The preparation of a Cardiff-by-the-Sea Specific Plan is identified in the Encinitas General Plan in recognition of the unique character, opportunities, and needs of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea specific plan area. In 2002, the City Council affirmed the desire for a Specific Plan for Cardiff's specific plan area and supported the idea that future development reflect the strongly-held community concern for retaining local identity and community character. Figure 1, Location Map, shows the Specific Plan Area relative to the Cardiff-by-the-Sea community and the rest of the city. Overriding goals for this Specific Plan are:
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To protect the character and identity of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea community;
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To define land use to ensure long-term compatibility among the many land uses found in the specific plan area;
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To provide development standards that reinforce and maintain desirable characteristics of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea specific plan area;
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To involve the local residents, business owners, and property owners in determining the future of their community;
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To prioritize reinvestment in public infrastructure; and
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To have the intent to maintain ocean views through the policies of the Specific Plan.
The Cardiff-by-the-Sea Specific Plan has eight chapters.
Chapter 1: Introduction and Summary. This section describes the intent and major recommendations of the Plan.
Chapter 2: Community Vision and Specific Plan Goals. Community objectives for the Specific Plan are provided here, including the goals and policies that become the foundation for the Specific Plan.
Chapter 3: Use and Development Regulations. All the uses within the Specific Plan area fall within residential, office professional, and general commercial zones. This section starts with a description of how portions of the area are used in different ways. Then, based on those differences, coupled with the goals and objectives identified in Chapter 2, zone regulations and development standards are described.
Chapter 4: Design Recommendations. Recommendations for the physical design of the Specific Plan area are provided covering a range of design concerns such as streetscape, alley design, and landscape. Criteria are provided for identifying development that is subject to design review.
Chapter 5: Circulation and Parking. Vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle routes are described, as are the results of recent parking studies.
Chapter 6: Infrastructure. An evaluation of existing conditions for water, sewer, storm drain, and street surfaces is provided, along with an assessment of the relevance of those improvements to the policies and objectives identified in Chapter 2.
Chapter 7: Implementation. This chapter charts a strategic approach to incremental implementation of the Specific Plan and identifies the relative importance of Plan administration and capital improvement.
Chapter 8: General Plan and Local Coastal Program Compliance. The relationship between this Specific Plan and the Encinitas General Plan and Local Coastal Program is described.
This Cardiff-by-the-Sea Specific Plan focuses on a small but highly visible and highly valued portion of the Cardiff community.
Generally considered the "business district" or sometimes "Downtown Cardiff," the area is principally a mix of low rise retail, office, institutional, and residential uses. Parts of the area have a beach town character and parts seem entirely commercial or residential. Mostly, it is an eclectic blend of land uses and architectural styles, of structures that are both new and showing their age, and of pathways and streets improved at different times over several decades. The casual quality of the area, the mixture of architecture and the difference in building sizes and periods, and the primarily pedestrian scale of the entire area combine to foster a sense of small town familiarity and welcome.
Boundaries of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Specific Plan are irregular but generally include properties between the west side of San Elijo Avenue and the west side of the alley between Newcastle Avenue and Manchester Avenue; and from the south side of Mozart Avenue to the north side of Orinda Drive. The project area also includes the office properties fronting the north side of Birmingham Drive to Montgomery Avenue.
In the event the following three sites change their current use, the sites would be subject to the General Plan and Specific Plan Amendment process in order to be included as part of the Cardiff Specific Plan.
1. 
Cardiff Elementary
2. 
San Elijo Campgrounds
3. 
North County Transit District (NCTD) Right-Of-Way
Figure 2, Specific Plan Aerial View, depicts the planning area boundaries.
Overall:
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The principal objective of this Specific Plan is to retain the beach town character while enhancing the quality of life for residents both within the area and surrounding it and to improve the business setting.
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Distinct planning sub-areas are identified. Four areas within the specific plan area have developed a distinct personality and, as a consequence, future development is intended to reinforce the established uses and character within these four planning areas.
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Development standards are established. Setbacks, heights, streetscape design, and lot size standards are generally established as minimums or maximums.
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Design review guidelines are established. Since all major new development will go through a design review process, Design Review Guidelines describe desirable ways to deal with a host of topics, ranging from the location of parking to the use of materials and colors.
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Views are respected. Maintain ocean views by limiting heights of buildings through the policies of the Specific Plan. Encourage the use of view sensitive landscaping through Design Review Guidelines to look at preserving the view corridors within the Cardiff-by-the-Sea specific plan area.