Although the City Council approved the ghastly project to replace the Carlsbad Village Plaza with a gigantic high-density, high-rise apartment complex, the fight is not over.
Though we’re disappointed in the City Council’s lack of resolve to protect this precious resource, we also recognize the draconian state housing laws that forced this outcome by severely limiting their options and threatening drastic repercussions if the project was not approved.
That said, our combined pressure managed to get the Council to add many of the conditions of approval we requested. But even more impressive was the City Council’s decision to adopt our request to reform two of the City policies that made it so difficult to fight this project. One was the policy that makes it nearly impossible to appeal an exemption for a thorough environmental impact report. The other was an wholly inadequate public outreach policy for proposed projects. We will keep an eye on the City to make sure these reforms are properly implemented.
The demise of the plaza has sent a strong signal to developers that it’s open season on Carlsbad Village and the Barrio. New high-density projects are popping up everywhere. We need to continue to oppose the projects that abuse state housing laws to circumvent our local housing standards.
We continue to need your support to limit the damage being done to our community – damage that will last for generations.
Stay tuned. Stay involved. There’s much more to come.
Protect The Heart Of Our Community
We have formed a local nonprofit called the Equitable Land Use Alliance. With it we not only fought against this project, but we’ll continue to fight similar projects that will be coming at us with increasing frequency. We’ll also work to reforming the local ordinances and state laws that created this monster in the first place.
Through education, community engagement, and legal action, we strive to protect our community from unconstrained, haphazard development.
Let’s work together to make Carlsbad a a community that works well for all its residents. We need your help to make this a reality. Please make a donation today.
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