A Draft Environmental Impact Report for potential new housing sites in Carlsbad is now available for public review.
The report is required as part of the city’s Housing Element Update, a state-required plan approved in April 2021 for how Carlsbad will accommodate projected housing needs through 2029. Specifically, about every eight years, cities are provided with the number of homes needed to accommodate people of all income levels and stages of life, based on demographic data.
Community members can review the report and provide input via mail or email through 5 p.m. on Aug. 28, 2023. The report, appendices and related documents are available on the project webpage.
Scott Donnell, Senior Planner
City of Carlsbad Planning Division
1635 Faraday Ave.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
scott.donnell@carlsbadca.gov
About the sites
The city’s housing plan includes proposed changes to zoning that would:
- Allow housing on certain properties currently zoned for commercial, industrial and public uses
- Increase the amount of housing on properties already zoned for residential development
After zoning changes are made and necessary approvals are obtained, it will be up to property owners to decide whether to build more housing on these sites and when. The city needs to rezone property to accommodate about 2,600 higher density housing units by April 2024 to meet state requirements.
Based on input from the community, including people who own and live near properties that could be rezoned, the City Council directed staff to fully study the environmental impacts of two different map alternatives:
Map 1
Map 1 includes the 18 sites reviewed by the public in late 2021 with one change. One of the parcels within Site 4, at the northeast corner of El Camino Real and College Boulevard, was removed from the map because one of the property owners did not want the property rezoned to increase the density to the level considered. The two remaining parcels of Site 4 were included in both maps.
Map 2
This map removes the additional following sites from Map 1:
- Site 3: Increasing the density allowed on vacant land already zoned for residential development at the southwest corner of El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue.
- Site 8, currently home to Cottage Row Carlsbad apartments, southeast of the Palomar Airport Road and Aviara Parkway intersection. This land would be rezoned to increase density.
- Site 15: The site of a city public works yard at the corner of State and Oak streets in the Village.
This map would also increase density and number of housing units that could be considered on the properties at the Carlsbad Village and Poinsettia Coaster stations (Sites 14 and 17). The North County Transit District has expressed support for redeveloping these properties to allow for housing and transit parking, while maintaining the Coaster stations for transit.
About the environmental analysis
Before deciding which properties to rezone, the city needed to study potential environmental impacts, such as traffic, biological resources, aesthetics and greenhouse gas emissions.
Unrelated to the new housing sites, the environmental report also evaluates the impacts of state-mandated measures regarding wildfire and flooding prevention and evacuation routes in the Public Safety Element.
Next steps
- Fall 2023: Planning Commission public hearing to review the environmental report and public input. Commission recommends which sites to rezone.
- Early 2024: City Council public hearing to review the environmental report and public input. City Council decides which sites to rezone.
More information
