CARLSBAD – After hearing concerns from neighbors, the Carlsbad Unified School District has revised its Pacific Rim Elementary School improvement plans to relocate a proposed battery energy storage system, or BESS.
Rob Nye, assistant superintendent for business services at CUSD, told The Coast News that the new BESS location was a “win-win” for all involved.
“The neighbors had brought it to our attention that they had some concerns about the original location,” Nye said. “On our end, we have community-based schools. We want to be good neighbors and work with our community – parents, students and neighbors.”
The district first submitted a coastal development permit application to the City of Carlsbad in February and later mailed public notices to surrounding property owners on May 11.
The plans included a solar canopy connected to a battery system. Sarah Lemons, a spokesperson for the city, said the solar canopy was expected to have a capacity of 25 kilowatts and that the BESS would be between the size of a refrigerator and a small shed.
Residents of the nearby Mariners Point community had reached out to the district, city and The Coast News with concerns about the location of the batteries on the property.
Ryan Murphy, CUSD’s director of facilities planning and construction, said he walked the property twice to find a solution that worked for all parties.
Murphy said the first walkthrough was with just neighbors, but then he asked the design team to work on alternative solutions before walking the property again with the representatives of the Carlsbad Fire Department, city staff and neighboring residents.
“We walked it again and found a solution,” he said.
Nye said that the new location was an “equally acceptable location” that met all state design and safety requirements.
According to project documents, the new location is more centrally located on campus, near an existing parking lot just off Hidden Valley Road.
