Carefully managing growth and development is critical to maintaining the City of Carlsbad’s excellent quality of life. In 1986, the City Council passed a growth management ordinance, which put conditions on how growth could occur, including the requirement that new development must plan for, construct and pay for the public infrastructure and facilities necessary to serve the new development.

In November 1986, city voters passed Proposition E, which affirmed the principles of the Growth Management Program and established residential growth caps.

So, under the Growth Management Program:

1. The number of new homes that can be built in Carlsbad is capped. This cap is no longer allowed under state law.
2. Certain standards must be met before new residential development can be approved. New state laws significantly limit a city's ability to deny residential development based on these standards.

As Carlsbad transitions to a new stage of life, the way it manages growth must also change. The first step in creating a new approach is a citizens committee that will spend much of 2022 creating a new framework for managing growth.

The future maximum size of the city under the Growth Management Program was established by limiting housing to 54,599 dwelling units. When individual projects use fewer than allocated by the General Plan, these units are held on account in the Excess Dwelling Unit Bank, and later could be withdrawn and applied to another project (see Council Policy 43).

However, the state of California requires that all cities and counties adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. Every eight years, the state determines what those housing needs will be and works with regions to allocate the number of housing units required in each jurisdiction. As Carlsbad reaches the caps established under the Growth Management Program, state mandated housing goals conflict with voter approved housing limits in Carlsbad. Pursuant to Housing Element Program 2.2 required by HCD, on April 6, 2021 the City Council adopted Resolution 2021-074 which finds that specific provisions of state law “preempt the city from implementing residential growth management plan caps, residential quadrant limits, and residential control points." This is another reason why Carlsbad is developing a new approach to managing growth.

To make sure Carlsbad has the facilities and infrastructure to meet the needs of new residents, the Growth Management Program includes performance standards that must be met before new residential development can be approved. 

The standards are described in the "Citywide Facilities and Improvement Plan". The 11 categories are:

1. City administrative facilities
2. Libraries
3. Parks
4. Drainage
5. Circulation
6. Fire response times
7. Open space
8. Sewer collection system
9. Schools (not a city service)
10. Water service/emergency water storage (handled by regional agencies)
11. Wastewater treatment (handled by regional agencies)

"Local Facility Management Plans" are established for 25 sub-areas of the city.

City administrative facilities – 1,500 sq. ft. per 1,000 population must be scheduled for construction within a five-year period or prior to construction of 6,250 dwelling units, beginning at the time the need is first identified.

Libraries – 800 sq. ft. per 1,000 population must be scheduled for construction within a five-year period or prior to construction of 6,250 dwelling units, beginning at the time the need is first identified.

Parks – 3.0 acres of community park or special use area per 1,000 population within the park district ¹ must be scheduled for construction within a five-year period or prior beginning at the time the need is first identified. The five year period shall not commence prior to August 22, 2017.

Drainage – Drainage facilities must be provided as required by the city concurrent with development.

Circulation – Implement a comprehensive livable streets network that serves all users of the system – vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and public transit. Maintain LOS D or better for all modes that are subject to the multi-modal level of service (MMLOS) standard, as identified in Table 3-1 of the General Plan Mobility Element, excluding LOS exempt intersections and streets approved by the City Council.

Fire response – No more than 1,500 dwelling units outside of a five-minute response time.

Open space – Fifteen percent of the total land area in the zone exclusive of environmentally constrained non-developable land must be set aside for permanent open space and must be available concurrent with development.

Sewer collection system – Trunk line capacity to meet demand as determined by the appropriate sewer district must be provided concurrent with development.

Schools – School capacity to meet projected enrollment within the zone as determined by the appropriate school district must be provided prior to projected occupancy.

Water distribution system – Line capacity to meet demand as determined by the appropriate water district must be provided concurrent with development. A minimum of 10-day average storage capacity must be provided prior to any development. 

Wastewater treatment capacity – Sewer plant capacity is adequate for at least a five-year period. 

^1. "Park District" = "quadrant." There are four park districts within the city, corresponding to the four quadrants.

Annual Open Space Report shows the amount, type and location of open space.

FY 2021-22 Growth Management Monitoring Report
FY 2020-21 Growth Management Monitoring Report 
FY 2019-20 Growth Management Monitoring Report