FAQS
Why are you proposing housing on this site and not somewhere else?
There is currently no deed-restricted affordable housing in the Midcoast community. Per the Housing Component in the LCP, policies state that the Midcoast is obligated to create its fair share of housing. MidPen has affordable housing developments throughout San Mateo County, as we believe every community needs a range of housing options in order to support a local and diverse workforce. By implementing a local live and/or work preference upon lease up of the property, Cypress Point will help residents already in the community achieve stable, affordable rents and live closer to where they work.
This site is one of three priority sites for affordable housing designated in the County of San Mateo’s General Plan. It is also designated as Medium-High Density Residential in the Local Coastal Program (LCP). Furthermore, the LCP identifies this site as a priority for development and the water and sewer district has designated allocations to provide water and sewer capacity to the development.
In addition to this site, there is a site in South Moss Beach and a site in North El Granada designated for affordable housing in the LCP. However, neither of those sites are viable for development at this time, making the project site the best opportunity to develop affordable housing for those who need it in the Midcoast.
What does “affordable” really mean for this site and who will live here?
The term “affordable” is based on area median income (AMI) levels established by the California Department of Housing and Community Development for each county. MidPen is currently planning to restrict Cypress Point to those earning up to 80% of AMI. For 2023, 80% AMI is $149,100 for a family of four.*
*Source: 2023 San Mateo County Income Limit - Effective 06/06/2023
According to the Living Wage Calculator** the following job categories typically pay less than $60,000 annually in San Mateo County:
Farming, Fishing & Forestry: $32,789
Food Preparation and Serving Related: $34,079
Personal Care & Service: $35,303
Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance: $40,088
Sales and Related: $40,320
Transportation & Material Moving: $41,687
Production: $42,007
Healthcare Support: $32,944
Office & Administrative Support: $51,533
Installation, Maintenance & Repair: $62,800
Community & Social Service: $64,708
Construction & Extraction: $66,659
Education, Training & Library: $68,523
**Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Why now?
The owner of the site put the land up for sale in 2015. With the need for housing in San Mateo County reaching crisis levels, the need for more housing, and affordable housing, in particular, is greater than ever. As a designated county site for affordable housing for the Midcoast area, the opportune time to develop this property is now.
What about traffic?
MidPen is committed to further study and work with the County, Caltrans, and SamTrans to mitigate traffic issues associated with our development, and in particular, entering and exiting Highway 1. We understand that traffic is an extremely sensitive and critical issue for residents in the neighborhood, and these issues will be a critical component of the planning process. Our goal is to provide solutions that will improve safety for pedestrians and drivers along this section of Highway 1 and impact local streets as minimally as possible.
We understand the existing challenges surrounding traffic flow and safety at the Highway 1/Carlos Street intersection, including poor site visibility south and conflicting left turn lanes on Highway 1. MidPen’s traffic consultant conducted a full analysis of the current conditions, potential project impacts, and the options to address some of the deficiencies. For any identified impacts, we’ve proposed mitigations, and our full draft traffic report can be viewed here.
We are fully committed to working closely with the County, SamTrans and Caltrans to identify traffic solutions.
Will there be enough parking on the site so residents do not park on neighborhood streets?
Our goal is to provide enough parking within the complex for all residents and their guests, to maximize public open space around the development, and to discourage on-street parking through signage and site design as well as communication with residents. Parking will be strictly enforced. Based on community input at the 2016 open houses, we have reduced the number of units from 80 to 71 and increased the parking ratio to 2 spaces per unit, or 142 total spaces. As noted in the draft EIR, the number of parking spaces proposed is higher than what the County requires.
How will you manage the property?
MidPen will have an onsite property manager living in the development as well as maintenance staff. MidPen also provides programming for residents, including after school care, help with homework, recreational and family activities, and computers for residents to use.
How is density defined and what is the density for this site?
The county defines low density as 0.3 to 2.3 units per acre, medium-low density as 2.4 to 6.0 units per acre, medium density as 6.1 to 8.7 units per acre, medium-high density as 8.8 to 17.4 units per acre, and high density as 17.5 units or more per acre. The Moss Beach site is designated for medium-high density, or 8.8 to 17.4 units per acre. A previous proposal for a Planned Use Development (PUD) on site, which was approved in 1986, called for the construction of up to 148 units. Our proposal 71 units on the 10.875-acre site equates to 6.53 homes per acre averaged over the entire site — less than the medium-high density designation and consistent with the existing medium-density single-family neighborhood. By clustering the buildings, we can retain a significant portion of the site for natural open space and trails.
Why attached homes instead of single-family?
A compact and clustered site design is more cost-efficient and better for the environment by using less water, energy, and materials, and maximizes undeveloped area.
Why isn’t retaining the site exclusively for open space an option?
The site is designated for affordable housing by the County and the landowner put the private property up for sale based on this designation. The purchase price of the site is based on the intent to develop it for the designated use. Therefore, retaining the site as exclusively open space is not a viable option. However, MidPen Housing is proposing to develop the site in a manner that retains about half the site for natural space.
The draft EIR states that the project’s vehicle miles traveled (VMT) impacts exceeds the County’s VMT target thresholds and therefore is not consistent with State CEQA guidelines. There is also a significant and unavoidable impact related to pedestrian and bicyclist safety and hazards at the Highway 1 and Carlos Street intersection. Why should Cypress Point be approved?
MidPen has reduced the allowable density for the site from 148 units to 71 units, which significantly lowers the project’s VMT. As a 100% affordable housing project, the project qualified for a screen out of VMT analysis, but MidPen requested an analysis to better understand the impacts of the proposed mitigations. The mitigations include free transit passes for all residents and improving pedestrian and bicyclist networks within the neighborhood. The project will also implement a live/work preference at lease-up that gives preference to those already living or working in the Coastside, from Pacifica to Half Moon Bay. With these mitigations, the project’s VMT is reduced to daily home-based VMT per capita by resident of 23.6 to between 14.87 and 16.64. Per the draft EIR, while this exceeds the County’s VMT targets, it would not exceed the VMT target for the Coastside (20.7).
The draft EIR also identifies a significant and unavoidable safety impact at the intersection of Highway 1 and Carlos Street. MidPen held community meetings in 2016 and the community gave feedback on this existing dangerous intersection, which is why the project mitigations include converting it to emergency vehicle access only. The County is continuing to pursue Moss Beach Highway 1 improvements. However, because improvements are not under the full control of MidPen or the County as Highway 1 is a Caltrans jurisdiction, the draft EIR concludes this as a significant and unavoidable impact.
Did MidPen underestimate the population of Cypress Point?
We used MidPen’s San Mateo County family properties household average which is slightly above the household average in San Mateo County.
How will this project affect the emergency access to the rest of Moss Beach?
As stated in the draft EIR, local responders are meeting threshold for emergency response time and Cypress Point will not impact that.
How does the project incorporate emergency vehicle access?
The project has one main entrance off Carlos Street that emergency vehicles will use to access the site. There will also be a secondary emergency vehicle only access route available through Lincoln Street into the property. The County’s Fire Department has reviewed the project application and MidPen will continue to meet with the Fire Department regarding project plans.
Will the Montara Water and Sanitary District be able meet the additional demands of Cypress Point’s residents?
MWSD has issued letters confirming there is capacity available to meet the additional demand from Cypress Point’s residents. The project will need to comply with conditions of approval and pay impact and connection fees.
Is Cypress Point working in coordination with Connect the Coastside to address the long-term infrastructure improvements of Moss Beach?
No – the two project are independent of one another. Connect the Coastside is a community-based transportation plan that was approved by the Board of Supervisors in July 2022 to improve transportation safety and accessibility for Coastside residents and visitors. Planned improvements include bike and walking trails, roadways and intersections, pedestrian routes, transit services, and parking.
Q: The draft EIR (3.10-40) identifies hazards and mitigations for the Carlos Street and SR-1 intersection – how was this identified?
When MidPen began public outreach in 2016, we heard from the community that there were major safety concerns with the existing conditions of the Carlos Street and SR-1 intersection. We heard concerns about high speeds on SR-1, both vertical and horizontal sight distance challenges, access for emergency vehicles, and conflicting southbound and northbound left turns. MidPen’s transportation engineering and planning consultants as well as the County’s EIR consultant found the only feasible mitigation for the project to implement is the temporary conversion of the northern 500 feet of Carlos Street to emergency vehicle access only, until the County can implement the Moss Beach State Route 1 Congestion and Safety Improvement Plan (https://www.smcgov.org/planning/moss-beach-sr-1). Any improvements to SR-1 will require Caltrans approval, and the County is working with Caltrans on the process to implement the plan.
Why are you proposing housing on this site and not somewhere else?
There is currently no deed-restricted affordable housing in the Midcoast community. Per the Housing Component in the LCP, policies state that the Midcoast is obligated to create its fair share of housing. MidPen has affordable housing developments throughout San Mateo County, as we believe every community needs a range of housing options in order to support a local and diverse workforce. By implementing a local live and/or work preference upon lease up of the property, Cypress Point will help residents already in the community achieve stable, affordable rents and live closer to where they work.
This site is one of three priority sites for affordable housing designated in the County of San Mateo’s General Plan. It is also designated as Medium-High Density Residential in the Local Coastal Program (LCP). Furthermore, the LCP identifies this site as a priority for development and the water and sewer district has designated allocations to provide water and sewer capacity to the development.
In addition to this site, there is a site in South Moss Beach and a site in North El Granada designated for affordable housing in the LCP. However, neither of those sites are viable for development at this time, making the project site the best opportunity to develop affordable housing for those who need it in the Midcoast.
What does “affordable” really mean for this site and who will live here?
The term “affordable” is based on area median income (AMI) levels established by the California Department of Housing and Community Development for each county. MidPen is currently planning to restrict Cypress Point to those earning up to 80% of AMI. For 2023, 80% AMI is $149,100 for a family of four.*
*Source: 2023 San Mateo County Income Limit - Effective 06/06/2023
According to the Living Wage Calculator** the following job categories typically pay less than $60,000 annually in San Mateo County:
Farming, Fishing & Forestry: $32,789
Food Preparation and Serving Related: $34,079
Personal Care & Service: $35,303
Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance: $40,088
Sales and Related: $40,320
Transportation & Material Moving: $41,687
Production: $42,007
Healthcare Support: $32,944
Office & Administrative Support: $51,533
Installation, Maintenance & Repair: $62,800
Community & Social Service: $64,708
Construction & Extraction: $66,659
Education, Training & Library: $68,523
**Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Why now?
The owner of the site put the land up for sale in 2015. With the need for housing in San Mateo County reaching crisis levels, the need for more housing, and affordable housing, in particular, is greater than ever. As a designated county site for affordable housing for the Midcoast area, the opportune time to develop this property is now.
What about traffic?
MidPen is committed to further study and work with the County, Caltrans, and SamTrans to mitigate traffic issues associated with our development, and in particular, entering and exiting Highway 1. We understand that traffic is an extremely sensitive and critical issue for residents in the neighborhood, and these issues will be a critical component of the planning process. Our goal is to provide solutions that will improve safety for pedestrians and drivers along this section of Highway 1 and impact local streets as minimally as possible.
We understand the existing challenges surrounding traffic flow and safety at the Highway 1/Carlos Street intersection, including poor site visibility south and conflicting left turn lanes on Highway 1. MidPen’s traffic consultant conducted a full analysis of the current conditions, potential project impacts, and the options to address some of the deficiencies. For any identified impacts, we’ve proposed mitigations, and our full draft traffic report can be viewed here.
We are fully committed to working closely with the County, SamTrans and Caltrans to identify traffic solutions.
Will there be enough parking on the site so residents do not park on neighborhood streets?
Our goal is to provide enough parking within the complex for all residents and their guests, to maximize public open space around the development, and to discourage on-street parking through signage and site design as well as communication with residents. Parking will be strictly enforced. Based on community input at the 2016 open houses, we have reduced the number of units from 80 to 71 and increased the parking ratio to 2 spaces per unit, or 142 total spaces. As noted in the draft EIR, the number of parking spaces proposed is higher than what the County requires.
How will you manage the property?
MidPen will have an onsite property manager living in the development as well as maintenance staff. MidPen also provides programming for residents, including after school care, help with homework, recreational and family activities, and computers for residents to use.
How is density defined and what is the density for this site?
The county defines low density as 0.3 to 2.3 units per acre, medium-low density as 2.4 to 6.0 units per acre, medium density as 6.1 to 8.7 units per acre, medium-high density as 8.8 to 17.4 units per acre, and high density as 17.5 units or more per acre. The Moss Beach site is designated for medium-high density, or 8.8 to 17.4 units per acre. A previous proposal for a Planned Use Development (PUD) on site, which was approved in 1986, called for the construction of up to 148 units. Our proposal 71 units on the 10.875-acre site equates to 6.53 homes per acre averaged over the entire site — less than the medium-high density designation and consistent with the existing medium-density single-family neighborhood. By clustering the buildings, we can retain a significant portion of the site for natural open space and trails.
Why attached homes instead of single-family?
A compact and clustered site design is more cost-efficient and better for the environment by using less water, energy, and materials, and maximizes undeveloped area.
Why isn’t retaining the site exclusively for open space an option?
The site is designated for affordable housing by the County and the landowner put the private property up for sale based on this designation. The purchase price of the site is based on the intent to develop it for the designated use. Therefore, retaining the site as exclusively open space is not a viable option. However, MidPen Housing is proposing to develop the site in a manner that retains about half the site for natural space.
The draft EIR states that the project’s vehicle miles traveled (VMT) impacts exceeds the County’s VMT target thresholds and therefore is not consistent with State CEQA guidelines. There is also a significant and unavoidable impact related to pedestrian and bicyclist safety and hazards at the Highway 1 and Carlos Street intersection. Why should Cypress Point be approved?
MidPen has reduced the allowable density for the site from 148 units to 71 units, which significantly lowers the project’s VMT. As a 100% affordable housing project, the project qualified for a screen out of VMT analysis, but MidPen requested an analysis to better understand the impacts of the proposed mitigations. The mitigations include free transit passes for all residents and improving pedestrian and bicyclist networks within the neighborhood. The project will also implement a live/work preference at lease-up that gives preference to those already living or working in the Coastside, from Pacifica to Half Moon Bay. With these mitigations, the project’s VMT is reduced to daily home-based VMT per capita by resident of 23.6 to between 14.87 and 16.64. Per the draft EIR, while this exceeds the County’s VMT targets, it would not exceed the VMT target for the Coastside (20.7).
The draft EIR also identifies a significant and unavoidable safety impact at the intersection of Highway 1 and Carlos Street. MidPen held community meetings in 2016 and the community gave feedback on this existing dangerous intersection, which is why the project mitigations include converting it to emergency vehicle access only. The County is continuing to pursue Moss Beach Highway 1 improvements. However, because improvements are not under the full control of MidPen or the County as Highway 1 is a Caltrans jurisdiction, the draft EIR concludes this as a significant and unavoidable impact.
Did MidPen underestimate the population of Cypress Point?
We used MidPen’s San Mateo County family properties household average which is slightly above the household average in San Mateo County.
How will this project affect the emergency access to the rest of Moss Beach?
As stated in the draft EIR, local responders are meeting threshold for emergency response time and Cypress Point will not impact that.
How does the project incorporate emergency vehicle access?
The project has one main entrance off Carlos Street that emergency vehicles will use to access the site. There will also be a secondary emergency vehicle only access route available through Lincoln Street into the property. The County’s Fire Department has reviewed the project application and MidPen will continue to meet with the Fire Department regarding project plans.
Will the Montara Water and Sanitary District be able meet the additional demands of Cypress Point’s residents?
MWSD has issued letters confirming there is capacity available to meet the additional demand from Cypress Point’s residents. The project will need to comply with conditions of approval and pay impact and connection fees.
Is Cypress Point working in coordination with Connect the Coastside to address the long-term infrastructure improvements of Moss Beach?
No – the two project are independent of one another. Connect the Coastside is a community-based transportation plan that was approved by the Board of Supervisors in July 2022 to improve transportation safety and accessibility for Coastside residents and visitors. Planned improvements include bike and walking trails, roadways and intersections, pedestrian routes, transit services, and parking.
Q: The draft EIR (3.10-40) identifies hazards and mitigations for the Carlos Street and SR-1 intersection – how was this identified?
When MidPen began public outreach in 2016, we heard from the community that there were major safety concerns with the existing conditions of the Carlos Street and SR-1 intersection. We heard concerns about high speeds on SR-1, both vertical and horizontal sight distance challenges, access for emergency vehicles, and conflicting southbound and northbound left turns. MidPen’s transportation engineering and planning consultants as well as the County’s EIR consultant found the only feasible mitigation for the project to implement is the temporary conversion of the northern 500 feet of Carlos Street to emergency vehicle access only, until the County can implement the Moss Beach State Route 1 Congestion and Safety Improvement Plan (https://www.smcgov.org/planning/moss-beach-sr-1). Any improvements to SR-1 will require Caltrans approval, and the County is working with Caltrans on the process to implement the plan.
