Harrison Trust parcels to be purchased for Mission Road

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a real property contract with the Harrison Trust for the purchase of two West Mission Road parcels which will provide the county with right-of-way for Phase III of the Mission Road widening project.

The supervisors’ 5-0 vote November 15 also appropriated an additional $450,800 of TransNet funds, derived from the half-cent sales tax approved by the county’s voters in November 1987, for the right-of-way acquisition. A subsequent authorization for a construction contract will be brought to the Board of Supervisors at a later date.

“This action enables us to move on soon,” said John Snyder, the director of the county’s Department of Public Works. “That’s a good thing. We move on to construction of that very important phase of improvement.”

Phase III of the Mission Road improvement project will widen the roadway between Hill Avenue and Main Avenue and will add curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. The work will also provide a realignment of Mission Road.

The Phase III construction required the acquisition of temporary and permanent easement rights from five properties along Mission Road. All five property owners, including the Harrison family, have signed real property contracts which agree to sell the necessary easements to the county. Real property contracts valued at under $50,000 can be approved by the director of the county’s Department of General Services, but any acquisition over $50,000 must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. Four of those contracts were for a combined total of $33,465 and did not require Board of Supervisors approval.

The Harrison Trust property includes rental parcels at 205 West Mission Road and 219 West Mission Road, each of which has a single-family residence. The two lots total 7,659 square feet, and the county requires 3,427 square feet for permanent easements.

“There’s not enough left to leave those houses there and be able to use it for residential purposes,” said John Kross, the deputy director for the Real Estate Services Division of the county’s Department of General Services.

The two houses will be demolished, at the county’s expense, in order to facilitate construction of the road improvements. The County of San Diego assisted the residents of the two houses with relocation in June and July, and the residences have been vacant since then while negotiations with the Harrison family were finalized.

The Harrison property will be acquired for $609,600 once escrow closes. The Harrison family will be paid $596,000 for the easements and improvements and approximately $2,240 per month for lost rents and increased property insurance premiums.

The county had appraised the value of the property at $517,000 while the Harrison family made a counteroffer for $661,000. The two sides negotiated the settlement proposal for $609,600.

The $609,600 purchase from the Harrison Trust and the $33,465 for the other parcels created a total of $643,065 for direct acquisition costs, and the total $750,800 right-of-way cost also includes $107,435 of staff and consultant costs to negotiate the purchases. The 2006-07 budget had previously included $300,000 for right-of-way costs, and the additional TransNet appropriations allow for the total amount.

The Mission Road Phase III schedule calls for construction to take place between June 2007 and December 2007, although that schedule also had a March 2007 estimated completion date for the right-of-way acquisition. Escrow on the Harrison property is expected to close by December 29, 2006.