As complaints mount at troubled Carlsbad apartments, city council moves to intervene (original) (raw)

Carlsbad council members want the city to remove the Windsor Pointe affordable housing development’s current management company, as safety concerns mount after the police chief visited Tuesday and found security lacking.

Police Chief Christie Calderwood said she drove up about 8 a.m. to check on the Oak Avenue apartments, one of two locations for the complex that is the source of near-daily 911 emergency calls.

As she approached, she saw a barefoot woman watching the complex from the street, Calderwood said in a presentation Tuesday night to the Carlsbad City Council. Then the woman darted across the street, threw a bag over the locked emergency access gate to hit a push bar on the inside, and walked through the gate.

Calderwood said she followed the woman onto the property but didn’t see her again. Walking around, she entered residential areas unchallenged and couldn’t find a security guard or the manager who was supposed to be on duty, she said.

Calderwood said she called a posted contact number to report the problem, then went to the other Windsor Pointe location a few blocks away on Harding Street to talk with the manager there.

“It did appear that the doors were unsecured, and anybody at any time could enter the building,” she said.

Neighbors of the housing complex have for months complained to city and county officials about what they say are drug crimes, sex offenders and loud public disturbances connected to Windsor Pointe residents.

City Council members have repeatedly asked the complex’s developer, Affirmed Housing, and manager, ConAm Management Corp., to boost security there.

Jonathan Taylor, Affirmed’s vice president of asset management, told the council that it has taken such measures, including installing video cameras to monitor access points around the clock.

“Protocols are in place to respond to incidents,” Taylor said. “We have taken steps to chip away at one of the main concerns, the unnecessary emergency calls.”

Windsor Pointe was the source of 222 emergency 911 calls from March through July, Assistant Police Chief Reid Shipley said. Of those calls, more than half were considered “non-responsive” — meaning they were handled on the phone without needing to send an officer or were referred to another agency, possibly for mental health services.

Despite all efforts, the rate of emergency calls connected to the complex has not declined since Windsor Pointe opened more than two years ago. From April 2022 through July 2024, there were a total of 984 calls, Shipley said.

“The police response has generated a lot of concern in the community,” even though most of the calls are related to mental health and relatively few involve crimes, Shipley said.

Windsor Pointe has 50 apartments in two buildings, including two units occupied by employees. The county’s No Place Like Home program provided $10.1 million in construction funding and requires 24 of the apartments to be reserved for people with serious mental illness who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness.

After hearing the police update on the complex Tuesday, the City Council approved a motion directing the city manager to review agreements with Windsor Pointe officials to determine whether the city can require the removal of the building’s management company, ConAm.

The motion passed 4-0. Mayor Keith Blackburn abstained because of a business relationship he has with ConAm on a separate property.

“This project is actually a stain on the fabric of Carlsbad,” said Councilmember Melanie Burkholder, whose council district includes the Barrio neighborhood where the complex is located.

“For two years now, we have been told this (24-hour security) is going to happen,” she said. “At some point, we are going to have to step in.”

City Attorney Cindie McMahon told the council the city has little control over the complex. Neighborhood residents have asked for it to be closed or moved, but that is unlikely.

The city owns the property, while Affirmed has a 55-year lease. The development must be used as affordable housing for the duration of the lease, under the requirements of the government loan programs that helped fund it.

Originally Published: August 21, 2024 at 2:44 p.m.