Ever since I first heard that Rick Caruso, the builder behind The Grove in Los Angeles, might be coming down to Carlsbad to create a similar shopping, dining and entertainment complex, I´ve been ecstatic.
This is a builder who “gets it,” who before he drafts any plans holds a series of community meetings and makes sure he gets plenty of local input – which he then takes into account when crafting his proposal.
In Los Angeles, The Grove occupies the site of a former orchard and dairy farm. The 575,000-square-foot complex features buildings in the same historic style as those in surrounding communities, with shopping alleys, an assortment of plazas and intimate courtyards, and a large central park with an animated fountain – the site of many free shows and performances.
The Grove is hardly your typical suburban mall, plunked down in the middle of town. Rather, it almost appears to have been seeded, nurtured and grown by and for the community it serves – taking the area´s essential flavor and enhancing it.
In Carlsbad, the complex Caruso wants to build occupies the site of the city´s beloved strawberry fields. But while the strawberry-growing area will shift a little eastward from its present location at the northeast corner of Interstate 5 and Cannon Road, it will be enlarged and enhanced, with grower Jimmy Ukegawa expanding his operation from the present 30-some acres to as many as 50 acres, including not just strawberries but other crops.
Of the 203 acres on the southern shores of Agua Hedionda Lagoon that Caruso is eyeballing, a whopping 176 acres – most of which is currently inaccessible – will be preserved as farmland and open space, complete with trails and gathering spots with views of the lagoon.
Only 26 acres would be used for an open, low-profile shopping, dining and entertainment complex that will likely incorporate much of Carlsbad´s existing beach-community character.
To some, the big news is that Carlsbad is going to get a really cool new place to shop, eat and hang out. Others take great delight in the fact that the southern shores of the lagoon will finally be open to the public for hiking, bird-watching and other passive uses.
While I applaud both, the thing I like best about the Caruso plan is that it preserves the strawberry fields and thus fulfills the desire of voters who in 2006 approved Proposition D, which effectively took the site out of the hands of a developer who wanted to build huge tracts of homes and instead encouraged agricultural uses “as long as feasible.” That last phrase – “as long as feasible” -was always the sword of Damocles hanging over Jimmy Ukegawa´s strawberry fields. The city, after all, did not own the land, so without that “out” the proposition could have been challenged in court as an illegal “taking.” In fact, a similar proposition, on the same ballot, sought to permanently preserve the land for agriculture – prompting the city to float its own proposition encouraging rather than mandating agricultural use.
In any event, the city´s proposition won, and while supporters of the strawberry fields cheered they always knew the victory was a temporary one – unless a way was found to keep the strawberry fields viable.
Caruso´s plan does just that – and much more. Here´s to smooth sailing.