Our Accomplishments

Save Carlsbad Village Plaza was the grassroots movement that served as the genesis of the Equitable Land Use Alliance, emerging from a community fight to protect essential services from demolition and inspiring a broader mission to restore local control over land use decisions and prevent state laws from overriding community priorities.

ELUA spearheaded a strategic letter-writing campaign that successfully influenced key amendments to California Senate Bill 79, protecting Carlsbad from state-mandated high-density upzoning. Our advocacy reached not only local state elected officials but also critical committee members in the state legislature during the bill’s development.

The campaign contributed to crucial last-minute amendments that effectively exempted COASTER stations—including both Carlsbad train stations—from the bill’s upzoning requirements. Additionally, the final version included strict qualifications for transit coverage that protect Carlsbad’s single-family neighborhoods from being affected by regular NCTD bus routes.

While SB 79 still impacts other communities and the fight for local control continues, ELUA’s grassroots advocacy helped ensure that when the law takes effect in July 2026, Carlsbad will largely avoid its most threatening provisions.

ELUA’s efforts to save the Carlsbad Village Plaza were hampered, in part, due to a city ordinance that allowed the City Planner to unilaterally declare projects exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) without any prior public input or review by the Planning Commission or City Council. Once this exemption determination was made, the public was given 10 calendar days (or less) to file an expensive and complicated appeal. If no appeal was made by the deadline, then the CEQA exemption could never be questioned again.

This city law prevented us from contesting the hugely flawed CEQA Determination of Exemption for the Carlsbad Village Plaza, which left us with few avenues for fighting the development project.

ELUA convinced the City Council to change the CEQA Determination of Exemption process. An amendment to the municipal code removed the City Planner’s authority to make these determinations, putting them back where they belong–with the Planning Commission and the City Council.   This allows an enhanced opportunity for the public to voice concerns about CEQA exemptions during public hearings.

Update: In June 2025, a state law was signed by the governor that significantly restricts CEQA reviews of certain projects called “in-fill housing,” so the battle continues.

Given deficiencies in public participation in the Carlsbad Village Plaza project, ELUA also worked with the Carlsbad City Council to strengthen the City’s public outreach policy for future development projects. 

The new, strengthened outreach policy makes it much harder for new development project applications to avoid public scrutiny. Key changes include lowering the threshold for enhanced public engagement to projects with 10 or more housing units (previously 50), requiring enhanced notification for all mixed-use developments, and expanding notification to occupants within a 600-foot radius of a project site, not just property owners. 

Additionally, the updated policy mandates public outreach meetings and the creation of project-specific websites, aiming to provide more comprehensive and accessible information to the public and ensure their input is documented and considered in the decision-making process.

ELUA is forging strategic partnerships with citizen-led advocacy groups throughout San Diego County and across California, creating a powerful coalition focused on restoring local control over housing decisions. Through these collaborative efforts, we are establishing a network where communities can share proven advocacy strategies, pool resources for maximum impact, and provide mutual support for each other’s local initiatives.

This partnership model reflects ELUA’s core commitment to supporting community self-determination and encouraging thoughtful, sustainable development by ensuring that no community has to face these challenges alone. By creating local solutions, we’re building a statewide movement that prioritizes local community needs and preserves neighborhood character while addressing housing in a responsible, sustainable manner.