Setbacks seen for redevelopment of 2 Carlsbad train stations

Plans to build hundreds of apartments at Carlsbad’s two train stations have been slowed by the need to work around unanticipated situations, a North County Transit District official said.

The train stations are among seven locations in four North County cities where NCTD is trying to increase riders and revenue by working with developers to build apartments, offices, retail stores and even hotels on space primarily used for parking.

One of the hiccups in Carlsbad is a vernal pool between the parking lot and the train platform at the Poinsettia Coaster Station, said NCTD Director of Planning and Development Lillian Doherty.

A vernal pool is a low spot on hard ground that temporarily fills with water during the rainy season and provides a home for plants and animals, some in danger of extinction. It’s a rare type of habitat largely lost to expanding development.

State agencies such as the Department of Fish and Wildlife could require NCTD to preserve the pool or take some other action to mitigate the use of the site.

“There are certain constraints placed on us by the resource agencies that will require a redesign of this site,” Doherty said, in a presentation at the NCTD board’s December meeting.

Carlsbad’s other station is in the downtown Village, where redevelopment plans could be held up by a proposal to lower the railroad tracks into a trench through the Village from about Tamarack Avenue to almost the edge of the Buena Vista Lag...