Supervisors add 39 acres to San Luis Rey River Park

Two separate San Diego County Board of Supervisors actions, Jan. 15, added approximately 39 acres to the future San Luis Rey River Park.

One 5-0 vote approved the purchase of approximately 37 acres from North American Resort Properties Inc., for the appraised value of $1,673,000.

The other 5-0 vote approved an exchange of land in which 2.11 county-owned acres not contiguous to the planned active recreation area will be transferred to the San Diego County Water Authority and 2.11 acres of California Department of Transportation land contiguous to the active recreation property will be transferred to the county.

“The San Luis Rey River Park will be a wonderful amenity to the residents of North County,” Supervisor Jim Desmond said. “I am excited to see this project one step closer to completion.”

The future San Luis Rey River Park will provide open space areas including trails, staging areas, and habitat preservation and will also include active recreation land such as ball fields, play areas and picnic facilities.

Because land will be acquired only from willing sellers the exact boundaries are not known, but the river park is expected to encompass approximately 1,600 acres and stretch for approximately 9 miles.

North American Resort Properties expressed a willingness to sell the 37-acre parcel which will be part of the open space portion of the park. The land is in the pre-approved mitigation area of the draft North County Multiple Species Conservation Program and includes riparian woodland, riparian scrub, grasslands, and riparian forest habitats deemed to be high-quality vegetation.

The land is between property owned by the San Diego County Water Authority and the Rainbow Municipal Water District, and contingent upon future funding and environmental review the area could provide a trail connection to future river park trails.

The board of supervisors set the Jan. 15 hearing date on a 4-0 vote Dec. 11 with Kristin Gaspar absent. The Jan. 15 action also found the acquisition categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review.

The total county costs of $1,784,000 include $43,000 for biological and cultural inventory surveys and $37,000 for initial stewardship costs such as access control, vegetation management and boundary surveys.

The county costs also include $28,000 of staff time for the transaction and $3,700 for closing and title costs. The annual land monitoring and adaptive management costs are estimated at $33,400 while fixed charge assessments are estimated at $1,300.

The previous acquisitions included a 69-acre parcel at the western end of Dulin Road; the county supervisors approved that purchase in August 2009. That parcel includes 2.11 acres north of the San Luis Rey River which is not contiguous with the active recreation site.

The California Department of Transportation acquired property south of the river which is suitable for active recreation land. The Caltrans land was acquired as part of the widening of state Route 76, and Caltrans also acquired land from the County Water Authority with the condition that Caltrans was to replace the CWA land. The CWA owns land north of the river and adjacent to the property the county will exchange.

An appraisal for both the 2.11 acres of county-owned property and 2.11 acres of Caltrans property indicated equal current market values, so no additional compensation will be involved.

Because the county acquired that river park property with funding from a state bond the transfer also required state legislation although that 2019 bill had no opposition. The state legislation requires the county to manage the 2.11 acres south of the river in perpetuity as park land. California Transportation Commission approval will be necessary to finalize the exchange.

The three-way property exchange included county costs of $19,000 for title and escrow expenses and $8,000 of staff time for negotiations and review. A balance from the fiscal year 2018-2019 general fund provided that revenue. An environmental review checklist undertaken in September 2019 indicated that no new circumstances existed to warrant an update of the previous Programmatic Environmental Impact Report.