Carlsbad CA— The Carlsbad City Council voted on Tuesday night to move forward with purchasing a 15-acre piece of property, known as Aura Circle, for open space near Kelly Elementary School.
The property, located just north of the intersection of Aura Circle and Hillside Drive, contains an alignment for a future trail that was included in the Carlsbad Trails Master Plan, from High Ridge Avenue to Aura Circle. The nature trail would connect nearby residential communities to Kelly Elementary School.
The purchase of the property will be consistent with the General Plan lawsuit settlement agreement established with North County Advocates in March 2017, which requires the city to continue to consider and evaluate properties to acquire for open space.
A 2.66 acre portion of the property is currently designated for use as future residential housing. Once the city completes the purchase of the property, a subsequent amendment to the city’s General Plan would occur to change the land use designation of the residential portion of the property to open space. To comply with new state housing laws, other land in the northwest quadrant of the city will need to be identified to account for the residential portion of the property that will be converted to open space.

Next Steps

The city and the seller will open escrow within three days of the City Council’s action and close the sale of the property within 30 days after opening escrow. Once the property sale is complete, the city will take steps necessary to address several unpermitted encroachments into the property.