Half Moon Bay City Council approves lease for senior farmworker housing project

After four years of heated conversation over whether the project — which will be a five-story, 40-unit building at 555 Kelly Ave. designed to house senior coastside agricultural workers — is out of place in Half Moon Bay’s downtown, both party’s positions are well-cemented. 

“At the end of the day, it really amounts to caring. It amounts to giving dignified housing to such a dignified group of people,” Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, director of cultural nonprofit Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, said. ALAS is a partner on the project. 

The state has also made its position clear, issuing a warning to the city weeks ago that not approving the lease could result in noncompliance with Half Moon Bay’s housing element. Though the project was originally approved years ago, stagnation of the process in its Planning Commission phase also resulted in a prior warning from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Those against the development maintain its height and size will cause undue impact on the local community and highlighted an effort to get a referendum on the November ballot allowing voters to decide whether it should proceed. The group Let Half Moon Bay Voters Decide, which did not respond to request for comment, is collecting signatures for the movement.

“It’s not really about the farmworkers not deserving housing. They are,” resident Sandy Vela said. “It’s always been about building a building that’s way too big for the city of Half Moon Bay in the wrong spot.” 

Nagengast — who, before his tenure on council, filed an appeal against the project — unsuccessfully requested an amendment be added to the agreement stipulating that if a brewing referendum passed, the city would not be held liable. After being told that would be a legally pointless addition, Nagengast still made clear the details of the lease and affordable housing agreements weren’t satisfactory to him. 

“I hope the agreements are solid, and I will continue to promote safety, but I can’t get there, no,” he said.  

Another unresolved point of contention around the project was the lack of earthquake insurance, which Mercy Housing said was standard practice for affordable housing developments since its purchase would be financially infeasible. 

Despite reassurances that the project would be built to strict earthquake-safe code, Mayor Debbie Ruddock expressed serious concerns that the city would be left with the bill in case of catastrophe. She voted yes, however, on introducing the ordinance to approve both the ground lease and affordable housing agreement. Once the first reading is approved, only minor changes to the ordinance can be made, the city’s legal counsel said. 

“I’m going to vote yes to introduce,” Ruddock said. 

The City Council did agree on other changes to the leasing agreement, including a stipulation that project financing should be finalized by Dec. 31, 2028, or the agreement could be terminated, with an option to extend that date. 

Currently, Mercy Housing has obtained $20 million of the $43 million it says will be required to build the farmworker housing. 

Because affordable housing relies on a bureaucratic system of state and county money, Half Moon Bay needs to accept a certain amount of uncertainty around the project, Vice Mayor Deborah Penrose, a longtime supporter of 555 Kelly, said. 

“I’m quite satisfied with Mercy’s responses to the questions. They are very agreeable and they want the project to go through,” she said. “This is a very common path for nonprofits in terms of financing. If you’re going to have affordable housing, you’re going to have to put up with insecurity around it.”