Two Years After Deadly Shooting, Farmworker Housing Takes Shape in Half Moon Bay

By Raúl Ayrala | Peninsula 360 Press

A stream separates the memory of the dark tragedy that struck this coastal community in January 2023, and the hope for a colorful future. The colors are “striking, tasteful,” says Joaquín Jiménez, former mayor and councilman of Half Moon Bay: “green, white, brick.” These are the colors of the 11 prefabricated homes already on their plots in the Stone Pine Road community, intended for local farmworkers.

Seven farmworkers were killed that year after a gunman opened fire at a mushroom farm located just a stone’s throw from the site where next summer the daughters and grandchildren of farmers will play in a children’s park; where residents will be able to grow food in a community garden; where they will dream and sleep peacefully, counting on the normal services of any home, such as mail, running water, and sewage disposal. And with the security of having a leak-free roof.

“The entire country and the entire world saw, due to the tragedy, the conditions in which farmworkers live,” said Jiménez, adding that some lived in metal containers, the kind used to ship goods.

To heal the wound and restore dignity to the farmworkers, Half Moon Bay began to explore where and how to build housing. Although Jiménez, as a council member, had been proposing the construction of housing for low-income workers since 2021, it took a deadly shootout for the wheels of bureaucracy to begin to move.

“I had proposed that the housing be built on properties the city already owned, like this lot. Because the most expensive part is the land. But there was pushback, resistance from some people and neighbors. Later, the land was zoned from agricultural to residential.”

The original idea, after overcoming obstacles and opposition, was to build 100 apartments on the nearly five acres that make up the 888 Stone Pine site, a cul-de-sac reached by passing through townhome complexes. The future farmhouses are about four blocks from a shopping center with cafes, gyms, and restaurants, surrounded by mature trees and low hills typical of the coast. On the other side, vehicles entering and leaving the city using Route 92 can be heard in the distance.

After the shooting, the city of Half Moon Bay requested approval for an emergency housing project for low-income residents.

“The request was submitted to the California Coastal Commission, and it was approved. Some thought it wouldn’t happen, but it did,” said Jiménez.

By mid-April 2025, there will be a dozen semi-installed and connected homes, with a total of 47 homes planned for eventual construction. An average of three homes are arriving each day from the area where they are being built, in the north of the state.

“There used to be a nursery here. The city bought the land with the plan to build a park, then lost a lawsuit and had to surrender it, but later reacquired it,” Jiménez told Peninsula 360 Press. We interviewed him this Good Friday afternoon, as construction workers on the property were wrapping up. That day, workers from a paving company were leveling parts of the land.

“We opted for 47 houses. It could have been 50, but we wanted to leave room for the community garden, a playground, and a parking lot.”

The homes are prefabricated, with three, two, and one bedrooms, “so that large and medium-sized families, as well as couples, have the same opportunity.”

Priority was given to 19 families affected by the shooting, although any low-income family that met the income requirements could apply to be included. According to Jiménez, a family of four (parents with two children) earning less than $117,000 a year would fit the criteria.

For the 47 homes, there were already 100 applications by the end of Easter. Depending on the size of the home, Jiménez anticipates that the new homeowners will pay between $750 and $1,500 per month.

The opening of the farmworker community at 888 Stone Pine Road is planned for June, at the beginning of summer. And Jiménez envisions a big party, with officials and the governor in attendance: “Bring Gavin Newson, who scolded us for not building homes, to come. Let him come and see what can be achieved.”

Born in Carcarañá, Argentina, Ayrala began working in radio at 14, studied broadcasting in Buenos Aires, and later worked in television, print, and digital media. In the United States, he was part of communications teams at NBC News, The Weather Channel, Telemundo, and Univision. He lives in Redwood City.