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Half Moon Bay council votes to move to state tenant protections and begin repeal of local rent stabilization and registry
Summary
After hours of testimony from tenants, legal aid groups and landlords, the Half Moon Bay City Council voted March 17 to adopt Alternative 3 — directing staff to begin repealing the city's local rent stabilization ordinance and rental registry and to pursue strengthened tenant supports while aligning regulation with the State Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482).
Half Moon Bay's City Council voted March 17 to adopt staff'recommended Alternative 3, directing city staff to begin the process to repeal the city's local residential rent stabilization ordinance and the residential rental registry and to rely primarily on the state Tenant Protection Act (Assembly Bill 1482) while pursuing expanded tenant support services.
The decision followed a multi-hour staff presentation led by Irma Acosta of the city manager's office outlining four policy options ranging from retaining the local programs as-is to fully repealing them and shifting to service-based supports and state enforcement. Staff emphasized tradeoffs among local oversight capacity, enforcement mechanics, administrative costs and the value of registry data for local housing monitoring.
Public comment stretched across a wide range of perspectives. Tenant advocates and legal-service providers urged the council to keep local protections and the registry, saying local processes enable faster, lower-cost enforcement for low-income tenants than relying on state law and civil litigation. "A local rent stabilization ordinance and registry provide accessible enforcement and help level the playing field for tenants who otherwise cannot pursue slow, costly civil suits," Hyunmi Kim, a housing-rights attorney with Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, told council.
Landlords, realtor representatives and some residents argued the local program imposes burdens and cybersecurity concerns for small owners and said the city should instead expand emergency rental assistance and legal services. Fernando Pena, speaking for the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, urged council to repeal and pair repeal with an emergency rental-assistance program run by a nonprofit such as Project Sentinel.
Council members debated the merits and limits of state law enforcement, costs and the registry's usefulness. Several members said AB 1482 sets a statewide rent-cap formula but lacks an accessible enforcement pathway for many tenants; others said the city's registry has produced useful local market data and could be preserved in a modified, less punitive form. After back-and-forth about whether to amend the local ordinance or repeal it and how to guarantee tenant protections, the mayor called the motion to adopt Alternative 3.
The roll call recorded Council member Johnson and Council member Nagengast voting yes, Vice Mayor Penrose voting no, and Mayor Redick voting yes; the mayor declared the motion carries. (The transcript does not record a clear audible vote by Council member Brownstone on the final roll call.) City staff said they will return with the formal steps to repeal the ordinances and also bring recommendations for tenant supports, data collection alternatives and possible partnerships with organizations such as Project Sentinel, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and community providers.
What happens next: staff will draft the ordinance repeal steps and a plan for continued tenant protections and market monitoring, and will return to council with specific implementation options and cost estimates. Council members also asked staff to explore nonpunitive ways to maintain useful housing market data, property-safety inspection options, and emergency rental-assistance models.
