Half Moon Bay seeks funds for school safety | Local News | #schoolsaftey #kids #parents #children

Councilmembers didn’t vote to approve another proposed grant, which would have asked the TA for $200,000 — with a $10,000 local match — to fund a detailed parking study downtown.

“I think another parking study is going to show us we need more parking, and we know that,” Councilmember Deborah Penrose said. “So why do the study? I don’t get the point of the study.”

Half Moon Bay is sorely in need of a parking garage to offset the parking congestion downtown and the city should focus on that or other, more comprehensive efforts beside additional studies, Vice Mayor Debbie Ruddock said.

“I think it’s kind of clear to everybody what we need is a parking garage. I don’t like the idea of spending any more money, whether it’s theirs or a portion of ours, doing a downtown parking study,” she said. “I just see this, frankly, as kind of a fools’ errand.”

The project that was approved for grant application, the Cunha Intermediate School Safety and Connectivity Project, would also remove five parking spaces on Miramontes Street.

Councilmembers expressed concern that this element of the project — which would take 12 spots on Miramontes down to seven angled parking spaces — could create further parking problems downtown.

“I think a loss of five spaces downtown is a problem,” Ruddock said. “What I’m wondering is, can you look at something to regulate the time you can park there?”

Staff will look into the possibility of retaining additional parking or making the new parking spots timed, City Manager Matthew Chidester said, noting that the project will come back to the council for additional review.

“It’s the first step in many steps. This will come back to council many times,” he said.

The overarching goal of the project is to make pedestrian access to downtown more accessible, according to the staff report.

“Cunha Intermediate School Safety and Connectivity Project was developed in response to safety concerns and long-standing gaps in the city’s biking and walking network, especially for students and families trying to reach key destinations like schools,” the staff report said.