Victory Goes to Carlsbad in Fight Over Coastal Land

Closing a controversial chapter in their city’s history, Carlsbad officials Thursday assumed sole authority over development in the community’s coastal zone when the California Coastal Commission narrowly approved a land-use plan for the area.

The commission’s 7-5 approval in a marathon hearing here caps a highly contentious, decade-long battle between the two agencies for control of about 6,400 acres along the city’s coastline.

More significantly, the settlement means that developers, including the billionaire Hunt brothers of Texas, now need only seek the approval of local officials in order to build in Carlsbad’s coastal zone. Previously, property owners had to obtain permits from both the city and the state commission before proceeding with a project.

All sides in the dispute cheered Thursday’s action and expressed relief that the often bitter--and decidedly lengthy--fight has ended.

“Justice triumphs--finally,” Councilman Richard Chick said after the vote. “Local control is the American way, and after all these years and all these efforts, we’ve got it now.”

Mayor Mary Casler, who has described the city’s relationship with the Coastal Commission as “one frustration after another,” said she was “gratified” that the state panel saw fit to “approve our plan and finally give up control and power in the City of Carlsbad.”

“This is a turning point for the city, no question,” Casler said. “I’m glad the commission realized we have met all of their requirements and that we deserve to be awarded permit authority in our own coastal zone.”

The plan, known as a local coastal program, consists of a set of land-use policies that each coastal city must adopt before the commission relinquishes control of development near the shore. In Carlsbad, the coastal program adopted Thursday covers an area bounded roughly by Batiquitos Lagoon, Interstate 5, Tamarack Avenue and El Camino Real and excluding parcels surrounding Agua Hedionda Lagoon and Palomar Airport.

A key element of the plan--and the spark that has ignited most of the controversy dividing the two agencies over the years--concerns the preservation of agricultural land.

Under state Proposition 20, approved by the voters in 1972, one of the commission’s responsibilities is to preserve agricultural land. But city officials argue that farming is no longer profitable in the coastal zone, and they maintain that property owners should be permitted to develop their land as they wish.

A majority of the coastal commissioners agreed and approved three options for developers who want to build on land formerly designated for farming. If a study validated by the city shows that agriculture is no longer economically feasible on the property, the owners can develop it as they wish with no penalty.

Another unusual option permits developers to build on farmland if they purchase an equal amount of prime agricultural land elsewhere in the state. That property, in Monterey, Marin or Sonoma counties, would then be turned over to the state Coastal Commission and retained for farming indefinitely.

A third choice allows a property owner to pay a fee of $5,000 to $10,000 per acre to build subdivisions where crops once were grown. Money collected will be used to restore Batiquitos Lagoon, build a nature center at Buena Vista Lagoon, replenish Carlsbad’s eroding beaches with sand, and purchase land for farming elsewhere in the city.

More than a dozen residents, farmers, developers, politicians and consultants spoke in favor of the city’s proposal during the hearing, which lasted more than three hours.

Thomas Escher, deputy commissioner with the San Diego County Department of Agriculture, was the lone opponent, criticizing the city for not “making the commitment necessary to preserve agriculture for future generations.” Escher also read a letter from the San Diego County Farm Bureau that supported his position.

The commission’s staff analysts had recommended approval of the city’s plan with several modifications. Most importantly, they advised that a 1,000-acre parcel near Batiquitos Lagoon be excluded from the city’s agricultural conversion program.

That parcel, on which Hunt Properties Inc. plans to build a resort and residential development, is large enough to warrant development using a “mixed-use approach” that combines low-density development with farming on about 200 acres, said Peter Douglas, the commission’s executive director.

The remaining 5,000 acres in Carlsbad’s coastal zone are divided into small parcels held by a multitude of landowners and are not suitable for a mixed-use approach, Douglas said.

But the city--and representatives of Hunt Properties--protested that excluding one landowner from the land-use plan is neither fair to the Texas developers, who do not want to include agricultural uses in their master plan, nor logical from a planning perspective. Most commissioners agreed.

“To split this area and adopt two separate plans, two sets of rules, would be a travesty,” Commissioner David Malcolm said.

Staff analysts sounded another warning, maintaining that money collected from developers choosing to pay in order to convert their agricultural land should be used specifically for purchasing new farmland, rather than for lagoon or beach improvements.

Commissioner Duane Garrett agreed and voted against the community’s plan for that reason. But his colleagues, appearing anxious to end the decade-old struggle and send Carlsbad on its way, decided not to heed the staff’s advice.

“If the time hasn’t passed, then it’s certainly time now to get on with it,” Commissioner Donald McGinnis said. “We have before us a good plan . . . one that we certainly can live with. This protracted struggle must come to an end, today.”

The city’s relationship with the commission has been a stormy one, marked by one impasse after another. At its worst point, in 1982, Carlsbad officials refused to prepare their required local coastal plan so the Legislature ordered the commission’s staff to do it for them. That plan was certified by the commission but has been ignored by the city.

Throughout the dispute, city officials have accused the commission of attempting to thwart local control of development and prevent Carlsbad from realizing its vision of appropriate land use for the city.

State officials, meanwhile, note that Carlsbad is notorious for attempting to undermine state protection of land along the coast through legislative channels.

In April of last year, for example, Casler and a coalition of Carlsbad landowners attempted to win passage of a bill that would have removed more than 4,000 acres of agricultural land from the commission’s jurisdiction. Casler teamed up with a consultant to several landowners to raise money and lobby for passage of the bill, introduced by Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside).

The measure failed in a Senate committee when the lobbying effort was disclosed. But two months later Carlsbad again pushed for special legislation, this time to abolish an agricultural subsidy program the commission established to preserve farmland in the city. This time, the effort was successful.