San Mateo County weighs fix for Midcoast permit freeze

In a typical year, permit capacity is not reached, staff said at a June 30 community meeting on the topic, but 71 units approved for the Cypress Point affordable housing project alongside typical residential approvals have left only 18 new permits for both 2026 and 2027. With more than 18 applications in process, the county isn’t accepting any additional ones. 

Based on preliminary survey data from the community, residents seem in favor of “banking” unrealized permits from the last 10 years, allowing residents to apply for the number of permits that weren’t previously issued, said San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, who represents the coastside on the Board of Supervisors. 

“The community really is saying, ‘We don’t want to be in this position again, and we want to avoid triggering the automatic Coastal Commission application to increase the growth cap,’” he said. 

To avoid strain on the coastside’s roads, sewer and water infrastructure and keep pace with nearby Half Moon Bay, which has a population growth cap of up to 1.5%, the unit cap has been kept in place since 2009. 

County leadership emphasized during the community meeting that finding a solution to the freeze wasn’t intended to push growth past its limits on the Midcoast. It’s necessary to permit typical building allowances — like residents adding their homes or putting in accessory dwelling units, Planning and Building Director Steve Monowitz said. Doing nothing would likely result in a crush of applicants in January 2028 and a subsequent cap until 2031. 

“We hear stories of the people who have put in a lot of time and effort, who get to the point where they want to build,” Monowitz said. “We’re trying to be responsive to the members of this community who have legitimate desires to improve their property.” 

The county broached several other suggestions on ways to end the freeze, including banking unused permits from a shorter 10-year period and several forward-looking options that would have created future allowances. 

Mueller said he was originally supportive of the 10-year option, since he saw it as more conservative and because it offered the county greater discretion, but would move forward with what the community wanted. He attributed prior community concerns around the freeze to a lack of communication around why the county was choosing to take action. 

The county ended up at the same result. The Planning Commission had already approved the plan to bank permits from 2013 forward. This time, however, it would be with resident support, Mueller said. 

“The opportunity to really explain it in depth to the community prior was almost missed. I think that community meeting really allowed us to sit down and go through all of the thinking,” he said.

“We ended up at the same result. … This time, this result is something that the community has blessed.” 

Right now, adhering to the unit cap is a legitimate pursuit because the midcoast infrastructure is limited, prohibiting growth, Mueller said. As the county improves that infrastructure, he wants residents to be aware that the state might designate the area as ready for faster-paced growth. 

“As the infrastructure improves, it will probably capture the attention of the state Housing and Community Development, and they may say, ‘Well, infrastructure is improving, we may challenge your cap,’” Mueller said. 

For now, the county’s solution to the building permit freeze will go to the Midcoast Community Council for comment, before moving to the Board of Supervisors for a final vote in August.  

With more than 18 applications in process, a freeze on new building permit applications has been issued, the county said in an email update, but it solicited feedback on how to best proceed during a community meeting.