Carlsbad council receives Windsor Point update; directs staff to return in six months

The Carlsbad City Council on March 3 received an update from city staff on Windsor Point, an affordable housing project in the Village Barrio, and voted unanimously to have staff return with another public report in six months.

Housing and Homeless Services Director Mandy Mills and Assistant Police Chief Reid Shipley told the council the Windsor Point development spans two noncontiguous properties—965 Oak Avenue (24 units) and 3606 Harding Street (26 units)—and that management changes, security and coordinated services are in progress. Mills said the property management company changed in November and that the new manager, Solari Enterprises, and the owner, Affirmed Housing, have been negotiating a revised management plan that staff expect to be finalized after required funding-agency consent. Mills told the council that "the revised management plan should be consented to within 120 days, from submission," and that staff inspected repaired exterior locked access and daily maintenance at the sites.

The update included public-safety statistics. Assistant Police Chief Reid Shipley said, "Overall ... the need for police resources has decreased during this most recent timeline." He reported 75 calls for service to the two Windsor Point locations between Aug. 1, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025, representing about 0.3% of the police department's roughly 53,000 calls for service in that period; 44% of Windsor Point calls were handled without a department response (referrals or other resolutions); and five arrests resulted from the cycle (just under 3% of the Windsor calls). Shipley said monthly meetings between city staff and Affirmed and weekly security meetings with police are ongoing.

City staff and the county awarded six project-based HUD-VASH vouchers to reserve units for veteran households; Mills said there are currently eight households at Windsor Point with veteran status and that VASH placements will occur "through attrition" as units are vacated. Mills also described eligibility criteria tied to VA screening and No Place Like Home program requirements.

Public commenters at the meeting described continuing neighborhood concerns. Dennis Jensen said the problem stemmed from the project's design and tenant sourcing, asserting the project "imports seriously mentally ill homeless and tenants with very serious criminal backgrounds" and citing a high cumulative number of calls for service. Another commenter, who identified herself as Julia Ashtore, asked the council to provide data on an alleged meth manufacturing and the resulting cleanup for a specific unit. GR Bernard and other neighbors pressed for stronger management accountability and security.

City staff described existing tenant protections and limitations. The city attorney noted eviction would likely violate state and federal fair housing law if based solely on disability status and said the ground lease contains a 55-year restriction tying the property to the current use. The city attorney also said the city has indemnification and insurance provisions in its agreements with Windsor Point; he cited a $2,000,000 general liability policy and an umbrella policy whose precise amount he could not recall.

Council members asked about specific items raised in public comment: whether meth-related cleanup protocols had been used (staff said they were not aware of a department investigation for such a manufacturing incident), the status of 24-hour monitoring and security, the presence of on-site management, and whether Solari has experience with tenants diagnosed with serious mental illness. Mills said security is on site daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., that video monitoring is recorded and has been used by police investigators, and that on-site resident managers and maintenance staff live at each location. Mills also said Solari operates similar permanent supportive housing projects in Southern California and parts of San Diego County.

After public comment and council discussion, Council Member Pat Patel moved—and the council seconded—to receive the update and return with another public report in six months. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps noted by staff include continued monthly multiagency meetings, weekly security check-ins, a city review of the revised management plan with Affirmed and Solari, use of VASH voucher referrals through the San Diego VA system, and continued monitoring of calls-for-service trends. The council did not adopt new binding regulatory changes at the meeting; it instructed staff to report back with updated data and implementation progress in six months.