Rio Prado park is a threat to seniors on Dulin Road.

I am writing about the Rio Prado Park that the San Diego County is going to build right next to Rancho Monserate Country Club which is a 55-plus mobile home park off state Route 76 and Old Highway 395.

The only way in and out of our community is a little two-lane road called Dulin Road. It runs smack down the middle and divides our community in half. I’d say 95% of any traffic on this road since the 70s is residence-based.

We have always been the ones to maintain this road, such as lawn care, irrigation, planting, etc., with our own labor and money and have been a good partner with the county. Now the county has decided that Dulin Road will also be the only way in and out of their new community park.

Several letters have been written in this publication about this topic, mostly from a dangerous evacuation standpoint in lieu of a wildfire, and yes, we’ve had two here in our community in 2014 in which all residents were evacuated at a moment’s notice and in 2017 when 75 homes burned. This issue is a very real concern for our elderly residents, and the county doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem, but I digress. I’d like to address what else Dulin Road is to this community of 232 homes.

If you don’t know where we are, we are that quaint little mobile home park cantilevered on the hills just south of Route 76 that you see when you’re driving to or from Interstate 15.

At any given day or time, you will see dozens of residents walking their dogs, getting exercise, using walkers along with their home health care providers for recovery of various reasons, even a few scooters and wheelchairs.

Because mobile home parks never have sidewalks, the streets are very narrow and the unique placement of our homes on the hills make it unsafe for anyone to walk, but especially seniors who are usually unable to navigate steep inclines and declines.

Dulin Road is flat and straight with sidewalks that are perfect for our residents to walk and to cross to other homes and facilities and with little traffic; it is very safe for our needs.

We have been to all the community meetings, pretty much begging since last spring that the county to please make an additional way in and out of their new park. We’ve asked the county board of supervisors and Supervisor Jim Desmond to come out, meet with us, their constituents and our homeowners association board and look at the way this community is placed, the way we live and to see how our neighborhood will be impacted if the daily traffic is greatly increased, but so far to no avail. Our supervisor has turned a blind eye to us. Are we just not worth his time?

As tax-paying voters in Desmond’s district, don’t you feel we deserve to have a face to face meeting. Do they really not care?

Dona Fritz