MCC Votes 5-2 to Bank Unused Housing Permits Back to 2013

The Midcoast Community Council wrestled with the consequences of state housing mandates Tuesday night, ultimately endorsing a backward-looking formula to absorb Cypress Point's 62-unit affordable housing overage while keeping the coast's 40-unit annual building cap alive — a compromise some members called a surrender and others called the best available defense against Sacramento.

• Council backs Option E, banking ~105 unused permits since 2013 to preserve the 40-unit housing cap and avoid a state-mandated request to the Coastal Commission for a 50% increase
• Draft safety element update adds climate adaptation, sea level rise, and evacuation policies to the general plan; MCC secures extended comment deadline
• Residents flag Highway 1 as a single-exit evacuation bottleneck, citing a UC Santa Barbara study linking fewer than six escape routes to higher wildfire fatalities
• CPUC comment letter approved 7-0, demanding wireless carriers restore service within 24 hours
• Multi-agency coordination effort advances toward quarterly meetings; Surfers Beach parking dispute remains unresolved
• Public commenters allege Montara Water abandoned sewer mains serving five Seal Cove homes without explanation

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The Housing Cap Showdown

The most contentious item of the night consumed nearly two hours as the council debated how to reconcile the coast's 40-unit annual housing cap — modeled on Half Moon Bay's Measure D — with state housing mandates that could render it meaningless.

The basics: The county's housing element, certified by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, includes Policy 11.6, which requires the county to request a 50% cap increase from the Coastal Commission if the 40-unit limit is reached. When Cypress Point's 71 affordable units received permits in 2025, they blew past the cap by 62 units, leaving only 18 permits available across 2026–2027 under the existing forward-averaging method.

Why it matters: Without a fix, the county would almost certainly trigger Policy 11.6, forcing a formal request to the Coastal Commission. Worse, if the housing element were decertified, developers could invoke the builder's remedy — bypassing local zoning altogether.

"Decertification of the housing element would open up the door to the builder's remedy, which I think most of you have heard about," said Steve Monowitz, Director of Planning and Building, who opened by apologizing for not consulting the MCC before taking the issue to the Planning Commission. "I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot in working with the MCC on this critical issue."

Where things stand: County planner Bharat Singh presented six alternatives, explaining that only backward-looking options avoided triggering Policy 11.6. Staff recommended Option E — averaging permits back to the cap's 2013 inception — because it provides the longest runway: roughly 166 unused permits since inception, minus 62 for Cypress Point, leaving approximately 105 in reserve. Critically, those banked permits would be available only for future affordable housing projects that exceed 40 units in a given year. Market-rate permits remain capped at 40 annually.

"If you look at the regular trend, we've not hit 40, so there is no point of going to raise it just because an affordable housing project came through," Singh said.

A community survey at a June 30 public meeting — attended by roughly 110–130 people — showed 88% support for intervention, with 68% favoring the look-back to 2013.

The other side: The debate exposed deep frustration with Sacramento's housing framework. Councilmember Gus Mattammal delivered an impassioned critique, framing the vote as damage control rather than policy.

"I need everybody to understand big picture. The root cause of everything that's happening tonight is Sacramento," Mattammal said. "I'm fine with going along with it because it doesn't matter. We're just negotiating the terms of our surrender on this one."

Chair Kimberly Williams voiced the sharpest opposition, arguing the cap is functioning as intended and the county should not preemptively capitulate. "I also believe the cap is there for a reason. I believe it's functioning as it was intended. And what the county is basically telling us is that because we may be threatened by Sacramento, that we can't have a cap and this is invalidating the cap." Williams wanted a sunset provision and argued the Coastal Commission should not be feared as a review venue.

Councilmember Claire Toutant expressed frustration at the rushed process but acknowledged the crisis had been years in the making. "I appreciate what you're doing right now. I wish that all of us, including the supervisor, had known about the housing element thing. I don't know why we didn't," she said. "The cap was put in place because of well documented problems in infrastructure and environment. And those problems remain."

Supervisor Mueller pushed back, calling the compromise a win. "That compromise is frankly a win for the county," Mueller said. "The state in other jurisdictions — you can look it up in Morgan Hill and other jurisdictions that have had caps in place — the state went and sued them during their housing element process to say you are not allowed to have any cap whatsoever." Mueller noted the cap is only a Board of Supervisors ordinance, not a voter-approved measure, making it more vulnerable. He told the council he was agnostic on which option they chose and would carry their recommendation to the full Board.

Public comment reflected the stakes. Judy Taylor, speaking for Sam Carr, argued that delay equals denial for ordinary property owners. "For many people in this extraordinarily expensive environment, a delay in building means a denial. And unless you only want people with deep pockets building here, you need to be aware that denial for many people is the result of a delay," she said.

Public commenter Dan Hagerty took the opposite view, arguing communities should fight state mandates rather than yield, citing a state Department of Finance audit that found HCD's Regional Housing Needs Allocation methodology had failed. Public commenter Ann Rothman reiterated her call to designate Cypress Point as 55-and-older senior housing, noting 63% of midcoast seniors live below the poverty level.

Decisions: The council voted 5-2 to support Option E. Vice Chair Scott Bollinger, David Santoro, Connie Santilli, Gus Mattammal, and Claire Toutant voted yes. Antonio Conti and Chair Kimberly Williams voted no. Mattammal was assigned to draft a formal comment letter for the next meeting.

What's next: The recommendation goes to the Board of Supervisors as a formal MCC position. The amendment would need to be adopted by the Board as an ordinance change.

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Safety Element: One Road Out

County planner Katie Faulkner presented the draft safety element update to the general plan — part of the Peninsula Resilience Planning collaboration between San Mateo County and eight cities — covering seismic hazards, tsunamis, landslides, coastal erosion, flooding, sea level rise, wildfire, drought, and severe weather.

Why it matters: State law now requires general plan safety elements to address climate adaptation and sea level rise. For the midcoast, where Highway 1 is the sole evacuation route and no hospital exists since Seton closed, the policies in this document will shape development standards and grant eligibility for years.

Where things stand: Community outreach identified emergency communication gaps — especially for non-English speakers — infrastructure resilience, evacuation constraints, and flooding and wildfire risks as top concerns. Faulkner described an All Hazards Evacuation Framework being developed by the Department of Emergency Management to address route planning.

Councilmember Scott Bollinger questioned funding mechanisms, noting policies often lack budgets. Faulkner acknowledged implementation is partly grant-dependent and opportunistic. Transfer of development rights was mentioned as one potential tool for moving assets out of hazard zones, though it is not yet an active policy.

Public commenter Sid Young raised concerns that the Seal Cove geological study was missing from the draft and that coastside community input appendices were blank. Ann Rothman drove the evacuation point home, citing a UC Santa Barbara study published in June 2026. "Having fewer than six outward escape routes significantly increases wildfire fatalities. The midcoast, Moss Beach and Montara have been flagged as towns that face significant structural evacuation bottlenecks due to one exit route being Highway 1," Rothman said, describing vulnerable segments including sea-level sections at Lindemar Beach and cliff sections prone to failure.

What's next: The council assigned a three-member team — Scott Bollinger, David Santoro, and Connie Santilli — to compile formal MCC comments. Faulkner agreed to extend the comment deadline beyond July 31 to accommodate the MCC's next meeting. Target adoption is late fall 2026 at Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors hearings.

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Multi-Agency Coordination Takes Shape

Charles Gardner of Catalyst Group updated the council on the multi-agency coordination effort that grew out of the Surfers Beach parking dispute — where Caltrans' proposed bike lanes would remove more than 200 parking spaces with no adopted replacement plan.

Where things stand: The effort has expanded beyond parking into a broader framework involving Caltrans, One Shoreline, the County Office of Sustainability, the Harbor District, and other agencies. A productive first full convening occurred in March, and a smaller agenda-setting subgroup has been meeting to design quarterly coordination sessions.

The MCC expressed concern about the Harbor District potentially dominating the process. Chair Williams specifically objected to the Harbor District taking an administrative role. During public comment, Dan Hagerty flagged that the Harbor District's general manager had reported starting a separate line of multi-jurisdiction meetings, raising questions about whether community stakeholders were being excluded.

Vice Chair Bollinger summarized three asks: confirmation that the first goal — getting agencies in a room together — was complete; an invoice update; and Gardner facilitating the next full group meeting. The next subgroup session is Aug. 6, after which Gardner will provide a summary memo with structural recommendations.

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CPUC Wireless Service Letter

Nicholas Calderon, working with the MCC on telecommunications policy, presented on a CPUC rulemaking that would extend wireline-like service quality standards to wireless carriers — including a requirement to restore service within 24 hours of an outage. Calderon praised the MCC's draft comment letter and noted he would speak at the CPUC hearing the following day, July 23, including advocating for amending exemptions in General Order 133.

Decisions: The council approved the letter unanimously, 7-0. Councilmember Toutant confirmed she would submit it to the CPUC website by the July 23 deadline.

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Minor Items

• County property purchase: San Mateo County approved purchase of a property on Estelle Double Boulevard in Foster City to consolidate rented facilities.
• New HR director: The county appointed a new human resources director.
• SFO runway rehab redirects flights: SFO runway rehabilitation has reduced flights from 54 to 36 per hour but redirected paths over the peninsula, increasing noise complaints by 22% from Portola Valley to Pacifica. The disruption is expected to resolve by October.
• PRIME mental health services stabilized: PRIME lost its Measure K one-time grant and fiscal sponsor in a "perfect storm" with Prop. 1 funding shifts, but a new sponsor has been found and meetings with county leadership are underway.
• Mobile health clinic launches: A new mobile health clinic operates Wednesdays at Ted Adcock, serving insured and uninsured patients. Supervisor Mueller confirmed ongoing work to accept private insurance and contact with Sacramento regarding Seton Hospital, including exploring Kaiser coverage on the coast.
• Abandoned sewer mains in Seal Cove: Public commenter Alan Moss reported that Montara Water and Sanitary District's April 2025 newsletter stated the district abandoned water and sewer mains on San Lucas Avenue west of Del Mar Avenue, affecting five houses. Despite letters to the district and its attorney, Moss has received no response about where sewage effluent goes.
• $800 candidate statement cost: Public commenter Dan Hagerty reported the elections office quoted $800 for a candidate statement to run for the MCC, calling it a barrier to community participation. Chair Williams said she would look into the issue, with the Aug. 7 candidate filing deadline approaching.
• Cypress Point senior housing advocacy: Public commenter Ann Rothman advocated designating Cypress Point as 55-and-older senior housing rather than general affordable housing, arguing it would house senior farm workers within one year, free up homes for young families, and ease evacuation challenges.
• Minutes approved: June 10 and June 24, 2026 minutes approved 7-0.