Farmworker housing moves ahead in Half Moon Bay

Supporters of the project, including those from co-applicant Ayudando Latinos A Soñar — a Latino cultural arts and programming organization that will have a resource center on the first floor of the building — emotionally celebrated after the decision was made.

Detractors of the development, however, raised a bevy of concerns about the size of the building, safety concerns from increased parking and traffic, the approval process, and the local coastal land use plan.

Between the project’s original 2022 proposal and its current iteration, it gained a story and increase in one and two-bedroom units to meet the needs of the community it would be serving, Ramie Dare, regional real estate director at Mercy Housing — a co-applicant on the project — said.

The design change drew concern from some residents, including Councilmember Deborah Penrose, who was not aware of the changes until recently, she said. Penrose ultimately decided in favor of the project, however.

“When I came in tonight, I was going to make a motion to move to reject the project and approve it as it was originally submitted to the City Council,” she said. “I have to go with my heart and not my head. And if it’s a stupid project, which it may end up being, it may end up hurting a lot of people, because of traffic conditions, parking conditions ... then I’ve made a mistake. But I’m willing to make the mistake, because it’s what my heart tells me to do.”

Mercy Housing, a co-applicant on the $43 million project, has secured $8 million in public funding and is working toward the remaining money, real estate director Ramie Dare said. Because of the appeals, $12 million in county funding was recently denied, however, Mercy Housing will be reapplying later in the year.

The proposed development at 555 Kelly Ave. had been in the works since 2022, months before a deadly shooting at a mushroom farm in Half Moon Bay took the lives of seven farmworkers and a subsequent investigation revealed squalid and untenable farmworker living conditions in the area.

In the aftermath, a conscientious effort has been made to provide adequate housing for farmworkers — which is sorely needed, along with comprehensive service programs like that of the proposed ALAS resource center, farmworker Rocio Avila said during public comment.

“It is not only the building of houses that is needed, but also social services to satisfy the needs of the people that have lived in poverty for so many years,” she said. “The needs are accumulating, and that doesn’t change from one day to the other.”

But appellants, like Half Moon Bay resident Jennifer Moore, voiced concerns around the project’s lot lines, infill and parking and traffic considerations for drivers and pedestrians.

“I believe that this housing should be done, I just don’t believe mass density housing is what Half Moon Bay and the coastside needs,” she said. “I believe we can do much better for our farmers.”

Other appellants, like Paul Nagengast, focused his complaints around the nearby Kelly Avenue intersection, which he said was dangerous. Former Half Moon Bay mayor Mike Ferreira’s appeal centered on what he termed a lack of transparency and City Council control around the project’s changes.

“I want you guys to be in control and conscious of what the details are,” he said. “Do you really think this is going to get through without considerable delay? Now people are worked up about this.”

Councilmember Debbie Ruddock requested project conditions of approval to address parking, traffic and safety concerns be put on the development and said she would have preferred the city not utilize the state density bonus law that makes the project’s five-story height limit legal in Half Moon Bay’s downtown because it’s 100% affordable housing.

Instead, the city could work to update its own Local Coastal Land Use Plan and set a precedent of local control over planning decisions, Ruddock said.

“It is a process that would put us in touch with this planning process that’s emerging in coastal jurisdictions, to balance density bonus with coastal act protections,” she said.

But other councilmembers, like Robert Brownstone, saw the project as an opportunity to prove that senior farmworkers were worthy of consideration and care.

“It’s for neighbors who are often unseen. They don’t have a voice. You heard how hard farmworkers work to put food on our tables,” he said. “It’s a drop on the bucket to provide the dignity of quality housing for people in their senior years.”

Mayor Joaquin Jimenez recused himself from the vote because of his previous ties to ALAS.