State Calls on Half Moon Bay to Approve Housing for Senior Farmworkers

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today issued a letter to the chair and members of the Half Moon Bay Planning Commission, expressing support for a planned HCD-funded affordable housing project and cautioning that delaying or denying the project "may result in the violation of one or more state housing laws."

In January 2023, a shooting in Half Moon Bay claimed seven lives. In the days that followed, the tragedy also exposed squalid living conditions for local farmworkers and highlighted the urgent need for quality affordable housing. Yet a project to build a 40-unit complex for very low- and extremely low-income senior farmworkers on city-owned land has hit a roadblock at the Planning Commission, which has scheduled a third hearing on the project for May 14.

In a strongly worded statement, Governor Gavin Newsom called the delay "egregious" and pledged that HCD's Housing Accountability Unit would "take all necessary steps to hold Half Moon Bay accountable if the project does not move forward as state law requires."

HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez echoed the Governor's sentiments on social media, writing, "HCD is ready to tackle this one, working with Half Moon Bay officials and development partners to see this built. This is what our housing accountability shop was created for, and this is what we will continue to focus on."

Read HCD's letter to Half Moon Bay Planning Commissioners.