Redwood City – The Board of Supervisors today voted 5-0 to award a nearly $11.5 million contract for grading and other ground preparation work on the Half Moon Bay site where dozens of manufactured homes are planned for low-income farmworkers and their families.
The agreement with Interstate Grading & Paving, Inc allows work on the Stone Pine Cove Farm Labor Housing Project to start as early as this week but no later than next Monday. The proposed project will sit on five acres at 880 Stone Pine Road, approximately a mile from downtown Half Moon Bay just south of Highway 1.
“Usually, jurisdictions celebrate, holding groundbreaking ceremonies with special shovels and numerous officials to commemorate when work begins onsite. And, perhaps someday we will hold such an event. But not today. Not this week. At this moment we respond to the prayers of those waiting for a safe and healthy place to live with the urgency of this Board action,” said District Three Supervisor Ray Mueller.
Today’s action follows the Board’s May 7 vote to allocate $5,999,360 to buy and install 47 manufactured homes from Santa Cruz-based Bigfoot Homes for farmworkers and their families, including 19 households displaced by a Jan. 23, 2023, mass shooting at two farms. With $5 million in assistance from California’s Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, at least 28 units will be set aside for farmworker households wanting home ownership.
The Stone Pine Cove property is city-owned and the project is a collaboration between the County of San Mateo and the City of Half Moon Bay, both of whom have long acknowledged the urgent need to create more safe and affordable housing for farmworkers and their families.
“This project will help address the fundamental housing needs of some of our most vulnerable residents,” said Joaquin Jiminez, mayor of Half Moon Bay. “Through this partnership with the County we are gratified to be able to move forward. Our hope and intent is to continue seeking other projects and partners that can bring additional affordable housing to those in need in the community of Half Moon Bay.”
Information about Half Moon Bay’s ongoing efforts to increase, improve, and preserve affordable housing is online at hmbcity.com/housing.
The initial site work includes grading, paving roadways and drives, adding infrastructure for utilities and creating building pads on which to set the manufactured housing units. Using manufactured homes rather than building from the ground up carries lower initial construction costs and quicker completion.
The city has provided updates and sought feedback through community outreach meetings and will continue to share information as they enter the next project phase. Additional details about the project including construction notices will be added to the project page at hmbcity.com/stonepinehousing.
Stone Pine Cove is tentatively scheduled to be ready for occupancy in March 2025.
Michelle Durand
County of San Mateo
mdurand@smcgov.org
Jessica Blair
City of Half Moon Bay
JBlair@hmbcity.com