HALF MOON BAY, California. – In a battle between church and state, a Catholic church in the small town of Half Moon Bay is fighting with the city over a piece of land.

The City Council voted to add the property, owned by Our Lady of the Pillar, to the Housing Element list and submit it to the state for possible residential development.

The dispute concerns a 1.5 hectare field on which the church wants to set up a school, but the city believes it is a prime piece of land for the construction of 50 new houses.

California’s Housing Element, a state mandate that has existed for decades, requires local governments to identify “opportunity sites” in ideal locations for the construction of new housing for all income levels.

In Half Moon Bay, the pressure from the state is to make room for affordable housing for farmworkers.

Half Moon Bay officials are submitting 12 sites that could be designated for 480 housing units of varying income levels. One of those sites is Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church.

“We have said no constantly and in so many ways,” said Father Jose Corral, the parish’s senior pastor.

In a heated debate on August 7, parishioners called for the city to be excluded from the housing program, but city council members voted unanimously to continue to list the church as a potential building site for over 50 new housing units.

The problem is that the church has announced that it wants to build a school on the same land.

“We have been working on the plans for a year now and feel harassed by the city,” says Juliette Kulda, a longtime parishioner and board member of Our Lady of the Pillar Academy, which she helped open last year.

The school currently has 12 students, but the church plans to expand to accommodate up to 200 students in a new building that will house the Catholic curriculum, catechism, communion and confirmation classes.

“You can do it so many ways and in so many places in Half Moon Bay, but they want this place – this exact place,” Father Jose said.

City officials said most of the land owned by the city is protected or does not meet the criteria for the Housing Element.

The church hired real estate attorney Steve Wilson of Haynes Boone, who argued that the city may be violating the First Amendment by making it difficult for a religious organization to build a school.

“If the government has another way of achieving its goals and its rule over a church is seen as arbitrary or unreasonable, the government loses,” Wilson said.

The church argues that it received no notification that its property was listed as an opportunity site, and only became aware of it when a member of the congregation saw the notification on the city council agenda.

“I’m worried about other private landowners. They might not know that their land is being registered and we just don’t know what will happen next,” Kulda said.

If the housing project is approved, the church will still retain control of the land, city officials said, and the city cannot force the owners to develop.

“All 12 sites listed as opportunity sites will have a choice between a willing buyer or a willing developer, a willing seller or a willing owner. All of those parties have to get to this point,” said Deputy City Manager John Doughty.

Doughty noted that in his experience, most churches are happy to comply with and support housing efforts.

City officials say no formal plans for a school have been submitted, but the archdiocese and local parish priest support ownership rights.

The city faces penalties if it fails to deliver the legally required number of housing units.

Nevertheless, the church continues its fight and applies to the state to separate the property from the home ownership share.

Mike Noce, director of city housing programs, said this draft Housing Element will be sent to the state in late August or early September, with the goal of having a certified Housing Element by year’s end.

The Ministry of Housing and Community Development has 60 days to complete the review.