Why this matters
Residents have been fighting for a park for a decade. The state commission paved the way for 120 townhomes.
Carlsbad residents who have been fighting for the land near South Ponto Beach to become a park lost their decade-long fight Thursday.
The California Coastal Commission voted 7-4 to approve Carlsbad’s plans to zone a coastal plot that has long sat empty as residential, paving the way for San Diego-based developer H.G. Fenton Co. to build 120 townhomes on the 11 acres. The meeting was held in Oceanside.
The land has been the subject of a fight among residents, developers and city of Carlsbad officials over whether the prime land should be used for housing and commercial space or a coastal park.
Coastal Commission staff recommended the commission’s approval Thursday, saying a Carlsbad analysis showed that the city was not deficient in park space and that the project would help the city meet its housing goals.
The zoning decision does not mean automatic approval for the townhome project. It still requires a vote of the City Council to be finalized.
Commissioner Christopher Lopez made the motion after five hours of discussion on the topic featuring nearly 100 public speakers, almost all of whom advocated for using the land for park space. Lopez said that Carlsbad residents already have recreational access on the beach.
“We’re in a moment where we need housing,” he said. “The ability to run around, to play on a beach, is something my kids, for us, it’s an hour away, and the idea that 200 extra feet is too far, it’s a little bit much for me.”
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But the vast majority of the 93 public speakers — 52 who spoke remotely and 41 who spoke in person at the Oceanside Civic Center — disagreed. Many wore pins that read “Save Ponto.”
The mostly Carlsbad residents said a park would benefit not only their families but also the many visitors to Carlsbad. They said it was the last piece of land in the area for a coastal park, which was especially critical as the city risks losing coastal land due to sea level rise and beach erosion.
Speaker Grace Keefe highlighted the environmental importance of a park as well as the health benefits for kids.
“We don’t need more high-end coastal housing on our fragile ecosystems,” Keefe told the state commission. “We need a park.”
Calls for recreational space
The land has sat empty for years and people have long biked and walked through it, but Carlsbad designated it as residential and the current developers bought it with plans for a housing development in 2022.
Still, park advocates were optimistic. Because the land is part of the city’s 1993 Poinsettia Shores Master Plan, any zoning decisions require approval from the state’s coastal commission. And the California Coastal Act calls for recreation space to be prioritized along the coast.
One section of the Act reads: “Oceanfront land suitable for recreational use shall be protected for recreational use and development unless present and foreseeable future demand for public or commercial recreational activities that could be accommodated on the property is already adequately provided for in the area.”
Coastal Commission Chair Meagan Harmon said that it was the commission’s job to uphold the coastal act. She echoed Vice Chair Caryl Hart’s description of the “snowball of advocacy” for recreational space and voted against approving the residential zoning.
“Our obligation under the Coastal Act to preserve recreational opportunities, along with our obligation to carefully consider sea level rise risks and implications, are simply too important to ignore,” Harmon said.
She also said it was critical to weigh the city’s 2017 sea level rise assessment that warned of a potential loss of much of coastal land in Carlsbad.
Housing needs overrule
Terri Ross, the commission’s coastal program analyst, told commissioners that residential development is an “appropriate” and “consistent” use of the site, especially given Carlsbad’s “ongoing difficulty meeting housing obligations.”
Ross provided the commission with Carlsbad and the developer’s study of the city’s park space and low cost visitor accommodations. She said there is a park space deficit in the southwest Carlsbad area, but that would be remedied by Carlsbad’s 91-acre Veteran Village Park, which is expected to be completed in 2028.
That park is not in southwest Carlsbad, but because city officials count it as serving the entire city, southwest Carlsbad won’t be considered deficient in park space.
Ross also listed six nearby accessible parks as well as trails at the Bataquitos Lagoon North Shore Trail and access to the beach to show residents have recreational opportunities in the area.
Some residents took issue with the characterization of the city’s park space.
Four of the nearby parks Ross mentioned are south of the Batiquitos Lagoon in Encinitas and two were miles north of Ponto and east of Interstate 5 so not readily accessible.
Patti Greely, who uses a motorized wheelchair, said the close proximity of a park on the Ponto land was especially important for her.
Residents stressed that the land is the last chance for a coastal park in South Carlsbad.
Data from the park advocacy nonprofit Trust for Public Land ranks Carlsbad as the worst area for park space per resident along 250 miles of Southern California coast between Santa Barbara and the U.S.-Mexico border: Just under half of Carlsbad residents are a 10-minute walk from a park.
Eric Lardy, Carlsbad’s assistant director of community development, said that changing the zoning from residential would require the city to upzone other land somewhere else.
Those involved say the housing development proposed near South Ponto Beach will include three acres of recreational open space and public access trails. The project still needs to be approved by Carlsbad City Council and could change.
In a statement after the vote, a Fenton company representative said it looks forward to building homes for the community.
“We are grateful to the leaders and staff of the California Coastal Commission and city of Carlsbad for the two decades of thoughtful planning that made today’s action possible,” the statement read.
The many Carlsbad residents who showed up to speak Thursday left feeling dejected and still believing the townhomes would not serve them the way a park would.
Residents like Jim Burke had pleaded with the commission to let them have a park.
“This is a gem – South Carlsbad — we cannot screw this up.”
