CARLSBAD: Council to review strawberry fields report

City may next decide to make zoning changes

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:10 PM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- A report produced after eight months of community meetings on the future of the strawberry and flower fields region along Cannon Road will go before the City Council on Tuesday.

During that meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, the council will be asked to accept the report and authorize city staff to start the process to change the area's zoning, council agenda materials indicate.

The region, about 300 acres just east of Interstate 5 and south of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, is considered "open space" and is known primarily for a famed U-pick strawberry stand. The new zoning is expected to make that open space status permanent and add extra limits on what can be built in the area.

Carlsbad's standard definition of open space is broad, including native habitat and public trails, sports complexes and city buildings, city officials have said.

During recent community meetings, residents repeatedly said that they want the area to remain agricultural as long as possible. Residents have suggested various ways of helping keep the flower and strawberry growers in business, including offering reduced water rates and encouraging local businesses to use locally grown crops, the new report notes.

Residents were also asked what they would like to see if the agriculture stopped. A popular suggestion was a public amphitheater. Passive recreation, such as public trails, also was suggested.

The new report notes that the city's suggestion of a City Hall or Civic Center complex was described as "undesirable" by workshop participants.

The assessment, which cost $90,044, is the result a city-sponsored ballot measure passed in November 2006. One of two controversial Cannon Road-related propositions on that ballot, the Proposition D measure mandated that the city find out what citizens envisioned for the privately owned region.

The issue went on the ballot after word spread that a developer was buying up land in the area and planned to put hundreds of homes there. Those plans were eventually dropped.

To view the report and other agenda information, visit: http://www.carlsbadca.gov/chall/4councilmtg.html

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Pre-Registration Comments[-]Go to Top

Umm.. wrote on Sep 22, 2008 8:53 AM:Strawberry fields ... forever..

Clifford wrote on Sep 22, 2008 10:10 AM:PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T EVEN THINK OF TOUCHING THE
BEAUTIFUL FLOWER AND STRAWBERRY AREA!! THE CHANDLER
BERRIES ARE THE BEST AND BIGGEST IN THE WORLD. PEOPLE COME
FROM AS FAR AS ARIZONA TO GET THEM THE FIRST OF SPRING.
THE FLOWER FIELDS ARE A MUST TO SHOW FRIENDS WHEN THEY COME TO VISIT. LEAVE THEM ALONE!! THE LAST THING WE NEED IS ANOTHER THEATER OR PARK THERE.

THE SELFISH PEOPLE WHO WOULD CHANGE THIS AREA ARE THE SAME TYPE WHO WANT TO KICK THE SEALS OUT SO THEIR LITTLE
ANGLES CAN WADE ON A 100 FOOT BEACH,-- WHEN THERE IS
A 1000 MILE COASTLINE. DON'T LET GREED WIN AGAIN!!

Webster wrote on Sep 22, 2008 11:25 AM:My dictionary does not define "open space" as sports complexes or city buildings.

Can we all see what's coming?

Wild Cat wrote on Sep 22, 2008 11:30 AM:More open spaces please. With the development of the Robinson Ranch, Carlsbad is changing from rolling hills to rolling homes and mini malls. I hope the city listens to the people.

Umm.. wrote on Sep 22, 2008 12:10 PM:Pave paradise and put up a parking lot..

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