A five-story, mixed-use development with 218 apartments and ground-floor retail got the go-ahead Tuesday for Carlsbad’s Village, despite objections from downtown residents who prefer the 60-year-old shopping center there now.

Carlsbad City Council members said, as they often have before, that their hands are tied. California’s housing laws require the city’s approval of projects that meet state standards and provide much-needed affordable housing, particularly in built-up neighborhoods close to public transportation.

“The state is bullying us,” said Mayor Keith Blackburn. His first thought was to fight the project, he said, but, “If we stand up to the bully, the consequences are completely unreasonable and could cost us a ton of money in the long run.”

Other cities have gone to court trying to stop projects that qualify for approval under the state’s Housing Accountability Act and density bonus laws. So far, they all have been defeated in expensive cases.

Even though “the project is beautiful,” Blackburn said, it will replace the much-loved 1960s-era Carlsbad Village Plaza, home to about a dozen small businesses. The plaza’s pharmacy, laundromat, French bakery and cafe, Ace Hardware store and Smart and Final grocery are fixtures in the lives of neighborhood residents. Many of them are seniors who walk to the center to shop and socialize.

Some downtown residents said approval of the project would create a hardship for people who will have to travel farther and pay more for basic needs such as groceries and medicine.

The council voted 4-1 for a resolution of approval with District 1 Councilmember Melanie Burkholder opposed. The site is in her district and the opposition is near unanimous among the many residents who’ve contacted her, she said.

“This project is too much for this property, and it would have a negative effect,” Burkholder said. “We are pushing out seniors … our city should not bend to this sort of pressure from Sacramento.”

Resident Steve Linke, a former member of the city’s Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission, disputed a study of vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, done for the project. The study showed the proposal would produce fewer vehicle miles traveled than the shopping center does now.

“Common sense tells us the project will increase VMT significantly,” Linke said.

The VMT study should have been done on an area-wide basis instead of only for the project, he said. A wider study would show that the shopping center’s trips don’t go away, they only are transferred to other places. Meanwhile, the apartments will add more trips to the area.

As it was done, the study creates “a huge fake VMT reduction,” Linke said.

Project representatives said the studies were completed as required and are accurate.

Tooley Interests, LLC, purchased the property for $23.5 million in December 2021, according to public records.

Since then, the company has worked with residents and city officials to develop plans for the site, said Patrick Tooley, a managing partner. The company also studied the Village and Barrio Master Plan, a document approved by the City Council to guide the neighborhood’s growth.

“What you won’t hear tonight is anybody telling you that the existing center is in good shape,” Tooley said.

Many of the businesses are run down and troubled with loitering and vandalism, he said. Several tenants had leases expiring in 2022 and 2023, and the new owner extended them “at favorable rates” to keep them in the center until the transition.

“We view this as an opportunity to revitalize the property as a welcoming gateway to downtown Carlsbad,” Tooley said. “The property as it exists today is not viable in the long term.”

The 4.12-acre site is on the south side of Carlsbad Village Drive just west of Interstate 5. It is on a Breeze bus route and about half a mile from the Carlsbad Village Coaster Station.

The project will include 27 apartments only available to people who qualify as “very low income” under county guidelines. The inclusion of affordable housing allows the developer to increase the project’s residential density by up to 50 percent more than what’s allowed by the city’s zoning.

Project manager Jonathan Frankel said the company has heard “loud and clear the concern about the loss of those local services.”

Retail businesses will be in two single-story buildings totaling 8,000 square feet facing Carlsbad Village Drive.

“The market proposed is smaller than the market there today,” Frankel said, but it follows models that have been successful elsewhere in the county. It would share the commercial buildings with other neighborhood-serving businesses such as a pharmacy or dry cleaner.

“We are very proud of the project we have proposed,” Frankel said.

A few residents and business community members supported the project.

“This is an old, out-dated and run-down shopping center,” said Bret Schanzenbach, president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. “We need housing … this is the right thing to do.”