Affordable housing continues forward, Moss Beach

Half Moon Bay Review/Kaitlyn Bartley, 8/24/16. "MidPen gets feedback at final open house."

71 family units, with 2-car parking;
but traffic, dead frogs, and
the end of coastal culture.

"MidPen Housing hosted its third and final community open house on an affordable housing development in Moss Beach on Thursday (8/18/16) before it submits a proposal for the Midcoast Community Council to consider toward the end of the year.

Time to develop this available
11-acre lot, 47 years later.

The open house offered residents an opportunity to review revisions to the site design based on community feedback at two previous open houses. The most significant change to the plans is that the site now includes 71 units instead of the previously proposed 80, and there will be two parking spots for every unit. Both changes were implemented to accommodate neighbors’ concerns about traffic and parking on nearby streets.

The land use impact of the new affordable housing development will be lighter than that of the surrounding neighborhood because the units will be smaller, according to Felix AuYeung, director of business development at MidPen Housing. “If you look at the footprint of the buildings relative to the parcel itself, you see that there’s a lot of open space leftover; whereas if you walk down the block, you have house next to house on lots,” AuYeung said. 

After the MCC considers the proposal, MidPen will submit its application to the county, followed by the standard public process of applying for approval from the county board of supervisors and the California Coastal Commission, according to AuYeung."

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Related news, the proposed development.  Half Moon Bay Review/Julia Reis, 5/18/16, "Developer prepares conceptual plan for Moss Beach lot." "Two months after hosting a well-attended open house, a Bay Area housing developer appears undaunted by criticism and is taking the next step in its evaluation of an undeveloped Moss Beach lot. .... The proposal to develop a parcel that has been vacant for decades, save for an unsanctioned skate park, has stirred controversy on the Coastside. The California School Employees Association, which has owned the 11-acre property since 1969, listed it for $4.9 million nearly a year ago. In January, MidPen announced it had entered into a purchase agreement with the union and had begun researching the lot. .... MidPen specializes in affordable housing development and management. If it decides to purchase the property, it would have to reserve 21 percent of total units for low-income households and another 14 percent for moderate-income ones. That’s because the parcel is one of three on the Midcoast designated as a potential affordable housing site in the county’s Local Coastal Program."  This topic:  for other Fix Pacifica article reprints, search this blog:  Affordable housing, Moss Beach. 

Related, the opposition.  Resist Density organization, "Who we are. Resist Density is a grassroots movement working to defend the coastal community from out-of-scale developments in Moss Beach / Montara and the greater Midcoast." "Why we are opposed to THIS development."  1. It is bad planning to position a new housing development in an isolated location. Moss Beach is 7 miles from community-oriented services without adequate transit and walkability. An additional 80 homes will translate to 100’s of additional cars relying on Highway 1. ....  2. Traffic is a significant concern for all coastside residents as commutes are becoming longer and accessibility of the coast and community-oriented services diminishes. ... 3. There is immense intrinsic value in the preservation of coastal environments and historic sites for future generations. ... 4. We have the following environmental concerns about this project."    

Note Photograph/graphics. Photograph of the land by Julia Reis from the above related Half Moon Bay article.  Map from a facepage image to the above related Resist Density organization.

Posted by Kathy Meeh