Supervisors approve Bonsall Oaks time extension, ownership change agreement

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a time extension for what is now called the Bonsall Oaks development, and the supervisors’ 5-0 vote, Wednesday, Jan. 15, also approved an agreement which reflects the ownership change of the 449.54-acre property.

The date by which the infrastructure must be completed, in the absence of a subsequent time extension, is now Jan. 15, 2022. The agreement covers completion of road, water, sewer and other infrastructure improvements but does not require completion of the homes or other lot improvements themselves.

The parcel map for the 449.54 acres on the north side of Gopher Canyon Road across the street from the Vista Valley Country Club creates up to 165 residential lots and two open space lots.

The project had been called the Polo Club when the board of supervisors approved the tentative parcel map for the project in November 1993 and the final map and secured agreements in September 1999. The subdivision was renamed Bonsall Oaks when Bonsall Oaks LLC., agreed to purchase the project from Vista Villas Development LP.

A tentative parcel map becomes a final map after all conditions of the tentative map, other than those for which permits cannot be issued until a final map is recorded, are fulfilled. A final map is required for grading and building permits.

The conditions of a final map include secured agreements to ensure that the infrastructure will be built and that payment for labor and materials used to build the infrastructure will be made. Improvements identified in a secured agreement are required to be completed within two years of the approval of the final map, although if circumstances prevent the improvements from being completed by the agreement’s expiration additional time may be requested to complete the infrastructure.

The first two-year time extension may be approved administratively, although subsequent time extensions require board of supervisors' approval. If an application for a time extension is filed before its expiration, the owner is not in default if the extension is granted.

What was then the Polo Club was conditioned to obtained permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Fish and Wildlife Service and the Regional Water Quality Control Board before construction could begin.

The ownership negotiated with the regulatory agencies, and the project has undergone multiple design changes so that the required permits could be obtained. The board of supervisors granted time extensions in August 2012, August 2014 and October 2016.

The October 2016 time extension also included the approval of a lien contract which prohibits the construction of any improvements, the selling of any lots in the subdivision or the issuance of permits before the lien contract is replaced by a security bond.

Bonsall Oaks LLC, will assume the responsibility and liability of all obligations covered in the joint improvement agreement, the joint lien contract and the holding agreement. Approval of a parcel map only creates legal lots, and the project will need to meet grading, stormwater and other regulations at the time the permits are issued.

Because of the design changes a modification to the parcel map will be required to meet the requirements of the regulatory agencies. The director of the county’s Department of Planning and Development Services has the authority to approve a minor deviation, and the Bonsall Oaks map modification is expected to qualify as a minor deviation.

On Dec. 3, the Rainbow Municipal Water District board voted 4-0, with Michael Mack absent, to approve the amended joint agreement which reflects new requirements as well as the ownership change. The water and sewer infrastructure to be added by the project includes the addition of a pump station, and the amended agreement includes manholes at the upstream end of sewer lines.