The Half Moon Bay City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to reject objections to the development of a 40-unit apartment complex for elderly farmworkers within the downtown area, clearing the best way for the project to proceed.
The complex, which was approved by the town's Planning Commission on May 14, faced three objections from residents concerned concerning the size of the constructing and its impact on traffic and parking.
But the 4 city council members present unanimously rejected the appointments. Mayor Joaquin Jimenez abstained from the vote due to his previous work with Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (ALAS), a nonprofit organization supporting Latinos within the coastal region that’s co-leading the project.
“The farmworker community has lived in the shadows for so long,” said Lilli Rey, ALAS board member. “It’s time to stand up for the community.”
After a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay last yr left seven employees of two farms dead and exposed the deplorable living conditions of many California farm staff, local authorities announced they’d improve the housing of farm staff.
The City Council's decision comes after the town's Planning Commission twice postponed its vote on the project, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to release a press release threatening possible legal motion if the project didn’t move forward. If the town had not approved the complex by July 2 – the deadline to use for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program – the project might have been delayed one other yr. Nonprofit developer Mercy Housing still needs to boost the remaining funds needed to start the project.
The complex could be situated at 555 Kelly Ave. in downtown Half Moon Bay, inside walking distance of a community center, shops, medical clinics, churches and a farmers market. The 40 apartments would all be reasonably priced and limited to very low and very low income residents over the age of 55. The ground floor would come with a farmworker resource center offering services from ALAS.
Half Moon Bay farmworker and ALAS community organizer Rocio Avila was certainly one of several farmworkers who spoke on the meeting. Avila told this news organization in Spanish that until recently she lived in a small room along with her husband and three children.
Avila said many older farmworkers have difficulty finding housing.
“There are people who have been working in the fields for over 30, 40 years and still need space,” she says. “People live with other people or sometimes have to rent rooms. They don't have a suitable place to rest.”
For Avila, 555 Kelly is a step in the appropriate direction.
“This close, centralized housing and the resources it would provide would be really important for the entire farmworker community, especially the older, more integral people who live very far from the city center and the resources of the county and the city,” Avila said. Of particular importance could be the proximity to clinics for a population that usually struggles to acquire medical and dental care, she said.
Planning for the complex began in 2022, when the town asked for proposals for reasonably priced housing projects on city-owned land at 555 Kelly. The only proposal got here from the duo ALAS and Mercy Housing.
Rey, an ALAS board member, said the organization has served greater than 700 farmworkers since 2020, “20% of whom are seniors” who could possibly be eligible for such accommodations.
Originally, a four-story constructing was planned, with the farmworker resource center on the bottom floor and apartments upstairs, most of which were planned as studios. Later, developers reduced the variety of studio apartments and added more one- and two-bedroom apartments that higher suited the needs of the community, bringing the complex to 5 stories.
Opponents of the project have concerns concerning the design change, particularly the peak of the constructing after adding a fifth floor, in addition to parking and traffic issues. ALAS and Mercy said they’ve taken the concerns seriously and reduced the peak of every floor to scale back the constructing height by five feet. ALAS also is not going to hold events on the times the town's farmers market is held to alleviate parking problems, Rey said.
Three objections have been filed against the project. The objection got here from Mike Ferreira, a former mayor of Half Moon Bay who served on the town's planning commission within the 2000s, hair salon owner Jennifer Moore and former deputy city manager Paul Nagengast.
Moore, whose salon is on the identical street as 555 Kelly, cited quite a few concerns, including traffic.
Ferreira said he was particularly concerned about changes made to the project because it was proposed, including increasing constructing height and capability. He said the planning committee had “reluctantly” approved the project.
Rabbi Moshe Tom Heyn, certainly one of several religious leaders who spoke on the meeting, called on the community to support its most vulnerable.
“We should always rely on compassion,” said Heyn. “Finding the perfect solution may be impossible.”
image credit : www.mercurynews.com