transportation improvements through SamTrans put on the Nov. 6 ballot by the San Mateo County Transit District, to improve public transportation connectivity to the coast if successful.

“There’s still a long process and all the issues that they raised still have to be addressed,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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