Carlsbad senior commission hears Age Friendly Carlsbad update; staff summarize housing, mobility, meals and volunteer efforts

Carlsbad Senior Commission members received a multi-department update June 26 on the Age Friendly Carlsbad Action Plan and related senior services, including housing programs, library and cultural activities, parks and recreation initiatives, and transportation and nutrition services.

Eric Biggin, a city staff member who led the presentation, reminded commissioners that the City Council approved the Age Friendly Carlsbad Action Plan on Dec. 7, 2021, and said the plan was developed with support from the San Diego Foundation, American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding and guidance from the World Health Organization. He summarized six domains in the plan: outdoor spaces and buildings; social and civic participation; housing; health and wellness; mobility; and community connections.

The report compiled department-level actions intended to advance those domains. Nicole Piano Jones, Senior Program Manager with Housing and Homeless Services, summarized housing-related items, including the city''run resale program that keeps some for-sale units affordable over time. "We haven't done any workshops, but we do have what's called a resale program," Piano Jones said, describing how the city resells deed-restricted units to income-qualified buyers. She said Carlsbad maintains an online list of affordable units, and noted "there's a total of 8 that are age restricted currently for 55 and up." She also said an effort to match a state housing-trust grant in 2023 was unsuccessful but that…