Carlsbad officials review 2024 General Plan and Housing Element annual progress report; no commission action required

Rob Eiford, principal planner with Carlsbad Community Development Department, presented the General Plan and Housing Element annual progress report for calendar year 2024 to the Carlsbad Housing Commission on May 8, 2025. Staff asked the commission to receive the informational report; no action was required because the City Council had already found the report satisfied state requirements at its March 18, 2025 hearing.

Eiford said the city issued 289 building permits in 2024, a 55% decrease from 640 permits in 2023 and a substantial increase compared with 2022. "Seventy percent of the units for 2024 can be attributed to three of our larger projects, Marjah Acres, FPC Residential and Romeria Point," he said.

The presentation summarized several implementation accomplishments for 2024: City Council approval of the Housing Element Rezone Program and a General Plan amendment (including an environmental impact report), which provided zoning capacity for 3,447 lower- and moderate-income units across 16 sites; an update to the city's climate action plan to align with state legislation; continued construction of segment 2 of the Coastal Rail Trail on Avenida Encinas between the Poinsettia COASTER station and Carlsbad Boulevard; and council approval, on Nov. 24, 2024, of a growth management plan work plan and authorization to seek consultant services for impact-fee and facility-plan updates.

Staff also noted non-housing infrastructure and safety items tied to general plan implementation: the May 2024 launch of a citywide evacuation notification system, and completion in March 2025 of audio, video and lighting upgrades at the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium at the Carlsbad City Library. Eiford said staff submitted the annual report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development and the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (formerly the Office of Planning and Research), and to the San Diego Association of Governments on March 26, 2025, ahead of the April 1 deadline.

Commissioners had no substantive questions about the report except for one procedural question about the evacuation notification system. Scott Donald, senior planner, told the commission that the notification is delivered via an app residents can download for iPhone or Android. "Yes. Chairman, I believe it's an app that you can download," Donald said.

The Housing Commission received the informational report; no vote or formal action by the commission was recorded on this item.