The future of Carlsbad strawberry fields is cloudy
The Strawberry field is a long time place in Carlsbad that is being renovated to become a mall.
June 9, 2015
Los Angeles-based developer, Caruso Affiliated, known for building open-air shopping centers, bought 48 acres of the Carlsbad Strawberry Fields land and is preparing plans for construction. Rick Caruso, CEO and founder of Caruso Affiliated, is planning on constructing a high-end shopping center similar to The Grove in Los Angeles.
“The company sent pamphlets to my house that explained the ‘environmental benefits’ of the project but I do not believe that this project will be good for the environment,” said senior Natalie North-Cole. “You kind of have to think about the actual effects of it as opposed to giving into the propaganda that the project is a good thing for the environment.”
Caruso Affiliated is planning to build a shopping center alongside the strawberry fields, leaving space open for people to enjoy nature. The plans propose open space, trails, picnic spots and areas for people to enjoy nature. However, Carlsbad residents are unsure of just how much space will be left undeveloped.
“The developer is sending around misleading literature about the plans because people think it will be a mall and a nature preserve, when really it will be a mall and a few small trails,” environmental science teacher Mr. Muilenburg said. “If the strawberry fields aren’t going to be the strawberry fields I would rather see them become just open space or a preserve, and I think a lot of other people would too.”
In addition, Carlsbad citizens are concerned with the construction plans because the site is adjacent to the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, which means the habitat is rich with many different types of unique species.
“Since it’s right next to the lagoon it’s a really sensitive habitat,” Muilenburg said. “It would be great to see it all as a preserve.”
Caruso Affiliated’s plans to include new trails and picnic areas will invite more human activity.
“I think that a mall complex will generate more revenue but at the expense of one of Carlsbad’s really unique aspects,” North-Cole said. “While there are economic benefits to constructing this high-end shopping center, I don’t think that the motives are concerned with the true environmental consequences that will take place.”
Bill • Sep 26, 2015 at 11:06 am
I hope the local citizens will take the time to look carefully at and understand the 85/15 plan.
We have been propagandized and mislead by a slick out of town developer.
I was lied to by a person soliciting signatures at the Vons on Tamarack who told me my signature would insure that the locals would be able to vote to approve or disapprove the plan. I later found out that they were paid $14 per signature by Caruso or his organization and that it only allowed for the FIVE members of the City Counsel approval.
Please consider the following:
Most of the existing flower fields are currently under the massive transmission power lines that emit an EMF (electric magnetic field). Because of potential health risks nothing can be built under them except parking, farming, or parks such as tennis courts. For that reason there will not be any shopping center buildings directly under the power lines. However, according to the plans there will be at least a 30 foot high parking structure build very close to the freeway which will block the view of most of the open space. The mall will be butted up to the freeway from the edge of the parking structure and block most all of the view.
Increase in traffic will add significantly to the already maxed out freeway and other surface streets.
We are facing a bigger and bigger water crisis and are being told to reduce water consumption, yet the City has approved an unnecessary development.
The Westgate Mall at El Camino and Hwy 79 is a ghost town. Due to the increased popularity of on line shopping at Amazon (now the nations largest retailer) and Big Box Retailers like Costco, the major tenants (Sears, Penny’s Macy’s) are struggling with declining sales, and the smaller tenants who have not already left are suffering a lack of shoppers. This is a trend spreading across the country and some experts predict that within ten years malls will be obsolete and we be torn down.
Why are we being asked to sympathize with The Strawberry Fields? They can be located anywhere under the power lines which run a very long way to the east. As previously mentioned, the land under the power lines is permanently prohibited for any buildings other than parking, farming, recreational. There is a lot of room for strawberry fields.
This is a slick but very misleading crusade. It is interesting that Caruso shows pretty pictures of families and little girls running through open space but avoid any pictures of the proposed 30 foot high buildings and parking structures. What happens to the Strawberry Fields if the project is not approved? Really, what happens to them?
We are being lead to think the opposition to this plan is from outside interests, but no one can identify any outside resistance. Who is it? The only outsider I can identify is Caruso and he has spent million of dollars trying to get this approved. Do you think he has something to gain here or is he just a nice guy who wants the practice?
Yo Glow • Sep 15, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Jimmy have you no shame? Seriously, how much $$$ has lined your pockets with Rick Caruso’s money? Your strawberry fields are protected and will be there as long as you have a viable business. I am sure you know this but the land has NOT been purchased as of yet. SDG&E still owns the land……………
Don Burton • Sep 14, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Dear Lancer Link and Gillian,
Great job seeing where this whole thing was headed back in June. Please rejoin the effort to enlighten the citizens of Carlsbad as to what is REALLY going on. As for Jimmy, well, we already know we can’t believe anything he has to say. He has drunk from the fountain of strawberry Kool-aid. The facts are out there. People simply need to be made aware of them. It’s not just an environmental issue either. It’s a matter of basic CIVICS. This entire affair is a great lesson in how local politics works (or doesn’t) and how citizens can control their own destiny. This is democracy in action!
jimmy ukegawa • Jun 10, 2015 at 12:37 pm
Dear Lancer Link,
As a proud Carlsbad High School Alum, Class of 1978, the father of a recent CHS graduate Class of 2014, and the owner of the Carlsbad Strawberry Company, let me first say congratulations to you for your inspiring involvement and interest in the environment, habitat, and issues that concern the future of our hometown. I read today’s Lancer Online article about the Agua Hedionda 85/15 Plan with great interest. But I do need to add that the fate of the Carlsbad Strawberry field is anything but cloudy.
If it’s true that “knowledge is power” then learning the facts is the key to making the best possible decisions.
The fact is, with the Agua Hedionda 85/15 Plan the strawberry fields will not just be preserved but they will be expanded. The Carlsbad Strawberry Company and I support the 85/15 Plan because the strawberry fields will become sustainable and economically viable for generations to come. You will be able to bring your children to enjoy the U pick, and I will be able to pass along my business to my children.
Another fact is that the neighboring Agua Hedionda Lagoon will be protected thanks to technologies like desiltation basins, catchment basins and environmentally friendly designs meant to safeguard the watershed, wildlife and habitat that live and thrive there. And did you know the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation Board of Directors unanimously endorsed this project? And it won’t cost the citizens of Carlsbad a penny.
Also there is a clear boundary all along the lagoon in which native species are protected and restored by the 85/15 Plan. It’s called the HMP (Habitat Management Plan).
Another cool thing about the 85/15 Plan that every Carlsbad student should appreciate, is the free educational opportunities it affords all Carlsbad kids to learn about protecting and preserving the surrounding habitat. That’s a program that the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation (AHLF) will help manage.
It’s also a fact that the 85/15 Plan has spelled out in detail exactly how much land will be set aside for open space for Carlsbad families to enjoy – 176 acres – and how much will be used for an open air promenade – 27 acres. You can get access to these facts by going to openspacetherightway.com.
And last, students who love open space will be happy to know that the 85/15 Plan strengthens the voter approved Proposition D by seriously decreasing the actual number of acres where development can legally take place on the property. In fact it is nearly cut in half, from 50 acres, down to 27 acres. That means more open land off limits to development. And that’s a good thing for students and for Carlsbad.
Thank you for your insightful article and thank you for allowing me to respond. With caring concerning students like you in our schools, Carlsbad’s future looks bright!
Sincerely,
Jimmy Ukegawa
Class of ’78
No on 85/15 • Sep 15, 2015 at 2:11 pm
Ah yes, the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation supports the project-the same foundation whose Treasurer is a Development Manager for Caruso Affiliated. Obliterates their legitimacy, along with everyone else who has been promised a tidy sum and benefits, Mr. Strawberry Fields.
If the Plan is so great, why not Let Us Vote? Why spend millions circumventing the CEQA process?Where are the plans for the Mall itself? None of it adds up to anything other than seriously shady business in Carlsbad.
Sage Naumann • Oct 5, 2015 at 3:53 pm
Ah, yes, another anonymous “vox populi” that stands above the fray. Stop being anonymous. At lease Jimmy has the gall to use his own name.