Stop Any Rezoning in Aviara

The City of Carlsbad has put in motion a plan to start the rezoning process of several parcels of land in the Aviara Community (Site Number 13 – Zone 20 Cluster) to build densely-populated multi-family apartment complexes. The sites in question are at the corner of Poinsettia Lane and Brigantine Drive and include the Rudvalis Orchid Farm Greenhouse. These would be rezoned to allow 3-story apartments and condos. These parcels have been zoned single family residential for decades in the City Plan.

The City of Carlsbad recently updated its Housing Element which is required by the state. The 2021 Housing Element included these sites for potential up-zoning despite a large amount of public comment in opposition. This included over 250 emails in opposition to city leaders and staff. These properties are listed in the Housing Element as “Site Number 13 – Zone 20 Cluster”.

The residents and voters Aviara have a simple ask of the City Leaders:

• We are not asking for city funds.
• We are not asking for a park.
• We are not asking for down-zoning.
• We are not opposed to the site being developed under the current R-4 zoning. We respect private property rights.
• We ask the city leaders and staff to keep with the current zoning that has been in place for decades.

Sign the Petition

We have a petition to collect signatures of those who oppose this proposed rezoning. If you have not already signed it please do so. If you wish to be added to the mailing list please indicate that in the petition.

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Email List Members: 834

Updated: 2021-September-15

Updates

2021-September-15

We wanted to send an update regarding the City’s next steps on the Aviara rezoning. Thank you for everyone’s support on this issue.

The City Planning Department has created the maps for the proposed sites to be developed to accommodate the state mandated 3,900 new housing units by 2029. You can view a map of the proposed sites.

While the Aviara “Site 13” is not on the maps being presented, we do have an opportunity to participate in the process and ensure that the Aviara site is not brought back into the candidate pool for the Housing Element. There are two virtual workshops and an opportunity to complete an online survey.

You can read the press release from the City here:

https://www.carlsbadca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/588/15

Here are some key takeaways and action items:

• “Site 13” in Aviara is NOT included in the current maps. This is a result of your support. Thank you.
• The process of the City government worked. The City Staff and Council listened to our concerns on this and took action. If you have the time please thank the Council and staff for listening.
• There is an online survey where you can give your input until October on each of the proposed sites that made it onto the maps. We encourage you to take the survey.
  The survey allows you to give feedback on each site and includes points that we made during our protest like: (1) not close to public transportation, (2) not close to shops, and (3) parking and traffic congestion.
• There are two public workshops on September 15 and September 22. You can read about those and register for them here https://www.carlsbadca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/588/15

2021-July-2

The Carlsbad City Staff prepared a July 1, 2021 memorandum to the City Council laying out the next steps of the Housing Element. The next step would be to plan which properties will start the rezoning process in the coming years. The July 1 memorandum from the Staff stated that it is anticipated that the Aviara properties will NOT be included in any of those maps due to the April 6, 2021 amendment adopted by the City Council, which was largely due to the large public input from Aviara homeowners.

High-level next steps for the Housing Element

• July 2021: The city staff prepares a proposal to accommodate the 1,724 housing units required by the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). This includes two “mapping options” which will show where those housing units can be accommodated and which properties will start with the rezoning process. The July 1, 2021 memorandum states that the Aviara properties at the corner of Poinsettia and Brigantine (site 13) are anticipated NOT to be included in any of those two mapping options.
• August 2021: The City Council will review the proposed mapping options and the public outreach plan.
• September 2021 - October 2021: Public outreach on the proposed maps will occur.
• Winter 2021/2022: The City Council will endorse/vote on the proposed mapping options.

This is promising news for those Carlsbad citizens who are in support of keeping existing zoning. The City Council and staff have listened to our input for this battle.

Does this mean that any of those properties will not be rezoned in the future? Not at all! A developer could propose a high density development on these properties at any time regardless of what is in the “Housing Element” and start the process of rezoning. The State is requiring cities to build housing and the emphasis on the types of development is high density housing. Therefore, if the owners of these properties came forward with a plan to develop those properties, the City Council and Staff would evaluate the proposal. Although the process might take years, it could happen. However, that will be another battle.

The Aviara properties will be developed at some point in the future. The organizers of this opposition effort do NOT oppose development under the existing R-4 zoning.

2021-June-10

• We crossed the 1,000 unique signature threshold today! Again, a big thanks to everyone who signed the petition, spoke at City Council meetings, wrote emails, engaged in social media!

2021-June-9

• We crossed the 900 unique petition signatures mark today. Go Aviara!

2021-May-17

• We hit 800 unique petition signatures and 671 emails on the notification list. Thank you for the support.

2021-May-8

• We hit 750 unique petition signatures and 636 emails on the notification list. Aviara is great! Thank you for the support.

2021-April-21

• We hit 700 petition signatures!!!! Thank you for your support.

2021-April-16

The Coast News published an article title Carlsbad adopts long-range affordable housing plan that discusses this and includes the same information as below.

2021-April-13

The April 13, 2021 City Council meeting did not address the Housing Element as an agenda item. However, there was some public comment from some of our Aviara Neighbors in the public comments in the first 15 minutes. Additionally, the public comments trailed at the end of the meeting regarding site 13. Council Member Bhat-Patel made some closing remarks regarding the vote at the previous meetings. Thank you to those members of the Aviara community for your remarks.

2021-April-6

The Carlsbad City Council met on April 6th, 2021. The agenda item number 6 titled “GENERAL PLAN HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE” was concerned with the Housing Element and there was discussion on the inclusion of these sites in the Housing Element. The City Staff had been preparing the “Housing Element” document for over a year. The City Council was voting on a few change to the document and to approve and submit it to the state. The majority of the feedback on the Housing Element was in opposition of rezoning this Aviara site. Several members of the community addressed the Council and those comments can be viewed at the 50 minute marker for agenda item #6. In the Planning and Housing Commission meetings, the members of the community sent over 280 emails opposing these sites being included in the Housing Element.

Thank you for those neighbors who took the time to write emails, make phone calls and speak at the meetings.

There was broad agreement in the meeting that this site is a poor choice for high density housing:

• There are no public transit.
• There are no walkable shopping.
• There are no walkable restaurants.
• There are no walkable jobs.
• It is not bike friendly.
• Residents must have their own vehicles.
• It is not located in “smart growth” area.
• It conflicts with other stated City policies and strategies about smart and high density growth.

Mayor Matt Hall motioned for “Site 13 - Zone 20 cluster” to be removed from the Housing Element based on the large amount of public feedback. This site was the only site in the Housing Element inventory that has any real feedback from the community. Council Member Teresa Acosta seconded the motion to remove the site from inventory. However, Council Member Priya Bhat-Patel whose district includes part of this cluster wavered on the motion. Council Member Bhat-Patel’s thoughts were to mark this site as “low-priority” for rezoning. She did not vote for the Mayor’s motion. Keith Blackburn owns property too close to this site to participate in the vote. Council Member Cori Schumacher followed Council Member Bhat-Patel’s lead. The Mayor’s motion did NOT pass. The site remains in the Housing Element as a potential site for up-zoning.

It is important to keep in mind that including these properties in the Housing Element does NOT mean they will be rezoned. There is still a process the city must go through to have these rezoned. We will be there if and when those actions start to move forward.

Make no mistake, the “low-priority” designation of the Aviara site means nothing. This site is still endanger of moving forward. The community must stay alert. A developer could propose a high density development on these properties at any time regardless of what is in the “Housing Element” and start the process of rezoning. The State is requiring Cities to build housing and the emphasis on the types of development is high density housing. The thinking is that high density means affordable. This is a rather simplistic view of the world considering places like Tokyo and New York are very high density but also extremely expensive.

What can we do?

• Watch for updates from the City on proposals and staff actions regarding this site. You can Sign up for emails from the City to help stay informed.
• Email your the City Council members telling them that you oppose any rezoning to high density in Aviara.
• If you have expertise in environmental, land use, City procedures or other areas that you think will help please consider joining the leadership team. You can email no.aviara.rezone@gmail.com

2021-Feb-01

The City of Carlsbad is updating a state-mandated “Housing Element” document which serves as a strategy to provide new housing “units” based on a “Regional Housing Needs Assessment” (RHNA) for the next 8 years. The RHNA is simply a look at growth trends in the area and extrapolates future housing needs for all income levels. There is a succinct FAQ document on the City’s website about the Housing Element. The city is required to provide a strategy on how they will meet the housing needs of the community based on this “needs assessment.” Carlsbad has been allocated approximately 3,900 housing units that will be required based on estimated growth through the 2020’s. Of those 3,900 units, approximately 2,100 units (54%) must be for lower income populations. The following is a breakdown of the RHNA shares.

Since housing prices in Coastal Southern California are so high, very high density housing like apartment complexes will be required to meet those lower income housing units. A bulletin provided by the city summarizes this assumption.

The “Housing Element” strategy document is solely focused on how the City can work with private developers to meet these needs. It is important to note that nothing in the Housing Element document is an actual plan to rezone any properties. It is solely to show to the state that the City has a plan to meet future housing needs and that the plan is inclusive of all income groups. However, it does signal to private developers and property owners that the City will start the rezoning process if necessary and those proposed sites in the Housing Element are up for discussion and consideration.

The Housing Element is NOT concerned with preserving your community character, your views, your property values, backyard privacy or neighborhood demographics. As an Aviara home owner those are likely your main concerns. However, they may not sway the staff and council members who propose adding high density housing to Aviara.

The Housing Element needs to have a plan to add 2,100 units of low income housing in the City. Aviara homeowners who do NOT want more high density housing in Aviara must keep this in mind. The City MUST have a plan to provide this type of housing somewhere in the City. The City is reviewing “adequate sites” to add this high density housing. At this point, Aviara concerned citizens are really trying to disqualify the Site 13 - Zone 20 Cluster from the housing element. We are not sure if this is actually possible to get the “Site 13 - Zone 20 Cluster” removed from this housing strategy document. So we are likely in for a longer term opposition effort to ensure that the Site 13 - Zone 20 cluster is not developed to low income housing.

Facts

• A developer can propose a rezoning at any time to the city and it must go through several steps. It does NOT matter if this site is in or out of the “Housing Element”.
• The Housing Element is just the start of the process. There are many more procedural steps that must happen before these sites get rezoned. Any site that is included in the housing element shows as a potential site for rezone and it is basically on a “shopping list” for developers.
• The sites are currently owned by different entities. The owner of the Orchid Farm has expressed the desire to have it up-zoned as the land is worth more at the higher zoning.
• The State of California has passed several laws forcing Cities to create a plan to create high density housing. All Cities must show that they have a plan to meet the Regional Housing Needs Assessment that is assigned to each city.

Important Links

• City Housing Plan Update Page
• Housing Commission - This commission is mainly concerned with affordable housing programs, policies, and regulations. The commission consists of five members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. They review development projects and make recommendations to the City Council.
• Planning Commission: These individuals are concerned with the implementation of the “General Plan.” The commission consists of seven members appointed by a majority vote of the City Council. Members must be residents of Carlsbad and normally serve four-year terms.
• How to stay informed? Sign the petition and check the box to stay informed. You may have some reason because of your job or position that you cannot sign a petition. If you want to stay informed then please drop an email to no.aviara.rezone@gmail.com.
• Facebook Opposition Group

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