Half Moon Bay City Council Regular Meeting - December 5, 2024
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Half Moon Bay City Council Regular Meeting - December 5, 2024
The Half Moon Bay City Council held a regular meeting on December 5, 2024, at the Ted Adcock Community Center. The meeting included a proclamation for outgoing Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, public comments, discussion of objective design standards, legislative advocacy updates, financial reports, and approvals for Measure D allocations, a parking lot lease, Measure R implementation, and a city manager contract amendment. The meeting was hybrid with in-person and Zoom participation.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items 1A (waive reading of resolutions), 1B (reappoint Kati Martin to Mosquito and Vector Control District), and 1D (AB 1600 report on development impact fees). Items 1C and 1E were pulled for separate discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Rocio Avila (via Zoom) thanked Congresswoman Eshoo for her work on Moonridge and farmworker housing, and urged continued efforts for dignified housing.
- Unnamed speaker expressed gratitude for pedestrian safety awareness campaign by Sheriff Chichoff and new sidewalks on Poplar Street.
- Dan Haggerty (Midcoast Community Council) spoke on behalf of himself, requesting adjustments to the Frenchman's Creek traffic light timing to reduce backups on Highway 1, and advocated for an underpass feasibility study.
Discussion Items
- Item 2A - Resolution of Public Interest for Stone Pine Road Sale: Staff recommended continuing the public hearing to December 16, 2024. Council voted unanimously to continue to that date.
- Item 3A - Objective Design Standards (ODS): Associate Planner O'Coe Wilson presented a status update on developing ODS for multifamily housing to comply with SB 423 (effective January 1, 2025). Options included Option 1 (fast track adoption), Option 2 (more outreach), Option 3 (comprehensive review). Council members expressed urgency due to a gap period where projects could receive ministerial approval without standards. Planning Commissioner Rick Hernandez (speaking individually) recommended Option 1 and interim emergency standards. Council directed staff to pursue Option 1, develop interim standards by year-end, and schedule a joint study session with AAC, Planning Commission, and Council.
- Item 3B - Legislative Advocacy Update: Carly Shelby of Townsend Public Affairs reviewed 2024 state legislation, including bills on coastal land use, bonds (Prop 4), and the state budget. She noted the passage of Prop 4 and Prop 36, and anticipated a focus on fire insurance and coastal land use in 2025. Council expressed interest in pursuing state coastal conservancy grants.
- Item 1C - 2025 Measure D Allocation: Senior Planner Scott Phillips explained the annual allocation of 67 residential dwelling units (45 downtown, 22 outside). Council member Rarback questioned flexibility to reallocate unused downtown units to clear the waitlist, but staff clarified that the Municipal Code and certified LCLUP require downtown allocations to be issued before coastal permits, preventing transfers. A prior resolution also prohibits transfer if downtown applications are pending. Council voted to adopt the resolution as presented.
- Item 1E - Parking Lot Lease Extension: City Manager Matthew Chidester presented the sixth amendment to lease 730 Mill Street as a public parking lot (30 spaces) through December 31, 2029, with 3% annual increases. Council discussed possible metered parking and a right of first refusal for acquisition. Council directed staff to negotiate including these terms and authorized execution if parameters are met. Motion passed unanimously.
- Item 3C - Financial Report Q1: Administrative Services Director Ken reported revenues at 10% of budget, with TOT slightly below expectations. Expenditures at 11% of budget. Council accepted the report and authorized carryforward entries for capital projects.
- Item 3D - Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR): Ken presented a draft audit for FY 2023-24, showing a reduced deficit of $1.8 million (from $4.9 million projected). Council received the update; final approval will come on consent.
- Item 3E - Measure R Implementation: Ken presented resolutions to authorize agreements with CDTFA and appropriate $175,000 for preparatory costs. The half-cent sales tax takes effect April 1, 2025, with first disbursement in June. Council approved all three resolutions unanimously.
- Item 3F - City Manager Contract Amendment: Councilmember Penrose summarized the second amendment extending the term to May 19, 2026, increasing salary to $281,138.50 (3% raise effective July 1, 2024), and adding language for future CPI adjustments and independent facilitator for evaluations. The amendment was added to the agenda packet on Monday. Public commenter Dan Haggerty urged postponement pending new council members. Council voted 5-0 to approve.
Key Outcomes
- Continued public hearing for Stone Pine Road sale to December 16, 2024.
- Directed staff to develop Objective Design Standards under Option 1 with interim emergency standards by year-end and a joint study session.
- Adopted 2025 Measure D allocation resolution: 67 units (45 downtown, 22 outside).
- Authorized lease extension for 730 Mill Street parking lot through 2029, with negotiation for right of first refusal and metered parking exploration.
- Accepted Q1 financial report and authorized carryforward entries.
- Received ACFR draft; final approval on consent.
- Approved Measure R implementation agreements and $175,000 appropriation.
- Approved city manager contract amendment with salary increase and term extension.
Meeting Transcript
For your service to the community. It's been the honor of my lifetime to represent San Mateo in Congress, Amateo County and Congress for 32 years. And I'm so proud that for my final term, our congressional district included the entire coastside for the very first time. So it is a bittersweet time for me. It's time for me to go off and smell the roses. Since Half Moon Bay was once again included in my congressional district two years ago, I've made supporting our farm worker community a priority, including securing $3 million for the Stone Pine Cover Manufacturing Manufactured Housing Community and 1.8 million dollars for the affordable housing development at the 555 Kelly Avenue. So as I conclude my congressional service, I I want to share the following thought with you. Others are very pleased. But what I want to share with you is the is the following. So I say to each one of you and to everyone that's in the chamber and maybe listening into this evening's meeting. And I said, Mom, why don't we go out for a ride? She said, Well, I said, uh would you like to go out and um uh and if so, where would you like to go? And she said, I'd like to go to Half Moon Bay. Uh she loved it. And shortly after that, God called her. So Half Moon Bay is um uh is in the center of the heart of my family and certainly mine. So uh I thank you for your partnership. I couldn't have asked for better partners. I've seen the council really stand tall um uh to bring about the changes with the tragedy that took place in Half Moon Bay. Uh and I'm exceedingly proud of you. Uh more than anything else, I'm grateful to you and for you, and uh thank you for giving me this uh time this evening. I'll come over and visit, you'll see me. I'm coming home to stay home at the end of the year, and um uh hopefully I'll bring my little baby granddaughter with me so I can show her off to all of you. So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. No, thank you, Anna. You're an incredibly uh great resource. Uh you've worked so hard for the coast side and everything you've done, starting with Moonridge, uh the money for 880 Stone Pine, 550 Kelly. You really care about the coast side and we really appreciate that. So I I'm grateful to have you in Congress, and I'm gonna miss you very much. Thank you. Oh, you're very kind, you're very kind, and I hope you have uh really uh marvelous holidays and uh get some good rest too. Everyone needs a little bit of a break. Anna, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have uh you have been here, you know. You have been here, your your presence is warm, your presence is true, and it you do everything you can to be real and to be honest and to be faithful to what you believe in. So you're an uh a real model for me. Thank you. Um beautiful words. I'd like to just add to that, Anna. Uh for me, you are a model public servant, that you you understand the sacred trust, you know, in the job, you show up, you work hard, you do your homework. Um, you're thoughtful and and good hearted. I mean, just a model public servant for me. And I'll I agree with Harvey, you know, we will miss you uh very much and really do hope that you'll you'll come and visit and um stay active, you know, on some level. Um absolutely, absolutely I will. I love uh the community uh uh immensely. Uh and you know, in in uh our district is a very beautiful congressional district. The coast side is uh is a place that people come from all over the world to see. It's a you really see the hand of God in the in the uh in the shaping of all of it.
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