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News from the City of Carlsbad | Sept. 5, 2024

With Labor Day behind us, today I’ll give you a recap of our most popular summer programs, along with an explainer about a topic of great interest in our community. Here’s the full rundown: 

• State housing laws explained
• Fight the bite: don’t let mosquitoes breed
• City summer programs a hit
• New features now available on our app
• Promoting literacy and paying it forward
• Help protect our ocean and beaches on Coastal Cleanup Day 
• Humane Society is waiving adoption fees this Saturday
• What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting

How new state housing laws affect Carlsbad

As more apartments and condos are being built in Carlsbad, we have gotten questions from residents about why the city is allowing more development even though we have a voter approved Growth Management Plan.

The short answer is that new state laws over the past several years have made building new housing – especially affordable housing – easier and quicker. And, these same laws greatly reduce a city’s ability to say, “no.”

We have compiled a new one-stop-shop for community members who want to learn more about these new state housing laws, what’s allowed to be built where and what the city is doing in response to protect our quality of life. Because these laws are pretty complex, with a lot of technical nuances, here’s how we’ve organized our new housing laws website portal:

At a glance

You can find a two-to-three sentence overview of each state housing law and what it means for Carlsbad.

Info bulletins

These two-to-three-page summaries are sort of like white papers. They include background on the laws and their main provisions.

Source documents

If you want to know more, the info bulletins have links to the laws themselves as well as our city plans that are affected.

I hope this is helpful, and, of course, I’ll keep you updated on any major changes affecting our city. Next week, I’ll go over some of the things the City Council has done to make sure Carlsbad retains as much local control over future housing as possible.

Fight the bite: Control mosquitoes 

With our warmer weather, evenings have been an ideal time lately to enjoy the outdoors … unless you are dealing with mosquitoes. The good news is that there has only been one bird in San Diego County that tested positive for West Nile virus so far this year, compared to 15 last year and three the year before that. The highest count was in 2008 with 659. Even so, we still need everyone’s help to eliminate places mosquitoes can breed.

The county’s website has good tips on how to control mosquitoes. Most have to do with eliminating any standing water on your property, including indoors. You can also get free mosquito fish to put in outdoor water features.

Birds

The County of San Diego tracks West Nile virus cases and asks people who find a dead bird to call its Vector Control Program so it can be tested. But, they don’t collect and test all birds, so be sure to review their website for more information. Here’s the contact info:

858-694-2888

Monday to Friday

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

858-505-6657

Weekends, holidays and afterhours

Making the most of summer 

From our library reading programs, camps, community events and more, this summer, community members took full advantage of all the city has to offer.

Now that Labor Day has come and gone and summer is “unofficially” over, I thought I’d share how over 10,000 community members got involved, made friends and stayed healthy through our summer parks and recreation programs.

If you’d like to get involved this fall, please check our Fall Community Services Guide and sign up online.

See something that needs fixing? There's an app for that.

For the past few years, our Carlsbad Connects app has provided an easy way for residents to report things that need attention, like replacing a burned out streetlight, repairing a sidewalk or cleaning up graffiti.

• A big thank you to those who helped be our eyes and ears in the community, submitting more than 1,500 reports from January through August of this year.

We recently added five new request types to help address homelessness and its effects on the community. You can now use the app to report or request services for things like litter, camping on public property and abandoned shopping carts.

If you are a regular user already, you may have noticed a faster response recently. In the past year, we put a new dispatch system in place to get service requests communicated out to the field more quickly and efficiently.

• The City Council’s 5-Year Strategic Plan puts a strong emphasis on organizational efficiency.
• Whether it’s new technology or revisiting an existing process, it’s important that we always look for ways to improve how we do things.

How to use the app

The Carlsbad Connects app is available on the App Store and Google Play. If you haven’t tried it yet, this video shows how it works. Or, if you prefer using your computer, you can access Carlsbad Connects via our city website too.

Construction map

We’ve updated our construction map so you can see where some of the larger city infrastructure projects are planned next week. If it seems like there is always something going on, that’s because on any given day, you can bet that someone from the city is out working on roads, replacing pipes or taking care of other work to keep our city clean and well-maintained. Our hope is that by checking the map, you can avoid, or at least minimize, traffic delays and other inconveniences that often come with construction.

Remember, the map only shows city projects. It doesn’t include construction projects by local utilities, private companies or other agencies.

Promoting literacy and paying it forward 



This Saturday is International Literacy Day, which was created by the United Nations back in 1967. One of the ways the city promotes literacy is through our annual Summer Reading Adventure.

• This year, we had 3,133 participants, a nearly 20% jump from last year.
• Community members logged an astounding 1.5 million minutes of reading time over the summer.

The program provides prizes and other incentives for reaching different milestones during the program. It’s for all ages, but I’d like to especially thank everyone who helped get their kids and grandkids involved. Keeping up with reading over the summer helps young students be ready for school in the fall.

Volunteer as a reading and writing tutor

If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity, our Library Learning Center is looking for volunteer tutors for its adult literacy program. No experience is necessary, schedules are flexible, and city staff provide all the training.

If you’re interested, call 442-339-2878 or email literacy@carlsbadca.gov.

Help protect our ocean and beaches on Coastal Cleanup Day

If you like giving back but can’t commit to a regular volunteer schedule, consider signing up for the 40th annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 21, organized by I Love A Clean San Diego. This year, there are seven locations in Carlsbad.

• Teams work together to pick up trash and collect data on what type of litter they’re finding.
• Some locations fill up quickly, so if you’re interested, don’t wait to sign up.

Coastal Cleanup Day

Saturday, Sept. 21

9 a.m. to noon

Clear the Shelters Day

The annual Clear the Shelters campaign is wrapping up Sept. 10. This month-long nationwide pet adoption and donation program helps find loving homes for animals in need. So, if you have been considering a pet, now is the perfect time.

The San Diego Humane Society is waiving adoption fees this Saturday, Sept. 7, as part of the campaign. More than 800 pets are ready to be adopted through this organization alone. If you can’t make it this Saturday, you can still save 50% on adoption fees through Tuesday, Sept. 10. Other shelters in the area have special promotions through Sept. 10 too.

The city contracts with the San Diego Human Society for animal control services. Carlsbad residents should call the San Diego Humane Society to report a stray and for other animal control needs. But if you’re looking to adopt a pet, you can go to any shelter, including the county’s shelter on Palomar Airport Road. 

What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting

The next City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Sept. 10, starting at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. Topics include:

• A monthly report on the city’s investments and a report covering the fiscal year that ended June 30
• Advertising for bids on a project to replace one of the city’s sewer lift stations. The stations pump wastewater to the treatment plant.
• Extending an agreement with an engineering firm to complete additional technical analyses for an update of the city’s master plan for drainage
• A construction contract for a project to widen El Camino Real between Sunny Creek Road and Jackspar Drive with a third northbound lane and new sidewalks
• Investment Review Committee update
• The annual work plan for the city’s Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission
• Final design and next steps for a project to add 50% more lanes and make other improvements to the Monroe Street Pool

The agenda and staff reports are available on the city's website.

The City Council encourages your participation. You can get agendas and staff reports emailed to you directly, and if you want to provide input, you can email clerk@carlsbadca.gov before the meeting or come in person and fill out a request to speak.

If you want to watch from home, we have three options:

1. Watch the meeting live on the website
2. Watch a recording of the meeting afterward
3. Watch live or a replay throughout the week on the city’s cable TV channel, Spectrum channel 24 and AT&T U-verse channel 99

Board and commission meetings are also livestreamed on the city’s website and available to watch afterward. You can see the meeting schedule on our city calendar.

It’s supposed to be a warm weekend, so it truly will be “local’s summer.” Stay safe, stay cool and if you’re going out exercising, please bring plenty of fluids and plan around the heat.

Take care and I’ll be back next week with more updates.

Scott Chadwick

City Manager