CARLSBAD: City creates citizens' group to help update general plan

Effort part of a $1.8 million overhaul of document that guides Carlsbad

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Friday, October 17, 2008 11:09 AM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- Seventeen local citizens have been picked to help the city rework its general planning document, which guides everything from where homes and city parks will be built to what native habitat areas will be left undisturbed.

The update of what's called Carlsbad's General Plan is expected to take several years, require much work from consultants and city staff, and cost $1.8 million. The document, which covers the entire 43-square-mile city, was last revised in 1994 and is in need of reworking, city officials have said.

The 17 new committee members were picked during a City Council meeting Tuesday. City officials said the citizens' group will assist with the general plan update by networking with people in the community and acting as a sounding board for various proposed changes. It's somewhat like the role that another city-sponsored group recently had in assessing what residents want for the agricultural lands along Cannon Road.

In an effort to collect a range of viewpoints, the new committee members were selected based on their affiliations with local groups or by where they lived within the city, Community Development Director Sandra Holder said.

"We really want this to be a grassroots process," she added.

Three people will represent environmental groups, three will represent civic groups and three come from economic development organizations. A total of eight people --- two from each quadrant of the city --- also were picked based on where they live.

City staff members said they had no shortage of applicants --- they mailed out 90 letters to local organizations and received the names of 53 people who wanted to be primary committee members and 15 who wanted to serve as alternates.

The 17 selected committee members will be joined by two high school students, whom the council has yet to appoint. The new group will have its first meeting in November to discuss basic policies and procedures, city staff members said.

The environmental organization representatives are: Ken Alfrey of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, Fred Sanquist of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation and Mat Huff of the Buena Vista Foundation.

The economic organization representatives are: Gina McBride for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, Eric Larson for the San Diego County Farm Bureau, and Julie Baker for the Carlsbad Village Improvement Partnership.

The social organization representatives are: James Farley for Endow Carlsbad, Jim Comstock for Imagine Carlsbad and Stephen "Hap" L'Heureux for the Rotary Club of Carlsbad.

The representatives for the northwestern end of town are Diane Lantz and Paul Thompson, while the northeastern representatives are Kirk Cowles and Diane Proulx.

The southwestern representatives are Lisa Tuomi-Francis and Jeff Segall, while the southeastern representatives are Kent McCormick and John O'Reilly.