Easement vacation approved for Via Encinos-Palomar Drive

At one time San Diego County had plans for a road called Via Encinos-Palomar Drive, which was also referred to as Select Collector 130. The county no longer has plans for that road, and Dec. 9, the county Board of Supervisors approved an easement vacation for a portion of Via Encinos-Palomar Drive.

The supervisors’ 5-0 vote approved a resolution of vacation for the road segment, directed the clerk of the board of supervisors to record the resolution of vacation and found the action categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review.

The vacation covers approximately 0.074 acres and is for an easement 30 feet wide. The property is east of Alta Vista Drive, west of Linda Vista Terrace, north of View Point Road and south of Vista Del Norte.

The offer of dedication was recorded in August 1974. An offer of dedication is usually not accepted by the county until the road is actually constructed. Even if an offer of dedication is not accepted a recorded easement remains on the property unless it is vacated. The vacation removes that encumbrance from the property.

Via Encinos-Palomar Drive was to have connected Mission Road and Gird Road. It was classified as a collector road on what the county then called its Circulation Element. Some of Select Collector 130 has been constructed as Via Encinos, Linda Vista Drive and Knottwood Way. The 2011 update of the county’s general plan removed the part of SC 130 which had the offer of dedication along with adjoining portions from the Mobility Element, and the once-planned roadway is not part of the county’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan.

The county’s Department of Public Works determined that the easement was no longer needed for street or highway purposes. No community trails or pathways are planned for the area, so the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation determined that the easement area is not needed for trail purposes. There are no utility facilities in use which would be affected by the easement vacation, and no property owner would be landlocked if the area was not used for a roadway.

The action vacates only a portion of the dedicated area. In February 2019, the board of supervisors approved a vacation for another portion of Via Encinos-Palomar Drive. A 30-foot-wide easement remains on the two parcels east of the one with the most recent vacation.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].