Departments » Community Development

Growth Management

Font Size: + -
Share & Bookmark, Press Enter to show all options, press Tab go to next option
Print

Carefully managing growth and development is critical to maintaining the City of Carlsbad’s excellent quality of life. In 1986, the Carlsbad City Council passed a growth management ordinance, which put conditions on how growth could occur, including requiring development pays its own way. That November, Carlsbad voters passed Proposition E, which affirmed the principles of the Growth Management Program and established caps on the number of housing units that could be built in Carlsbad.

Now, 35 years later, the major new planned residential developments in Carlsbad are mostly built, and new state laws have changed how future housing will be approved. As such, the city is entering a new phase where different tools will be needed to effectively manage growth.

What's next?

A resident-led committee created by the City Council completed its work in April 2023 with a report that identifies issues and standards that will help ensure Carlsbad retains an excellent quality of life as it continues to grow. The committee process was the first step in the development of a new long-term growth management program. 

The City Council accepted the committee's report on July 18, 2023 and asked staff to return to discuss next steps to update the city's growth management program, which include doing technical studies to determine if and how the standards proposed by the committee can be linked to developer fees.

Email signup

email

Contact

Eric Lardy, City Planner
Eric.lardy@carlsbadca.gov
442-339-2712
 

Two new citizens committees meeting

Post Date:04/22/2022 9:23 AM

The city’s two newest citizens committees are both meeting this week to help address two important topics.

Growth and quality of life

This citizens committee is working with the city to develop a new plan for how to manage future growth while maintaining our excellent quality of life. Its second meeting is Thursday, April 28, starting at 5 p.m., at our Faraday Administration Center.

The citizens committee is expected to meet monthly for about a year to look at different options and ideas to make sure we are able to maintain our excellent quality of life and economic health while managing future growth in the city. Their final recommendations about what a new plan should consider will be presented to the City Council next year.

Some of the topics scheduled to be discussed next week include:

  • An overview of “performance standards” established under the city’s existing current Growth Management Program that must be met before new resident development can be approved. These include things like libraries, parks and fire response times.
  • How other cities in the region are managing growth.
  • The objective and role of the committee in what will be a multiyear process to create a new plan for managing growth and quality of life.
  • The committee’s name and how it could be changed to better reflect the variety of issues the committee will be addressing.

The full agenda and materials are posted on the city website. All meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the city’s website. You are welcome to add your voice to the conversation during the public comment section of each meeting. 

Strengthening Village & Barrio design standards

This committee will help turn existing design standards for multifamily housing and mixed-use projects in the Village and Barrio neighborhoods into “objective design standards.” Its first meeting is Monday, April 25, starting at 3 p.m. in the City Council chamber.

Having objective design standards will help strengthen our local control over the design of future multifamily and mixed use projects in Carlsbad’s two oldest neighborhoods, while complying with new state laws that require cities to streamline the permitting approval process. The committee will also work with staff to create up to five different architectural design styles for developers to choose from to help preserve the unique character of the Village and Barrio.

View the full agenda and materials. The meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s website. The committee will meet approximately three times over the next year. In addition to all the meetings being open to the public with opportunities for public comments, you will also have other opportunities to share feedback on the objective design standards in the coming months through an online survey and public meeting.

More information
Growth Management webpage
Village & Barrio objective design standards webpage

 

Return to full list >>