Half Moon Bay's Measure Q Explained: Voters Decide on 40 Senior Farmworker Apartments at 555 Kelly

One of the most argued-over housing projects on the San Mateo County coast is now in voters' hands. Measure Q on Half Moon Bay's Nov. 3 ballot decides whether a planned building of 40 affordable apartments for senior farmworkers at 535-555 Kelly Ave. downtown can go forward.

What the measure does

Measure Q is a referendum on Ordinance No. 2026-01, which the City Council approved on a 3-2 vote. The ordinance approves agreements with the nonprofit developer Mercy Housing, including a 99-year ground lease of the city-owned site at $1 a year, which the ballot language calls customary. The project would be five stories and include about 2,650 square feet of community space.

A yes vote keeps the ordinance and the deal with Mercy Housing in place. A no vote repeals the ordinance and cancels the agreement. It takes a simple majority to pass.

How it got on the ballot

According to the city, a group called Let Half Moon Bay Voters Decide filed a referendum petition with 1,092 signatures on June 16, and the county elections office verified on June 30 that it had enough to qualify. The council then sent the ordinance to voters rather than repeal it. The Daily Journal reports that resident Hal Bogner led the signature drive.

The arguments

Supporters, quoted in KQED's voter guide, say the project would house one of the city's most vulnerable groups without taxpayers paying to build or run it, and would help the city meet state affordable-housing requirements. They warn that rejecting it could bring more lawsuits and penalties from the state, which has already sued Half Moon Bay over its housing plan, and could open the door to "builder's remedy" projects that limit local control.

Opponents argue the building is too large for downtown, would be the first five-story housing development there, and could set a precedent for taller, denser projects. The Daily Journal reports they have also raised traffic and parking concerns and objected that the design grew from four stories to five. San Mateo County Farm Bureau president BJ Burns told the paper he worries about how the building would be managed.

One quirk: voters will not find a written argument against Measure Q in their ballot materials. The Daily Journal reports the city found, and a judge agreed after Bogner sued, that it was submitted too late.