Rent Stabilization Debate Splits Council as Tenants, Landlords Pack Chambers

Half Moon Bay's City Council confronted the most divisive housing question on the Coastside — whether to keep, reshape, or scrap its rent stabilization and rental registry programs — in a marathon session that drew passionate testimony from tenants, landlords, realtors, and advocates before the item was continued without resolution. Separately, a fatal accident on Highway 1 lent urgency to long-delayed safety improvements and a new e-bike regulation push.

• Rent stabilization showdown ends in stalemate as council splits over three staff alternatives and punts decision to a future date

• Highway 1 North safety project nears construction after years of Caltrans delays, with $10.8M in state funding expected by June and a September 2026 start

• E-bike safety initiative launches with new city webpage, education plans, and county-wide ordinance draft as council debates licensing

• Sister City Commemorative Garden approved at the Half Moon Bay Library honoring 30-year relationship with Kariwa, Japan

• Council opposes federal offshore drilling nominations off the coast and backs bill to expand homeless funding to smaller cities

Half Moon Bay's two-and-a-half-hour deliberation on the future of its rental protections exposed a deeply fractured council, an emotionally charged community, and a policy question with no easy exit ramp.