OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Half Moon Bay City Council and Planning Commission Special Study Session on Measure D - January 13, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, January 13, 2026
BodyHalf Moon Bay, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, January 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:08:54
Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

You can still make public comment.

0:07

During any public comment portions, attendees may use the raise your hand feature and will be called upon and unmuted when it is your turn to speak.

0:16

If joining by phone, use star nine to raise your hand, star six to mute and unmute.

0:22

We also have Spanish interpretation services here tonight, available in person and via Zoom.

0:28

On point language solutions is in the back left corner if anyone needs assistance with interpretation services.

0:35

Victor and Nicholas will now provide information on how to receive interpretation services if you are in need of them.

0:43

Victor and Nicholas, provide this information in Spanish for the audience.

0:59

Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council members, all staff, members of the public, Victor Hernandez, Spanish interpreter.

1:06

We want to start this.

1:46

Thank you.

1:47

Gracias, Victor.

1:50

Could I have the uh clerk take the roll call, please?

1:53

Yes.

1:54

We will um start with uh Councilmember Nagingast.

2:00

Here.

2:00

Councilmember Johan Johnson.

2:03

Here.

2:04

Council Member Brownstone.

2:06

Here.

2:06

Vice Mayor Penrose here.

2:08

And Mayor Reddick.

2:10

Here.

2:10

All are here on that.

2:11

Now we have Penning Commissioners.

2:13

We have Commissioner.

2:17

I'm sorry, Commissioner Reddick.

2:19

I'm here with a bad mic.

2:21

Oh.

2:22

Just the light doesn't work.

2:24

The mic's fine.

2:25

Yeah, there you go.

2:28

We have Vice Chair Hernandez.

2:31

I am present.

2:32

And we have Chair Gorn.

2:35

We have three Penny Commissioners and all five council members present this evening.

2:40

Great.

2:41

So this is a special study session of the City Council and Planning Commission to review the city of Half Moon Bay's growth management system, which is municipal code chapter 17.06, also known as Measure D and the allocation system that implements that system.

3:08

So I'm going to be a little bit rigorous on asking for Planning Commission and City Council questions and input.

3:17

So I'm going to start with a city council member and follow by a commissioner and then alternate.

3:24

So that's one thing.

3:37

But you're going to want to keep your input, you know, in questions like more general.

3:44

You want to distill it into issues relating to Measure D as opposed to getting down into the weeds in the form of recommendations on specific changes to the allocation system, you know, that sort of thing.

3:58

So questions on any of it, you know, are welcome, but you know, we're not here to redo measure D or the implementation system tonight, but to give uh you know general direction uh to staff and uh to allow the public to ask questions and become educated on all of measure D.

4:18

So I know that we had a very robust discussion on the safety element as well as the wildfire maps.

4:24

Went into a lot of detail.

4:26

I don't want a meeting like that tonight.

4:28

You know, I'd like us to be done, you know, by 10 o'clock or so.

4:32

So try to keep your your comments, um, your questions can be detailed.

4:37

Keep your comments as general as possible in the form of, you know, direction um to staff for for future meetings because we're going to be talking about, you know, Measure D in the allocation system probably a few times this year.

4:52

Um it's already, you know, too late to change things for the 2026 allocation program.

4:58

So, you know, we have time, it's going to come back.

5:01

So let's just keep that in mind, you know, when we're commenting and asking our questions.

5:04

That's all I would ask.

5:06

And with that, I would ask Leslie and Okoe to begin their staff report.

5:12

Good evening, honorable mayor, city council, and planning commissioners.

5:17

Thank you all for being here tonight.

5:19

I'm going to be taking us through an overview of Measure D, and I just want to preface this by saying we tried our best to incorporate as much as we can about Measure D, but this is a quite a nuanced item, and so there is a lot to it, and so we may not cover every single detail, but we'll certainly be here to answer any questions that may come up.

5:45

So tonight I will walk us through the background of Measure D a little bit on the history of it, and then we'll discuss the process of Measure D, City Council's role, planning commissioners' roles, and staff's role.

5:59

And then we will discuss some of the trends that we've been seeing with Measure D, and I'll provide some information on some updates that have been in discussion, or you or members of the public may have seen, and then information on the next steps.

6:16

So Measure D is the city's growth management system.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████82%
Procedural███████12%
Environmental Protection█1%
Public Safety█1%
Engineering And Infrastructure█1%
Fiscal Sustainability█1%
Personnel Matters█1%
Community Engagement█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Half Moon Bay City Council and Planning Commission Special Study Session on Measure D Growth Management System - January 13, 2026

The City Council and Planning Commission held a joint study session to review Measure D, the voter-approved growth management system (Municipal Code Chapter 17.06), and its allocation process. Staff presented an overview of the history, annual process, trends, and potential updates. Council and commissioners asked clarifying questions, heard public comment, and provided direction on possible improvements, including fractional ADU allocations, updating scoring criteria for fire resilience, and a potential map change.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Greg Jameson suggested awarding bonus points to applicants who reapply after being denied in previous years.
  • Nancy Fontana raised concerns about deed restrictions limiting seniors from moving into an ADU for aging in place, and noted that shade tree requirements may conflict with fire safety.

Discussion Items

  • Measure D Overview: Staff (Leslie and Okoe) presented the background, including Measure A (1991) and Measure D (1999), which limits residential growth to 1.5% (1% base + 0.5% downtown bonus). The allocation process involves annual unit authorization (December), application period (January), scoring/ratification (by April), and possible transfers (September) for downtown base allocations.
  • Trends and Challenges: Since 2020, demand for ADUs has been high (50–75% of applications outside downtown). Scoring has become competitive, with some applicants reapplying multiple years without success due to location-based criteria (e.g., walkability). Staff noted that deed restrictions for affordable units (worth 35 points) are not currently tracked post-construction.
  • Potential Updates: Housing Element commitments include revising ADU allocations to a fraction (e.g., half), rolling over unused allocations for ADUs/affordable housing, and administrative improvements like scoring updates (fire regulations, allocation calculation). Changing the downtown map to align with the LUP town center would require a ballot measure.
  • Council and Commission Questions: Topics included expired/unused allocations (one-year expiration extended if permitting commenced), lack of deed restriction tracking, unequal impact of walkability scores, possibility of using LUP map over the current redevelopment map, fire safety scoring (home hardening, fire-resistant landscaping), and staff workload in scoring applications.

Key Outcomes

  • Consensus on Code Amendments: Council and commission supported moving forward with code amendments to fractionalize ADU allocations (likely half) and to allow rollover of unused allocations for affordable housing/ADUs, as committed in the Housing Element.
  • Scoring Criteria Review: Agreed to revisit scoring criteria, particularly to incorporate fire resilience, defensible space, home hardening, and appropriate landscaping (fire-resistant plants). The Planning Commission will be tasked with developing options, including incremental changes and a potential lottery system for middle-tier applications to reduce staff burden.
  • Map Change: There was general consensus to consider changing the Measure D downtown map to match the LUP town center map, with a potential ballot measure for November 2026. Staff will prepare analysis and messaging.
  • Process Improvements: Directions included tracking deed restrictions and building permit timelines, clarifying vesting and expiration language in the code, exploring a customer feedback survey for completed projects, and evaluating the need for additional staffing to expedite permitting.
  • Next Steps: Staff will bring back proposals to the Planning Commission for further discussion on scoring criteria and possibly a map change. The current 2026 application period remains open until January 30, with scoring anticipated in March/April.

Meeting Transcript

You can still make public comment. During any public comment portions, attendees may use the raise your hand feature and will be called upon and unmuted when it is your turn to speak. If joining by phone, use star nine to raise your hand, star six to mute and unmute. We also have Spanish interpretation services here tonight, available in person and via Zoom. On point language solutions is in the back left corner if anyone needs assistance with interpretation services. Victor and Nicholas will now provide information on how to receive interpretation services if you are in need of them. Victor and Nicholas, provide this information in Spanish for the audience. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council members, all staff, members of the public, Victor Hernandez, Spanish interpreter. We want to start this. Thank you. Gracias, Victor. Could I have the uh clerk take the roll call, please? Yes. We will um start with uh Councilmember Nagingast. Here. Councilmember Johan Johnson. Here. Council Member Brownstone. Here. Vice Mayor Penrose here. And Mayor Reddick. Here. All are here on that. Now we have Penning Commissioners. We have Commissioner. I'm sorry, Commissioner Reddick. I'm here with a bad mic. Oh. Just the light doesn't work. The mic's fine. Yeah, there you go. We have Vice Chair Hernandez. I am present. And we have Chair Gorn. We have three Penny Commissioners and all five council members present this evening. Great. So this is a special study session of the City Council and Planning Commission to review the city of Half Moon Bay's growth management system, which is municipal code chapter 17.06, also known as Measure D and the allocation system that implements that system. So I'm going to be a little bit rigorous on asking for Planning Commission and City Council questions and input. So I'm going to start with a city council member and follow by a commissioner and then alternate. So that's one thing. But you're going to want to keep your input, you know, in questions like more general. You want to distill it into issues relating to Measure D as opposed to getting down into the weeds in the form of recommendations on specific changes to the allocation system, you know, that sort of thing. So questions on any of it, you know, are welcome, but you know, we're not here to redo measure D or the implementation system tonight, but to give uh you know general direction uh to staff and uh to allow the public to ask questions and become educated on all of measure D. So I know that we had a very robust discussion on the safety element as well as the wildfire maps. Went into a lot of detail. I don't want a meeting like that tonight. You know, I'd like us to be done, you know, by 10 o'clock or so. So try to keep your your comments, um, your questions can be detailed. Keep your comments as general as possible in the form of, you know, direction um to staff for for future meetings because we're going to be talking about, you know, Measure D in the allocation system probably a few times this year. Um it's already, you know, too late to change things for the 2026 allocation program.

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