HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-02-19; Carlsbad Cable Hub & Honomoana Cable System and Vero Marley Broadband Project (District - 2); Murphy, JeffTo the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
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February 19, 2026
Council Memorandum
{city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID# 2026006
To:
From:
Honorable Mayor Blackburn and Members of the City Council
Jeff Murphy, Deputy City Manager, Community Services
Via:
Re:
Mike Strong, Community Development Director
Sheila Cobian, Assistant City Manager -· ~
Carlsbad Cable Hub & Honomoana Cable System and Vero Marley Broadband
Project (District -2)
This memorandum provides information on two related fiber optic/broadband infrastructure
projects currently in process ---a trans-Pacific subsea fiberoptic data cable system/landing site
and an extended private underground fiber optic cable. Review and permitting of these
projects involve federal, state and local government agencies including the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Lands Commission, and California Coastal Commission ---
perhaps others since it involves federal and international waters. The City of Carlsbad has
limited authority or influence on the overall project scope but does have a small and important
permitting role in authorizing the proposal, which is discussed below.
Background
The two projects being considered can generally be described as follows.
Carlsbad Cable Hub & Honomoana Cable System (CDP2025-0028 / HMP2025-0005)
Starfish Infrastructure, Inc., and
Elkhorn Services, LLC, are
processing an application with
multiple federal, state and local
government agencies to install four
trans-Pacific subsea fiberoptic data
cables located roughly 3,000 feet
offshore in the Pacific Ocean . These
four data cables, which carry high
speed telecommunications data,
will connect to a larger subsea
cable that will specifically serve the
countries of New Zealand and
Australia.
In Carlsbad, the four data cables
will attach to a landing site ---a
<100 square-foot underground
Community Services Branch
Community Development Department
1635 Faraday Avenue I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 442-339-5088 t
Council Memo -Carlsbad Cable Hub & Honomoana Cable System/ Vero Marley Broadband
February 19, 2026
Page 2
vault ---located on the east side of Carlsbad Boulevard, immediately north of Palomar Airport
Road on land owned by California State Parks.
This cable system proposed by Starfish Infrastructure, Inc., and Elkhorn Services, LLC, is only
one system among other similar subsea cable systems being developed in parallel by different
tech companies in different cities up the coast. These other subsea cable networks would serve
different Asian Pacific destinations including Japan, Singapore and Guam.
Vero Marley Broadband Project (CDP2025-0037 / PUB 2025-0006)
Vero Networks is proposing to
install 4.3 miles of fiber optic
cable starting at Carlsbad
Boulevard, near the
Honomoana Project.
According to their website,
Vero Networks is a fiber-optic
infrastructure and high-speed
internet service provider. The
entire project would be
located within the city's public
right-of-way where the
conduits would be installed
underground much like all
other utilities. From west to
east, the project alignment
extends southwest along Carlsbad Boulevard to Palomar Airport Road where it extends
3.25 miles to Yarrow Drive. The line then snakes southeasterly to its ultimate terminus at
Corte De La Pina and Cosmos Court.
The project is designed to interconnect with the Honomoana Project and appears to ultimately
connect to 2293 Cosmos Court, owned by Elkhorn Services, LLC, which according to a Federal
Communications Commission public notice is a subsidiary of Google. The property includes an
existing one-story 47,272 square foot (SF} structure. The building is currently vacant, however,
in September 2025 the Building Division approved tenant improvement plans showing office
(11,267 SF} and warehouse (36,005 SF} space, interior electrical equipment racks and outdoor
generators, which are all uses that are allowed by right under the city's Zoning Ordinance.
There is no active or proposed business license at this location.
Discussion
Given the city's jurisdictional authority, the project will require approval of a right-of-way
permit, which is a ministerial, by-right permit. However, city staff have taken the position that
a local Coastal Development Permit (CDP} is also required for work in the right-of-way, which
would be subject to public notice, environmental review, and public hearing. City applications
for the Honomoana Project were submitted on September 4, 2025, while the permits for the
Council Memo -Carlsbad Cable Hub & Honomoana Cable System/ Vero Marley Broadband
February 19, 2026
Page 3
Vero Marley Broadband Project were submitted on October 20, 2025. City staff are internally
coordinating the review of each project to ensure city code compliance.
As previously mentioned, there are multiple agencies that require review and approval of the
Honomoana Project. The State Lands Commission, who is the overall project lead, is preparing
the environmental document for the entire project in compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Along with
other agencies, the city will need to rely on the environmental document to approve permits
that fall under our jurisdiction, namely the CDP. As an affected agency, city staff are working
with the State Lands Commission to obtain the draft environmental document before it is
released to the public to ensure that the analysis addresses local concerns and issues. If the
State Lands Commission does not provide the city with a draft, the city will review and
comment on the document once it is released to the public.
Next Steps
Staff will continue to work with the State Lands Commission on the environmental document.
The CDP for the projects will require approval at public hearings, with the Planning Commission
as the decision-making body (unless appealed to the City Council). It is anticipated that the
Planning Commission would take action on both projects by the end of 2026. Staff will continue
to monitor any additional guidance provided from other regulatory agencies and to provide
updates as appropriate.
cc: Geoff Patnoe, City Manager
Cindie McMahon, City Attorney
Dalton Sorich, Assistant City Attorney
Jason Haber, Intergovernmental Affairs Director
Eric Lardy, Assistant Community Development Director