HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-06; Senior Commission; ; Nomination of Commissioners to serve on the Growth Management Plan Update Advisory CommitteeMeeting Date: Jan. 06, 2022
To: Senior Commission
From: Mike Pacheco, Recreation Services Manager
Staff Contact: Jennifer Jesser, Senior Planner
jennifer.jesser@carlsbadca.gov
Subject: Nomination of Commissioners to serve on the Growth Management Plan
Update Advisory Committee
Recommended Action
Receive report and nominate two Senior Commissioners to serve on the Growth Management
Update Advisory Committee (one commissioner to serve as a primary committee member and
one commissioner to serve as an alternate member).
Executive Summary
A City Council goal for fiscal year 2021-2022 is to “engage the community through a citizens
committee to create a new plan to manage growth in Carlsbad in a way that maintains an
excellent quality of life.” On Sept. 28, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2021-223
(attached to Exhibit 1) approving the charter for the Growth Management Update Advisory
Committee.
The advisory committee will be comprised of 19 primary members and 19 alternates. Each city
commission and board are asked to nominate members to serve on the advisory committee.
The mission of the advisory committee is to promote balanced consideration of a range of
perspectives on issues affecting the future growth and quality of life in Carlsbad and to identify
the key elements of a new plan to manage growth in Carlsbad in a way that maintains an
excellent quality of life while also complying with state law.
Discussion
Background
The Growth Management Plan (GMP) was established in 1986 and consists of City Council
adopted documents and a voter proposition:
•Growth Management Ordinance (attached to Exhibit 1)
•Citywide Facilities and Improvements Plan (CFIP) (attached to Exhibit 1)
•Proposition E (attached to Exhibit 1)
The GMP was established to address the impacts from development on public facilities,
including a limit on the number of residential dwellings that can be built in the city. The GMP
requires that adequate public facilities are provided concurrent with development and
identifies performance standards for eleven public facilities: administration, library, wastewater
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treatment, parks, drainage, circulation, fire, open space, schools, sewer collection, and water
distribution. Public facility financing was also established by the GMP through a public facility
management fee applicable to new development.
The GMP has been an important tool in providing a high quality of life by ensuring there are
adequate public facilities to serve the community as development occurs. Today, the city is 90%
built out, based on the amount of residential development planned by the General Plan. The
GMP is relevant to planning public facilities for the last 10% of residential development, but not
as relevant to the built environment of the other 90%. A new plan is needed that focuses on
maintaining and enhancing quality of life for the built environment.
Recent state housing laws have suspended the ability of cities to establish or implement any
provision that limits housing development or population; therefore, the city needs to plan for
more growth than is currently planned for by the GMP. On April 6, 2021 the City Council
adopted Resolution 2021-074 (attached to Exhibit 1) that found the city’s residential housing
caps in the GMP are preempted by state law and are unenforceable. Creation of a new plan to
manage growth is necessary to ensure excellent quality of life in Carlsbad, while ensuring the
city avoids state enforcement activities and penalties that may result from noncompliance with
state housing law.
Community participation in the creation of a new growth management plan is critical to the
success of the plan. A citizens committee will be an important part of community participation,
which resulted in the direction by the City Council to engage the community through a citizens
committee.
Committee Description
As described in the committee charter (attached to Exhibit 1), the committee structure will
result in a diverse and engaging discussion on how best to manage growth in Carlsbad in a way
that maintains an excellent quality of life.
• Committee’s Mission
Promote balanced consideration of a range of perspectives on issues affecting the
future growth and quality of life in Carlsbad and to identify the key elements of a new
plan to manage growth in Carlsbad in a way that maintains an excellent quality of life
while also complying with state law.
• Committee Members
To ensure a balanced representation of community perspectives, the committee is
comprised of a total of 19 primary members and 19 alternate members (one alternate
for each primary member). Alternate members will be encouraged to attend meetings
to listen and participate as any other member of the public; if needed would act if a
primary member is unavailable. The subjects of managing growth and quality of life are
broad topics and are important to all Carlsbad residents. The city’s existing
commissions/boards address topics that affect quality of life; therefore, members of
each commission/board will participate on the committee. Also, additional residents
from throughout the city (from each City Council district) will help ensure all areas of the
community are represented.
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• Committee Work Product
The committee’s work will conclude with a committee-supported report recommending
to the City Council what should be included (key elements) in a new plan to manage
growth and achieve an excellent quality of life while ensuring compliance with state law.
The City Council will consider the committee’s recommendations and direct the next
steps to create a new growth management plan.
• Timeline
It is anticipated that the City Council will appoint members to the advisory committee in
January 2022 and the committee will begin meeting in February 2022. The committee
will meet approximately once a month for (about 10 to 12 times).
Next Steps
In January 2022, staff anticipates returning to the City Council with a list of committee member
candidates for council appointment.
Exhibits
1. City Council Staff Report dated Sept. 28, 2021
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