Be a Part of Carlsbad's Future

Want to have a say in what happens to vacant and underutilized land here in Carlsbad? The City is giving you a chance to voice your opinion.

The City of Carlsbad is holding two workshops, one in January and one in February, for residents to attend and discuss how vacant and underutilized sites around the city might be designated for different land uses in line with the city’s General Plan.

According to a city press release, project manager David de Cordova said that the main focus of the General Plan has shifted to maintenance from new projects.

“Most of the major growth in Carlsbad is behind us now, so our goals for this General Plan update are more focused on sustaining our excellent quality of life, rather than big new developments,” de Cordova said.

According to de Cordova, the City of Carlsbad has already committed to setting aside 40 percent of the city as permanent open space. The General Plan update will ensure other community needs are met as well, such as future needs for housing, employment, recreation and entertainment, among other land uses.

Residents are being encouraged to participate in a workshop regarding the General Plan and the open space. There is a meeting on at and another one on at the . Both meetings run from 6-8 p.m.

Carlsbad residents can also take an online survey in addition to the community workshops. Click here and provide your input from home.

“We want to make sure that all residents have a chance to participate in a way that is convenient to them,” said de Cordova.

During the upcoming workshops, residents can give feedback on three land-use concepts—Centers, active waterfront and core focus. Each concept distributes the future land uses differently throughout the city, depending on the concept objective.

Here’s a breakdown of the various land uses, as described by the city press release:

• Centers: This concept directs future development to the Village and several new neighborhood centers along major roadways, like El Camino Real. The centers approach would include local shopping and services within walking distance of residential neighborhoods. A significant portion of the city’s housing needs would be accommodated in or near the centers, enabling people to live close to shops, services and transit.
• Active waterfront: This concept would direct future development along or near the coastal waterfront, enabling residents and visitors to enjoy more opportunities for activities, dining, shopping and lingering close to the ocean.
• Core focus: In this concept, new residential and commercial uses would be placed at strategic locations at the edges of Carlsbad’s employment core in the geographic center of the city, enabling workers to live close to jobs, and stores and restaurants to get patronage from both residents and workers. 

“We see these concepts as a way to generate discussion about different approaches to being efficient with land, not specific development plans,” said de Cordova. 

The feedback from the community members at these workshops will be used to create an updated version of the new General Plan, which will be known as the Preferred Plan. The General Plan update is expected to go to the City Council for approval in 2013.