Fifty acres of natural habitat next to the Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad will be preserved as part of a plan to mitigate for transit improvements along the North Coast corridor from La Jolla to Oceanside.
Gathered on a bluff overlooking the blue waters and scrub-covered hillside of the lagoon, officials from several planning agencies on Tuesday announced the $6 million purchase.
Keith Greer, a senior regional environmental planner with the San Diego Association of Governments, said the land will help offset environmental impacts needed to widen Interstate 5 and the railway line. This particular purchase will complement a bigger restoration project.
“The Batiquitos Lagoon is part of a $50 million restoration project by the state of California so the piece that we’ve acquired is the missing link — it completes the lagoon," Greer said. "Now all that area behind us is conserved."
The land purchase is part of a more ambitious mitigation plan required by the California Coastal Commission in order to go ahead with transit improvements in coming decades.
“The 50 acres is part of a larger acquisition for the North Coast corridor," Greer said. “Right now we have 250 acres that we have secured, acquired the property and started the restoration. That’s the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got an additional 400 acres that we’re planning to restore that includes the lagoon to the south and the north of us.”
Allan Kosup, project manager for Caltrans North Coast Corridor program, said $250 million will be spent on preserving wetlands and habitat up and down the coast.
“Each lagoon has different needs and different opportunities,” Kosup said. “Some lagoons benefit from restoration, other lagoons have development encroaching on them and had been previously restored. So the question is, 'How do you keep that healthy lagoon that you have already invested in?' So each one brings different value.'”
A developer did try to build homes on the land, which is on the south side of the Batiquitos Lagoon, and east of I-5 by La Costa Avenue. However, the California Coastal Commission denied the permit because habitat around the coastal lagoons is increasingly precious.
The money to purchase the land comes from the half-cent Transnet sales tax approved by voters in the 1980s and extended in 2004.
