Of the 15 cities Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened Wednesday with legal action over housing law violations, only one is in the Bay Area: Half Moon Bay.

As the state grapples with severe housing shortages, Newsom gave the coastal San Mateo County city, and 14 others, 30 days to respond to the notices before the state refers their cases to the attorney general for potential legal action.

All cities and counties named in Newsom’s statement are more than two years behind schedule and more than 60 days away from securing a state-certified housing element — a required plan that spells out how a city will permit a set number of new homes across different income levels within a given time period.

The housing element process has long drawn criticism as overly complex and bureaucratic, with some planning experts and lawmakers arguing it functions more as a paperwork exercise than a tool that reliably produces new homes.

The other 14 jurisdictions that received notices are Atwater, Avenal, California City, Corcoran, Escalon, Hanford, Kings County, Lemoore, Merced County, Montclair, Oakdale, Patterson, Ridgecrest and Turlock.

But these are not the only areas falling short of state housing law.

California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), told this news organization a total of 20 cities and counties are out of compliance but are expected to meet requirements within 60 days — which is why they did not receive a notice of violation.

“However, if those jurisdictions fall off track, HCD will send a Notice of Violation and consider further enforcement,” a department spokesperson said.

San Mateo County, consistently ranked among the most unaffordable places to live in the country, is among the jurisdictions without a state-certified housing plan. But it did not receive a final notice because the housing department found that while it has met the core requirements of state housing law, it still needs to complete rezoning to be fully in compliance.

Half Moon Bay, a San Mateo County coastal city of just over 11,000 residents, gained national attention in 2023 when a mass shooting at a farm labor camp exposed the squalid living conditions of farmworkers in the area. The city is required to plan for at least 480 new units, with more than half designated for moderate and low-income earners.

The city said it is working toward compliance, but its location within the coastal zone requires additional coordination with the California Coastal Commission, adding steps that have slowed the process.

“The city takes the governor’s comments seriously and is continuing to work toward full compliance with state housing law,” the city said in an emailed statement. “We’ve drafted the needed rezoning updates and are working with the California HCD to finalize them. We’ll continue moving these updates forward to meet state requirements and stay on track to achieve our housing goals.”

Jeremy Levine, policy manager at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, said the Coastal Commission is not the primary reason projects and rezoning in Half Moon Bay have been delayed.

“Complying with state law will require more than just completing zoning on paper — it will require making real projects possible,” Levine said.

Newsom said his office would continue strict enforcement of housing laws through the state’s Housing Accountability Unit — formed in 2021 to crack down on local officials who skirt state housing laws — pushing back against what he called anti-housing opposition and holding local governments accountable, “because every Californian deserves a place to call home.”

“I’m disappointed on behalf of the state and the people of California that after years of effort, we still have communities that aren’t meeting the needs of their residents,” Newsom said. “There’s no carve-out here. No community gets a pass when it comes to addressing homelessness or creating more housing access.”

The housing department has previously entered court-enforced agreements with San Bernardino, Coronado, Fullerton, Malibu, La Habra Heights, Artesia and Norwalk. In December 2025, a court ordered Huntington Beach to adopt its housing element within 120 days.

Aside from potential lawsuits, cities that fail to meet requirements risk fines, loss of state grant funding and are subject to the “builder’s remedy” — a provision that strips local governments of control over land use decisions and allows developers to bypass local zoning rules if they include affordable units.

Across the Bay Area, 110 local governments are responsible for planning nearly 441,000 new homes by 2031.

Two other cities in the region were recently flagged for lacking a state-approved plan, but not named on Newsom’s list. Belvedere received state certification earlier this week, while Clayton submitted its updated housing plans last month and is still under review, according to the housing department.

This is not the first time Half Moon Bay has been warned.

In 2024, a year after the mass shooting, Newsom called the delay of a farmworker housing project at 555 Kelly Ave. “egregious” and warned the state would hold the city accountable if it did not move forward.

The project — a five-story development that would provide 40 units for farmworkers aged 55 and older — received city approval that year but is not yet close to breaking ground.

It has faced significant community opposition over traffic and parking concerns. This month, the council approved extending negotiations between the city and developer Mercy Housing to work out contract details that would allow construction to begin. The city’s own timeline projects those agreements won’t be finalized until mid-2026, with no construction start date set.

For the farmworker community, Newsom’s warning cannot come soon enough.

Belinda Arriaga, founder of Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, an organization that works with farmworker and immigrant communities along the San Mateo County coast, said the urgency is real.

“Over the four years farmworkers have been waiting for this project, many have gotten ill,” Arriaga said. “Every year that passes by is critical for them — some have been working 30, 40 years in the fields along the coastside. We have to get this done — and done faster.”

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