Ongoing battle between Half Moon Bay church and city over land use
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - In a battle between church and state, a Catholic church in the small city of Half Moon Bay is fighting with the city over a piece of land.
The city council voted to put the property, owned by Our Lady of the Pillar, on the Housing Element to submit to the state for potential housing development.
The dispute is about a 1.5 acre field the church hopes to turn into a school, but the city considers prime real estate for 50 new homes.
California’s Housing Element, a state mandate for decades, requires local governments to identify "opportunity sites" in ideal locations to develop into new housing, including a variety of income levels.
In Half Moon Bay, the pressure from the state includes creating room for affordable units for farmworkers.
Half Moon Bay leaders are submitting 12 sites which could be allocated for 480 units for varying levels of income. One of those sites is Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church.
"We have constantly said, in so many ways, no," said Father Jose Corral, lead pastor for the parish.
Parishioners asked the city to be removed from the Housing Element in a contentious meeting on August 7, but city councilmembers unanimously voted to move forward with the church listed as an opportunity site for more than 50 new units.
The problem is, the church said it wants to build a school on the same parcel of land.
"We’ve already been drafting plans for a year, and we are feeling bullied by the city," said Juliette Kulda, a long-time parishioner and a board member for Our Lady of the Pillar Academy, which she helped open last year.
The school currently has 12 students, but the church plans to expand for up to 200 students in a new building which will host Catholic curriculum, catechism, communion classes, and confirmation courses.
"You can do it in so many ways, in so many spots in Half Moon Bay, but they want this spot – this very spot," said Father Jose.
City officials said most of the land owned by the city is environmentally protected, or does not meet the criteria for the Housing Element.
The church hired a real estate attorney, Steve Wilson of Haynes Boone, who said the city could be violating First Amendment laws by making it difficult for a religious organization to build a school.
"If the government has another way of attaining its objectives, and its rule is seen to be arbitrary or unreasonable as applied to a church, the government loses," said Wilson.
The church argues it received no notification its property was listed as an opportunity site, and were made aware when a member of the parish saw it on the city council agenda.
"I do have concerns for other private property owners that they may not realize their properties are being submitted and we just don’t know where it’s going to go from there," said Kulda.
If the Housing Element is approved, city officials said the church will still control the land and the city can’t force a property owner to develop.
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"For all 12 sites that are listed as opportunity sites, that'll be a choice of a willing buyer or willing developer, willing seller, willing owner. All of those parties have to come to that point," said Assistant City Manager John Doughty.
Doughty noted, in his experience, most churches are happy to comply and support housing efforts.
City officials report there have been no formal plans submitted for a school, but it supports the property rights of the Archdiocese and the local pastor.
The city faces penalties if it is unable to deliver on the number of units, mandated by state law.
Still, the church is continuing its fight by petitioning the state to remove the property from the housing element.
The city’s Housing Programs Manager, Mike Noce, said this draft of the Housing Element will be sent to the state in late August or early September, with a goal of having a certified Housing Element by the end of the year.
The Housing and Community Development department has 60 days to review.