CARLSBAD — Local officials and residents expressed frustration this week over the county’s timeline for implementing safety and security improvements at the controversial Windsor Pointe apartment complex.
Windsor Pointe remains a hot-button issue after months of complaints and reports to law enforcement from neighboring residents about drugs, crime and mental health concerns at the low-income housing complex.
“This situation is intolerable,” said resident Denis Jensen during a June 11 council meeting.
On April 9, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a series of recommendations to improve safety and security at the 50-unit development at 965 Oak Avenue and 3606 Harding Street. The recommendations include:
- Develop a plan for using No Place Like Home operating reserve funds to add supplemental security,
- Advocate to the California Department of Housing and Community Development to maximize funding of capital operating reserve funds for the complex;
- Develop a strategy for visitors to check in and out;
- Ensure at least one mental health first aid trained staff member is on-site 24/7;
- Maximize the level of services and hours of on-site case management services and referrals to behavioral health services;
- Implement a pilot program to increase services for people with serious mental illness living in the units to seven days a week;
- Ensure on-site personnel receive mental health first aid training and training on referring people to 24/7 behavioral health crisis response resources.
Since then, the county has not provided updates on most of the recommendations. County staff is expected to report to the Board of Supervisors in early July.
In the meantime, residents and officials are concerned that the site continues to pose a risk to Windsor Pointe tenants and the surrounding neighborhood.
“This is not an acceptable situation,” Councilmember Melanie Burkholder said. “We’re two years into this project, and it is woefully ill-prepared at the supervisor level… Frankly, people are suffering in that facility.”
Some residents said the county’s recommendations don’t go far enough and suggested shuttering the site altogether.
According to Mandy Mills, the city’s housing and homeless services director, mental health services at Windsor Pointe have been expanded to 44 hours (from 24 hours) Monday through Friday. Additionally, the site is installing a new security system that photographs all visitors at check-in and documents their entry and exit with timestamps.
Mayor Keith Blackburn also hoped to see the check-in system implement an ID card scanner to capture more precise information about individuals visiting the site.
“If somebody creates problems and we just have a photograph, we know what they look like but we don’t know who they are,” Blackburn said.
In 2020, Windsor Pointe was initially pitched and designed solely to provide supportive housing for low-income military veterans and their families. The city contributed $8.3 million to help pay the construction costs by purchasing the land and leasing it back to Affirmed Housing.
However, developer Affirmed Housing could not secure state funding for a veterans-only site, prompting the builder to seek other resources. Eventually, the company secured $10.1 million from the county’s No Place Like Home program.
The county funding required the project to allow housing for individuals with serious mental illnesses, such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder, prompting immediate backlash from nearby residents.
