CA Review CKM
Meeting Date: Feb. 25, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Geoff Patnoe, City Manager
Staff Contact: Mandy Mills, Housing & Homeless Services Director [email protected], 442-339-2907
Reid Shipley, Assistant Police Chief
[email protected], 442-339-2257
Subject: How Community Concerns Have Been Addressed at Windsor Pointe Apartments
District: 1
Recommended Action
Receive a report on City Council-directed actions related to the Windsor Pointe Affordable Housing Project.
Executive Summary
Before and since the Windsor Pointe affordable apartments opened in Spring 2022, city staff have worked with the project’s operator, Affirmed Housing, to address a variety of neighborhood concerns.
In March 2024, the City Council directed staff to take several additional actions to further address these concerns. During City Council meetings on April 9, June 11, Aug. 20 and Oct. 22, 2024, staff provided updates on the actions taken, and the City Council provided additional direction. A full list of all actions taken to date is provided as Exhibit 1.
At the October meeting, the City Council asked staff to return with an update once a new property management company hired by Affirmed Housing had taken over operations. The new company came on board in November 2024.
Explanation & Analysis
Background
Windsor Pointe apartments are owned by Carlsbad Veteran Housing LP and operated by Affirmed Housing Group Inc., a company specializing in providing affordable housing, including 22 projects offering housing with supportive services for people experiencing homelessness. 1 1 Affirmed Housing is the Manager of AHG Windsor Pointe LLC, which is Carlsbad Veteran Housing’s administrative general partner.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 1 of 10
The Windsor Pointe project was first proposed in 2016. The City Council approved two actions, one in 2017 and one in 2020, for a $8.3 million financing package with the project owner to acquire the land and build the Windsor Pointe Affordable Housing Project for permanent supportive housing for people with very low incomes.
The County of San Diego provided funding to develop and operate the housing through the state-funded No Place Like Home program,2 which restricts half of the units for occupancy for those with a serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness. The county also contracts with the service provider that assists residents in units funded through the No Place Like Home program. Affirmed Housing operates the project and contracts with a property manager and an additional onsite service provider.
Who lives at Windsor Pointe
The project contains 50 apartments, including two manager units, located on two non- contiguous sites, 965 Oak Ave. and 3606 Harding St., in the city’s Barrio area.
Onsite services are provided to promote housing stability, help residents achieve education and employment goals and connect households to resources that promote overall well-being.
While these services are offered, it is not a homeless shelter or other type of institutional facility. Windsor Pointe is an apartment building where tenants sign a residential lease and have tenants’ rights and responsibilities.
The sources of project funding prescribe who may live in the units. Currently eight households have a veteran status and six households include people who are either from Carlsbad or work in Carlsbad.
Community concerns
Community members have expressed concerns about safety and other negative effects on the neighborhood’s quality of life. City staff have been working with Affirmed Housing, its property management company, and the County of San Diego to address those concerns.
City Council direction to address concerns
On March 12, 2024, and subsequent City Council meetings on April 9, June 11, Aug. 20, and Oct. 22, 2024, the City Council heard from the community, reviewed actions taken to date and directed city staff to pursue a number of action items related to security, supportive services and priority referrals of tenants for the project.
On Oct. 22, 2024, the City Council directed staff to return in February with an update on activity since the replacement of the property management agent.
Based on the review of data since March 2024, city staff see improvement related to security and service level concerns based on the actions that have been implemented.
Property Management
Solari Enterprises became the project’s new property management agent on Nov. 22, 2024.
Affirmed Housing and Solari are developing an updated Management Plan. As of the date this report was published, a draft has not yet been sent to the funding partners, which include the City of Carlsbad, the County of San Diego and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
2 Project funding was also provided through tax credits from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 2 of 10
When city staff receive the updated plan, they will review for terms that address the goals and priorities expressed by the City Council, including:
• Regular inspections of gates, access doors, access control systems and timeline expectations to complete needed repairs to such items
• Develop and implement a detailed staffing and security plan that provides sufficient on- duty management and security staff
Other funding agencies will also have to consent to changes to the Management Plan. The revised Management Plan is expected to be complete by the end of April.
The City of Carlsbad also gave Affirmed Housing notice that it needed to repair any broken or malfunctioning locks or access control systems. City staff from the Housing & Homeless Services and Police departments recently inspected the property to verify secure access. The main door to enter the building at each location is secure and provides for controlled access. Once someone is on the property, key fob access is required to enter the interior of the building. The locked access to enter from some exterior stairwells was fixed and confirmed by city staff. The property manager also entered into a new contract that includes regular maintenance on the locks and doors.
Actions to increase veter an access
Another area of the city’s focus has been increasing the project’s ability to serve more veterans.
Veterans are given preference for all units at Windsor Pointe, but it has been challenging to place veterans in the No Place Like Home-funded units for several reasons. Several efforts to improve veteran access have been underway, and the following updates detail the progress that has been made.
Legislation
Recent federal and state legislation should help more veterans qualify for affordable housing like that provided by Windsor Pointe. The issue is that with the benefits they receive, many veterans have incomes that are too high to qualify for the units at Windsor Pointe that are reserved for extremely low income households. The City of Carlsbad, through the City Council’s Legislative Subcommittee and the city’s lobbyists, advocated for veterans to be allowed to exceed the maximum income limits for supportive housing, or for veterans’ disability benefits to not be counted toward maximum income limits.
Changes were announced in 2024 at both the federal and state level to exclude any disability benefits a veteran receives from the definition of adjusted income for the purposes of determining their eligibility for the supportive housing program under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act, the HUD–Veterans Affairs supportive housing program, or for state funded supportive, affordable or transitional housing restricted for homeless veterans. This change could help more veterans qualify for units at Windsor Pointe.
Potential funding
The project partners also explored alternatives to increase veteran occupancy. The project was awarded six project-based housing vouchers through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program administered by the County of San Diego in December 2024. On Jan. 21, 2025, the City Council approved a memorandum of agreement with the county to allow the county to administer those vouchers to the project within the city’s housing authority jurisdiction.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 3 of 10
The project-based vouchers units will be reserved for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing veteran households referred by the San Diego Veterans Affairs office. Referred tenants are still required to have a serious mental illness to meet the No Place Like Home requirement. One distinct difference is that tenants who accept a Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher must agree to meet with a case manager each month, ensuring some level of engagement with available services.
Since the units at Windsor Pointe are all currently occupied, the vouchers can only be used when a current No Place Like Home tenant vacates a unit. While it will still take some time to use even this small number of vouchers as tenants move out, receiving and using the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing project-based vouchers will lead to higher veteran occupancy at Windsor Pointe in the future.
Calls for service
Community members have expressed concerns about the number of calls for service to Windsor Pointe apartments. “Calls for service” is a very broad term that includes many things beyond a resident or neighbor calling for police assistance. • They include 911 calls for fires and medical emergencies. • Cancelled calls and hang-ups also count toward the number of calls for service. • Officers also generate a call for service whenever they conduct a follow up visit or decide to initiate extra patrols at a specific location.
City staff have reported the calls for service related to Windsor Pointe residents in its updates on the project. However, calls for service indicate a general level of activity, but are not necessarily an indicator of criminal activity, or of the use of Police Department resources. From August 2024 through January 2025 the city had 175 calls for service, which is a decrease in average monthly calls by about 34% from the prior report from March 2024 through July 2024.
A little over half of the calls required an in-person officer response. • For comparison, the Police Department received 53,150 calls for service citywide during the same timeframe. Windsor Pointe accounted for .3% of calls the Department received.
• Of the Windsor Pointe calls for service, 53% were specifically for non-criminal mental health related matters.
• The need for a police officer to respond to the property has decreased since onsite staff at Windsor Pointe have had additional training in how to triage mental health emergencies.
• 13 of the calls for service were generated by staff or security at Windsor Pointe.
The city encourages all community members to call 911 when they need urgent assistance. At Windsor Pointe apartments, the police have specifically asked onsite staff, residents and neighbors to call when they have an immediate safety concern. The Police Department has received calls from onsite staff, onsite security and remote monitored security. Police officers also continue to patrol the area and follow up on previous calls. All of these contribute to the number of calls for service.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 4 of 10
Welfare calls
A significant number of Police Department calls for service to the property remain related to the
welfare of residents, rather than criminal activity. Between August 2024 and January 2025, the Police Department received 92 mental health related calls for service out of the overall 175 calls for service, which is a 37% decrease from the previous reporting period. Of the 92 mental health related calls, three resulted in a detention under California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 51503 for mental health evaluation and treatment. This indicates that most of these calls can be handled through mental health resources, and this is beginning to happen more regularly.
Increased referrals to appropriate resources
The number of calls requiring an officer to respond remains low since our report in August, which reported on data from March 2024 through July 2024. Many calls can now be resolved over the phone through a referral to mental health services or to the onsite staff at Windsor Pointe. The Police Department expects this trend to continue. • The city has a memorandum of understanding with the County of San Diego’s Mobile Crisis Response Team.
• This team offers support to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis as an alternative to a law enforcement response and the Police Department uses the team as appropriate under the terms of the memorandum.
• Onsite staff and Police Department dispatchers have been using the assistance of the Mobile Crisis Response Team more frequently to apply the most appropriate response for each call for service.
• When appropriate, police dispatchers may divert calls to a crisis response team, precluding the need for a uniformed officer to respond.
City staff will continue to request more onsite and remote behavioral health services from the County of San Diego to address the specific needs of Windsor Pointe’s residents.
3 Under California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5150, a person may be involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation and treatment only if there is probable cause to believe that, as a result of a mental health disorder, the person is a danger to themselves or to others or is gravely disabled.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 5 of 10
Cases vs. calls for service
Tracking cases related to Windsor Pointe apartments is a better public safety indicator than counting calls for service. When an incident requires police action, such as an investigation or arrest, a single case number is assigned. During the previous August 2024 report to the City Council, Windsor Pointe generated eight cases in five months. Of the eleven cases in the six months between August 2024 and January 2025, police made five arrests, three of which were related to arrest warrants issued by the Police Department.
Criminal cases (August 2024 – January 2025) Cases
Death report (natural causes) 1
Reported domestic incident (non-criminal) 1
Domestic violence arrest 1
Restraining order violation 1
Welfare check/assist county agency 1
Assault between residents (one party arrested) 1
Petty theft report 2
Warrant service (generated by Carlsbad Police) and/or arrests 3
Fiscal Analysis
This report is informational in nature and does not include any funding requests or commitments.
Next Steps
City staff have completed all of the short-term actions directed by the City Council and will continue to carry out the longer-term actions outlined in Exhibit 1.
Environmental Eval uation
This action does not require environmental review because it does not constitute a project within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act under California Public Resources Code Section 21065 in that it has no potential to cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
Exhibits
1. Summary table of the city and county action items
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 6 of 10
Exhibit 1
Windsor Pointe Apartments
Actions to Address Community Concerns
City Actions
Security
Requested Action Status
Bring back an amended management plan to
the City Council on April 9, 2024, that reflects
an amended guest policy to require visitor
check in and the presence of an onsite security
guard for each site when appropriate staff are
not available.
Plan approved by the City Council on April 9.
New guest policy in place
Implemented secured entry for visitors
Onsite security guard at both sites (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
when appropriate staff are not available)
Implemented 24/7 monitored video security system
Collaborate with the property manager to
strengthen the protocol to divert low-level
issues to onsite personnel.
City staff, Affirmed Housing and the property
management company worked on a protocol for
onsite personnel to handle low level non-public
safety issues.
Require repair of any broken or
malfunctioning locks or access control
systems.
The locked access to enter from some exterior
stairwells was fixed and confirmed by city staff. The
property manager also entered into a new contract
that includes regular maintenance on the locks and
doors.
Working with the City Council’s Legislative
Subcommittee, develop and implement a
strategy to effectively advocate for the County
of San Diego to release operating subsidy
reserve funding for this project to cover the
cost of additional onsite security at both
locations.
County Housing and Community Development staff
have confirmed authorization of the eligible use of
the project’s operating reserves for onsite security.
There is still a question of the maximum allowed
within a five-year period. The City of Carlsbad will
advocate to the California Department of Housing
and Community Development that the first five years
of permanent supportive housing tend to have
higher needs before reaching stabilization and those
projects should be allowed to draw a higher
percentage of operating reserves.
Request amended management plan include
regular inspections of gates, access doors,
access control systems and timeline
expectations to repair needed repairs to such
items.
City staff will work with Affirmed Housing to
negotiate mutually acceptable language in amended
management plan.
Request amended management plan include a
detailed staffing and security plan that
provides sufficient on-duty management and
security staff.
City staff will work with Affirmed Housing to
negotiate mutually acceptable language in amended
management plan.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 7 of 10
Completed In progress No resolution at this time
Services
Requested Action Status
Work with the City Council Legislative
Subcommittee to draft a letter for the region’s
legislators to be asked to sign in support of the
City of Carlsbad’s efforts to hold Affirmed
Housing accountable for its commitments on
Windsor Pointe and return the letter to the
City Council for final approval.
On Jan. 14, 2025, the City Council approved the draft
letter, which had been reviewed and recommended
for approval by the Legislative Subcommittee. The
letter is now being circulated to the region’s
legislators.
Working with the city’s Director of
Intergovernmental Affairs and the city’s
contracted lobbyists, develop and implement a
legislative advocacy strategy within 60 days to
effectively lobby for supportive housing to be
fully funded at the state and federal levels to
provide adequate levels of service.
This action will be pursued in conjunction with the
city’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and the
City Council Legislative Subcommittee. The matter
was discussed at the City Council Legislative
Subcommittee meetings on April 9 and July 9, 2024.
Develop and implement a plan within 45 days
to urge the County of San Diego to allow new
Windsor Pointe residents housed under the No
Place Like Home funding to start with a higher
level of service with the option to move to a
lower level if appropriate, rather than starting
with minimal services and adding as needed.
City staff, Affirmed Housing, the property
management company and County Behavioral
Health Services staff are in active conversations to
identify ways to better leverage existing supportive
services for residents, including at move in, and
develop additional levels of support to respond to
resident needs.
County staff had increased onsite behavioral health
support at Windsor Pointe by an additional 20 hours
per week, but then recently cut hours by the same
amount. County staff state the number of on-site
hours will change depending on resident’s needs.
County staff are exploring potential funding
opportunities to enhance clinical support seven days
per week; however, funding has not been identified
for this level of service at this time. County staff will continue to explore funding options.
Applicant priority
Working with the city’s Director of
Intergovernmental Affairs and Legislative
Subcommittee, develop and implement a
strategy for the state and federal governments
to allow veteran benefits to exceed maximum
income limits for permanent supportive
housing units to remove barriers to ending
veteran homelessness.
Recent federal and state legislation allow veterans’
disability benefits to not be counted toward
maximum income limits.
Additionally, the project was awarded six project-
based housing vouchers through the HUD-VASH
program administered by the County of San Diego in
December 2024.
The units will be reserved for
veteran households referred by the San Diego
Veterans Affairs office.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 8 of 10
Completed In progress No resolution at this time
Applicant priority
Requested Action Status
Examine participating in a regional fair housing
legal analysis to determine if implementation
of a local, or subregional (i.e., North County),
priority would be consistent with federal and
state fair housing laws and other applicable
laws.
This action will be pursued by the city’s Housing &
Homeless Services Department. City staff from
neighboring cities have expressed support for such
an analysis.
Working with the city’s Director of
Intergovernmental Affairs and Legislative
Subcommittee, advocate to the Regional Task
Force on Homelessness and the region’s
Continuum of Care Board of Directors to make
policy changes that could provide a
subregional priority in the Coordinated Entry
System referral process in certain situations,
such as when cities provide a significant
financial investment for a housing
development.
This action will be pursued in conjunction with the
city’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and City
Council Legislative Subcommittee.
City staff are also advocating for a subregional
priority in the Coordinated Entry System referral
process.
Staff have engaged with the Regional Task Force and
County Supervisor Lawson-Remer, who serves as
First Vice Chair of the Continuum of Care Board, to
explore viable approaches to pursue both regionally
and with the state. The matter was discussed at the
City Council Legislative Subcommittee meetings on
April 9 and July 9, 2024.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 9 of 10
Completed In progress No resolution at this time
County Reported Actions
Security
Requested Action Status
Coordinate with the Windsor Pointe
development team to develop a plan for
using No Place Like Home capitalized
operating subsidy reserve funds to add
supplemental security personnel at Windsor
Pointe.
County Housing and Community Development staff have
confirmed authorization of the developer’s use of a
project’s capitalized operating subsidy reserves for eligible onsite security.
Advocate to the California Department of
Housing and Community Development to
maximize the funding flexibility of capitalized
operating subsidy reserve funds for the
Windsor Pointe project
County Housing and Community Development staff have
confirmed authorization of the developer’s use of
capitalized operating subsidy reserves for eligible onsite security.
Ensure onsite personnel receive mental
health first aid training and are trained on
how to refer people to 24/7 behavioral health
crisis response resources.
Assessment of staffing needs to ensure at
least 1 mental health first aid trained staff
onsite 24/7, identify gaps and
recommendations how to fill them.
Onsite personnel were offered mental health first aid
training to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health crisis. Training includes strategies to help someone in both crisis and noncrisis situations, and
response resources for appropriate professional help. The county will continue to leverage training resources to
support onsite staff.
Develop a strategy to ensure visitor check-in
complies with requirements.
County staff does not have the authority to require a visitor check-in process, however, will continue to work with
developer to ensure compliance with the No Place Like
Home program guidelines.
Analyze all options and opportunities to
maximize the level of services and hours of
onsite case management services and
referrals to behavioral health services for
Windsor Pointe.
County staff had increased onsite behavioral health
support at Windsor Pointe by an additional 20 hours per week, but then recently cut hours by the same amount.
County staff state the number of on-site hours will change depending on resident’s needs.
County staff are exploring potential funding opportunities to enhance clinical support seven days per week; however, funding has not been identified for this level of service at this time. County staff will continue to explore funding options.
Pilot program to enhance clinical support and
maximize case management services and
referrals to Behavioral Health Services
County staff had increased onsite behavioral health
support at Windsor Pointe by an additional 20 hours per week, but then recently cut hours by the same amount.
County staff state the number of on-site hours will change depending on resident’s needs.
County staff are exploring potential funding opportunities to enhance clinical support seven days per week; however, funding has not been identified for this level of service at this time. County staff will continue to explore funding options.
Feb. 25, 2025
Item #6 Page 10 of 10
WINDSOR POINTE
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Mandy Mills, Director, Housing & Homeless Services
Reid Shipley, Assistant Police Chief
Feb. 25, 2025
1 RECOMMENDED ACTION
Receive report on City Council directed actions
related to the Windsor Pointe Affordable Housing
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
2 LOCATION
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
3 BACKGROUND
• Apartments with supportive services
• Community concerns
• City Council updates
• March 12, 2024
• April 9, 2024
• June 11, 2024
• Aug. 20, 2024
• Oct. 22, 2024
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
4 ACTIONS COMPLETED ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
5 Mar 2024 Feb 2025
Affirmed began
management
agent change
Management plan
updated
Visitor access
control with photo
Mental health referral
training completed
Legislative
advocacy plan
begins
County refers more
specialized care
Veteran housing
vouchers
approved
Onsite security
hours increased
Legal analysis re
management change
Notice of
deficiencies
sent
Door and
locks repaired
Onsite security
increased to
both locations
MANAGEMENT CHANGE
Affirmed Housing hired new management company
Company approved by each funding agency
Review new management plan between Affirmed
Housing and Solari Enterprises (complete by June)
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
6 COMPLETE
NEXT STEP
COMPLETE
DOOR REPAIR
Doors and locks in exterior stairwells repaired
Contract for regular maintenance
Daily inspection of the doors
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
7 COMPLETE
ONGOING
COMPLETE
INCREASE VETERAN RESIDENCY
Approved for 6 veteran housing vouchers
• Would change veterans preference to requirement
• Referred by the San Diego Veterans Affairs office
• Will be referred with future turnover
• Ongoing case management through the VA Medical Center ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
8 WHO IS ELIGIBLE
• Veteran Affairs Medical Center case managers will
screen all families in accordance with VA
screening criteria and refer eligible families
• Homeless – determined by the VA
• Veteran status – was discharged or released
under conditions other than dishonorable and
is eligible for VA health care as determined by
the VA
• Serious mental illness for No Place Like Home
compliance
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
9 VETERANS
CALLS FOR SERVICE
Broad term including all 911 calls
• Police, fire and emergency medical
• Hang ups and misdials
• Police follow up visits
• Police-initiated patrols
Indicates activity, but not necessarily use of police
resources
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
10 USE OF POLICE RESOURCES
Need for police response has gone down
• Police encourage residents, neighbors, on-site staff to call • More training for onsite staff results in resolution or referral
• Increased referrals to Mobile Crisis Response Team
• When crime occurs, it is addressed
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
11 AUGUST 2024 – JANUARY 2025
Windsor Pointe
175 calls for service
Citywide
53,150 calls for service
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
12 AVERAGE MONTHLY CALLS FOR SERVICE
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
13 0
5 10
15 20
25 30
35 40
45 50
March 2024 - July 2024 August 2024 - January 2025
34% decrease
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
14 USE OF POLICE RESOURCES
44%
Calls did not require
police response
48%
Almost half from 1 unit
(non-criminal)
UNDERSTANDING CALLS FOR SERVICE
ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
15 UNDERSTANDING CALLS FOR SERVICE
Resulted in an arrest
2.9%
16 ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE
1. Continue to implement identified actions
2. Continue to monitor statistics and trends
3. Review Management Plan
4. Continue to work closely with Windsor Pointe to
address issues
NEXT STEPS
17 ITEM 6: WINDSOR POINTE UPDATE