Carlsbad Council Outsources City’s Future Again

This Time It's a Florida Consulting Firm

Over the last two years Carlsbad residents have watched city leaders squander more than $1 million to outsource the future of their Village by the Sea. They fell in love with L.A. billionaire developer Rick Caruso's promises to transform the site of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon into a shopping mall magnet for $2.6 million in annual tax revenue, preserve strawberry fields already saved by Prop D, and build scenic trails, all at no cost to the city. After a citizens-led referendum overturned the City Council's unanimous support of the project, the Council ponied up $650,000 for a special election that allowed voters to send Caruso packing. In March 2014, while Caruso courted council members, the city signed a $380,000 contract with Dover, Kohl and Partners, a Florida consulting firm, to create the Carlsbad Village and Barrio Master Plan to update the Carlsbad Village Master Plan and Design Manual, the one that was written by city planners and approved in June 2013. The 2016 plan is currently under review by the city's Planning Commission.   [Read more...]

Author information