State warns Half Moon Bay violating housing law: City has a conditionally certified housing element and continues to work with California 

In a press release Wednesday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development said that while 92% of cities have obtained compliance with these standards and have housing elements, the 15 cities that are over two years behind in the 2023-31 housing element process could face legal action if they don’t respond to the violation notice. 

“I’m disappointed on behalf of the state and the people of California that after years of effort, we still have communities that aren’t meeting the needs of their residents,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in the press release. “There’s no carve-out here.” 

Half Moon Bay’s housing element was conditionally certified on Feb. 2, and the city is currently working through the zoning changes required for final certification, Chidester said. He attributed delays in the process to the city’s unique location in the coastal zone, which means the city needs approval from the Coastal Commission, as well as HCD, to move forward. 

“Every city on that list is in a very different place in the process,” Chidester said. “I know for us, we’ve been working on this consistently since before it was due, all the way through, and it’s been through several review processes.” 

Production of new housing stock in Half Moon Bay is also uniquely complicated by the city’s population growth cap, known as Measure D, which requires development certification to be allocated based on the city’s number of individuals per household. The measure imposes a 1% to 1.5% annual population growth limit in Half Moon Bay by allocating a limited number of new housing certificates, including for ADUs and junior accessory dwelling units.

Conversations between the Coastal Commission and HCD further slowed Half Moon Bay’s progression on its housing element, Chidester said. 

“The biggest nuanced difference is Measure D,” he said. “There were decisions between HCD and the Coastal Commission about Measure D in relation to our housing element.” 

Previously, HCD requested the city bring a ballot measure to voters that would exempt accessory dwelling units from its population growth cap during the housing element process, an ask that was vetoed by councilmembers. 

“HCD doesn’t have any right to command us to do anything,” Councilmember Deborah Penrose said during a City Council meeting Nov. 4, 2025. 

Measure D has thus far escaped state requirements to eliminate ADUs and JADUs from growth management programs because of Half Moon Bay’s coastal proximity. The California Coastal Commission’s Local Coastal Program sets its own standards for land use and zoning in coastal areas, but these standards have incurred increasing tension with the state’s housing element standards, which mandate the amount of new housing each California city must plan for construction.

Chidester said that the city had worked out a compromise with HCD, with plans to bring a separate ballot measure to voters to amend the downtown map, a move that would ostensibly allow for more applicants to receive Measure D vouchers. Councilmembers also previously acquiesced to reducing ADUs and junior accessory dwelling units to .5 of a Measure D allocation or less. 

This isn’t the first time Measure D, the city’s housing element and its affordable housing production, raised questions within the community and the state. The Half Moon Bay Planning Commission debated the impacts of changing Measure D in 2024, and Newsom excoriated the city for failure to move senior affordable housing forward that same year. 

Despite that, Chidester said the city had a good working relationship with HCD and would continue to work with them to get the Half Moon Bay housing element formally approved. The state’s threat that cities who fail to meet compliance could face legal action is concerning, he acknowledged, but said Half Moon Bay would continue to work in good faith. 

“I think when we meet with them, we’ll be able to be on the same page,” he said. “We do think we’ll be able to work this out without litigation.”