Half Moon Bay planning commissioners endorse 2024 housing-element progress report, warn low-income target may lag

The Half Moon Bay Planning Commission voted unanimously to adopt a resolution recommending the City Council submit the city's 2024 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports (APRs) to the state.

The commission's action follows a staff presentation on the APRs by Scott Phillips, who told commissioners he was "presenting this evening on, the housing element and general plan annual progress report for 2024," and outlined progress against the city's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and local programs.

Nut graf: Commissioners praised construction already underway but voiced concern about shortfalls in the low-income RHNA category and asked staff to provide a clearer, project-based projection for City Council. Staff said the city is on track in several categories — including very low-income units counted at Stone Pine Cove — but that some categories, notably "low," may require additional steps or new projects to meet targets.

Scott Phillips, the staff presenter, said the APR is a separate filing from certifying a full housing element and is due to the state by April 1. He described how RHNA credited units only when building permits are issued and explained that the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) instructed jurisdictions to split accessory dwelling unit (ADU) counts into affordability tiers (very low, low and moderate) rather than counting all ADUs as a single category.

Staff highlighted several projects that affect RHNA accounting: Stone Pine Cove (under construction and contributing very-low units), 555 Kelly Avenue and Creekside (both with entitlements and expected building-permit submittals), and a school-district site at 498 Kelly Avenue that has preliminary plans under revision. Staff also reported 15 new ADU building permits issued during 2024 and ongoing work to implement tenant protections and a rental registration program.

Commissioners concentrated their questions on projected shortfalls in the "low" income category and on how local policies and Measure D interact with ADU production. Commissioner Hernandez said the chart in the staff report suggested the low-income bucket "looks like we're not on track to hit those" and suggested the commission should provide Council with a projection that shows the effect of known upcoming projects.

Mike Noche, the city's housing element coordinator, clarified a city-maintained deed restriction case at 250 Pilarcedos Avenue: "there's 5 ownership units at that property," he said, that are deed-restricted to moderate-income owners; the city will pursue further outreach and legal review in 2025 to confirm the status of the remaining units.

Commissioner Gossett asked whether proposed teacher housing (the school-district project) would qualify in the low-income category. Staff said affordability details were still being refined with the district's consultants but that, "you would expect that many would be low," once priority occupancy and salary schedules are factored.

The commission's discussion also touched on Measure D, the local ballot allocation system for development capacity. Staff described HCD's November letter urging the city to stop using Measure D for RHNA implementation and said a joint letter with the California Coastal Commission regarding Measure D was pending. Commissioners debated whether ADUs should continue to consume Measure D allocations; there was no commission-wide direction to pursue ordinance changes, but several commissioners asked staff to provide more granular projections of how known projects and programmatic changes would move the city toward its RHNA goals.

Formal action: Commissioner motioned and the commission adopted a resolution recommending the City Council staff submit the 2024 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports to the state. The roll-call vote recorded all five commissioners as voting in favor.

Ending: Staff said the APRs and the commission's recommendation will go to the City Council next week and must be acknowledged by both the Planning Commission and City Council before the April 1 state deadline. Staff also offered to return with updated tables showing project-level projections to help Council and the commission see where gaps remain.

Votes at a glance: - Resolution recommending City Council submission of the 2024 General Plan and Housing Element APR to the state: approved, vote recorded as Rams: yes; Gossett: yes; Hernandez: aye; Reddick: yes; Vice Chair Gorn: yes.

(For full vote records for approval of meeting minutes, see actions array.)