Carefully managing growth and development is critical to maintaining the City of Carlsbad’s excellent quality of life. Since 1986, the city has grown under the framework of the Growth Management Program, which has two parts:

1. In 1986, Carlsbad voters approved housing caps that limited how many homes could be built in the city.
2. The city then worked with the community to develop conditions (called performance standards) on how growth could occur, including requiring that development pay its own way by funding key infrastructure needed to serve new residents. 

Today, new state laws have changed how future housing will be approved. With less control over approving new housing, the city is entering a new phase where different tools will be needed to effectively manage growth.

A resident-led committee created by the City Council completed its work in April 2023 with a report that identifies issues and standards that will help ensure Carlsbad retains an excellent quality of life as it continues to grow. 

What's next

The City Council accepted the committee's report on July 18, 2023, and asked staff to return to discuss next steps to update the city's growth management program, which include doing technical studies to determine if and how the standards proposed by the committee could be linked to developer fees.