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 arlier this month, the Carlsbad City Council was presented
with some new ideas by their Streets and Sidewalk Committee.
This committee and a similar tree committee were established
on October 19 by the Council in response to a hearing requested
by Citizens for the Preservation of Olde Carlsbad (C.P.O.C.)
to keep their "narrow, tree-lined streets."
 Carlsbad,
along with much of the rest of the country, is discovering that
the streets, which were created in the 30s and 40s, are much
safer and more livable than the so-called modernized improvements
which we have been constructing for the last 30 years.
What had
been occurring in Carlsbad was an aggressive policy of replacing
old, meandering streets with these standard residential "stenciled"
streets, regardless of existing homes and development patterns.
The committees have recommended that residents be allowed to
decide what level of improvements are constructed on their block,
provided they meet certain criteria for safety, fire service
and durability. The proposed changes aren't "rocket science"
and involve such simple concepts as allowing a sidewalk to meander
to save a tree or narrowing a street by limiting parking. Getting
an agency to allow flexibility in street design, however is very
difficult, but as Emerson once said, "difficulties exist
to be surmounted."
To understand
how controversial this issue was, consider that there were over
100 speakers and several hundred attendees at the three hearings
on this matter last year. This was more response than the Legoland
development and the city Multiple Species Plan combined. There
was only one speaker in favor of the street widening and he didn't
even live in Carlsbad. Councilperson Julie Nygard stated, "If
we've learned one thing on this matter, we've learned that one
size does not fit all." Mayor Bud Lewis said, "This
issue has been coming for a long time."
In fairness
to the council, the current road policy was in response to a
1988 hearing, where some citizens wanted the city to install
sidewalks on all of its streets for pedestrian safety. Unfortunately,
these citizens didn't realize that the sidewalk construction
brought with it the "standardized" street, with widened
driving lanes, additional paved parking and widened parkways.
This created a whole list of other problems to the community,
such as tree removal, increased urban runoff and visual blight.
Ironically,
this program decreased pedestrian safety, since the wider roads
induced drivers to speed. The street committee received traffic
statistics for the past 5 years in the "Olde" Carlsbad
area, which showed that every single traffic related injury was
on a street that had curbs and sidewalks. This data is consistent
with studies cited in Streets and the Shaping of Towns and
Cities, showing that personal injuries increase by 50% when
streets are widened along with curbs and sidewalk.
The committee
also recommended that no improvements or dedication be required
as a condition of a home remodel. This corrects an injustice
that has been occurring in Carlsbad, whereby owners of homes
that were legally constructed in compliance with all ordinances
and regulations in the past can not "revitalize" their
property without giving up a significant portion of their front
yard for city right-of-way.
To understand
this situation, consider the case of Chris, who was one of the
46 speakers at the September 28 city council hearing. Chris,
her husband and their two children moved to a 1,000 square-foot
house on Wilson Street in 1989. Like many others on her street,
she would like to remodel and add-on to her house to accommodate
her growing children. Unfortunately, the existing ordinance requires
Chris and the other residents on her street to pay to widen the
roads in front of their homes, should they wish to apply for
a permit. This street widening cost is not only cost prohibitive
(costing as much as 40% of the home remodel costs), but if done
would remove these resident's entire front yards and mature trees.
In several instances, the road widening would make it impossible
for the residents to get into their driveway. One of Chris's
neighbors has been unable to remodel for 15 years, since to do
so would require that he give the city the right to remove his
garage and one bedroom of his existing home.
Therefore,
Chris and her neighbors, can't improve their property and the
city does not realize the increased property tax revenues from
improved properties. This is very "penny-wise" and
"pound-foolish" of the city.
As E.L.
Simpson once said, "Getting an idea should be like sitting
down on a pin; it should make you jump up and do something."
Let's hope the city jumps up and makes the necessary changes
to these archaic ordinances. 
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