Carlsbad fined $23,900 for failing to obtain water quality permit

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 16, 2005 11:55 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- A state agency has fined the city of Carlsbad $23,900 for failing to obtain a water quality permit for its municipal golf course construction project.

The city didn't realize it didn't have the paperwork and is taking steps to rectify the problem, City Manager Ray Patchett said Wednesday. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to pay the state fine, waiving any right to a hearing before the California State Water Resources Control Board.

"Hopefully, it's the only time we'll have (a fine)," Patchett said.

State inspectors discovered the situation Oct. 20 while visiting the nearly 400-acre golf course site along Palomar Airport Road. That inspection occurred on a Friday, and the following Monday the city submitted the permit application it should have filed before work began, according to state documents.

However, a second inspection on Oct. 18 found that "the site still lacked the necessary best management practices required ... to protect the site from discharging pollutants to an unnamed tributary to Agua Hedionda Creek."

Because of that situation, the state issued the $23,900 fine, said Frank Melbourn, one of the state inspectors who visited the site. The city has since terminated its contract with the subcontractor handling erosion control issues, and "since then, (Carlsbad has) been a model student," Melbourn said.

Construction work started on Sept. 8, so the city was out of compliance on the permit issue for at least 39 days and the fine could have been more than $500,000, according to the state paperwork. The fact that the fine was not higher indicates that the state believes Carlsbad is trying to resolve the situation, Melbourn said.

"They have made great strides to bring the site into compliance and they are on the right track," he said.

Environmentalists at a city workshop Wednesday called the situation appalling, saying the city broke the law. Diane Nygaard, with Preserve Calavera, asked how Carlsbad would resolve the problem.

Patchett said there was no intent to avoid state regulations, just a misunderstanding about who was going to obtain the permit. He called the situation a "hand-off problem," saying city staff members and the private contractors each thought the other had taken care of the issue.

"As soon as we found out we didn't get the permit, we sent someone ... to get the permit," he said.

The 18-hole, championship golf course project is expected to open in 2007. The project has been plagued by permitting difficulties for more than a decade, and at times city officials have wondered if it would ever be built.

Construction costs have grown dramatically over the years, and now total $57 million when everything from permitting paperwork to construction of the fairways is included. The city plans to pay the state fine with money from the project's contingency fund, city paperwork indicates.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.

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