On Feb. 23, the residents of the Carlsbad community voted on Measure A, a measure that proposed to build a 27-acre shopping, dining and entertainment complex on the south shores of Agua Hedionda Lagoon. By Feb. 29, all the votes were counted and Carlsbad voters defeated Measure A by a margin of 52% to 48%. The City Council will certify the election results at their March 22 meeting and the ordinance approving the Agua Hedionda South Shore Specific Plan will be rescinded 10 days following the election certification by the City Council.

The past few weeks, Mayor Matthew Hall has been meeting with those that were against Measure A just to sit down and have a conversation, promoting the idea of keeping our community united.

“Hopefully we can ask the community and those that were involved in this selection to come back together and continue working together on whatever the next project may be,” Mayor Matthew Hall said.

Some of the city’s future projects include the Coastal Linear Park, which deals with the governor’s mandate that the power plant has to close down in two years and brings up a question of what the city plans to do with this property. The outcome of Measure A has been a learning experience for the city and revealed the importance in having developers go through the CEQA environmental review rather than try and take an initiative process.

“Anytime you have a project as dynamic as this, you’re always going to have different views and this is something we should appreciate,” Hall said. “Everybody has their thoughts and their opinions and now that we’ve had the election I think everyone should shake hands and move forward.”

Rick Caruso spent about $10 million campaigning for Measure A and since its defeat, remains unsure of what his next step will be.

“I have not made a decision about my future plans,” CEO Rick Caruso said. “I’m just taking a breather and seeing what my options are and make a decision a bit down the road.”

Despite the voting outcome, Caruso remains constant in his positive view of Carlsbad and is very grateful for all those that supported him.

“My team, along with the help of a lot of residents, had a great plan but I think we could of done a better job of getting the benefits of the plan out there and also tried harder to engage the opposition,” Caruso said. “I wish I would have run a different campaign, a campaign that people would have voted yes for.”

Overall, while the controversy over Measure A divided the community into those for and those against the vote, now the main focus should be on the future.

“This was a one-of-a-kind project and I think at the end of the day we should all be able to come together and put this behind us and move forward,” Hall said.