Carlsbad Takes Step to Help Neglected Barrio

Carlsbad City Council members have voted unanimously to survey the coastal area of the city with an eye to forming a second redevelopment area, which would include the aging Latino neighborhood and a large area of affluent homes and commercial areas.

The action Tuesday night is the first step in creating a district that would pump property tax funds into the deteriorating barrio, which has been neglected as the city grew from a village of about 1,500 in the 1920s to more than 40,000 residents today.

Ofelia Escobedo, a longtime resident of the barrio and a proponent of redevelopment of the area, said that she felt “the City Council is sincere in their desire to help us in the barrio.

“I stood up at the meeting and asked if we could be assured that the barrio would not be bypassed again,” Escobedo said.

She pointed out that part of the barrio from Elm Avenue south to Walnut Avenue has been in the city’s first redevelopment area formed 10 years ago but has received few improvements while the downtown area to the north of the barrio has been converted into a popular and prosperous tourist shopping center.

“We have to have faith that this will work out,” Escobedo said. “I was assured that we will have a voice in the decisions to be made in our area.”

Gilbert Miranda, who lives and owns a business in the barrio, cautioned that the redevelopment area “is not yet a certain thing,” and has a long way to go to become reality.

Councilwoman Ann Kulchin said that the $30,000 survey was extended south from the barrio to encompass most of the city west of Interstate 5 and a small part to the east of the freeway “because we wanted to get the most bang for our buck”--a $30,000 grant to survey the feasibility of creating a second redevelopment district.

The barrio extends from Elm south to Tamarack Avenue and from I-5 east to the Santa Fe railroad tracks. City redevelopment agency officials had offered the council three proposals for redevelopment-area boundaries--all of them larger than the barrio. The council chose the largest of the three, an area extending south from Walnut to the Batiquitos Lagoon and from I-5 west to the coast.

Councilman John Mamaux, who proposed the revitalization of the area, said Wednesday that the larger area was chosen because redevelopment areas may be reduced but cannot be expanded.

“There is nothing certain about this,” Mamaux cautioned, explaining that the present survey is simply an exploration of whether a redevelopment district is feasible and, if so, what areas should be included.

“If it is not feasible to create a redevelopment area, there are other ways we can go,” he said, explaining that land planning processes and zoning codes can be used to renovate the barrio. “One thing we want everyone to know that whatever is done, it will be done by the people of the barrio, and the barrio will be first on the priority list.”

Mario Monroy, who does not live in the barrio but works with a civic group seeking “the best quality of life for everyone in the community,” said some barrio residents, especially homeowners, are concerned that they may lose their homes if property values increase with redevelopment improvement programs.

“Some of them also remember what happened with redevelopment in Chavez Ravine, which was a Mexican barrio that was leveled to make way for the (Los Angeles Dodgers) ballpark,” Monroy said. “We are not dealing with such a large area here, and nothing like that would happen. But people remember what happened in Chavez Ravine, and they are concerned.”