Supervisors approve bid process for Bonsall Community Park

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the bid process for a construction contract for the future Bonsall Community Park.

The supervisors' 3-0 vote Sept. 15, with Joel Anderson ill and Nathan Fletcher addressing a family medical situation, authorized the director of the county's Department of Purchasing and Contracting to advertise for bid and subsequently award a construction contract for the future park and to take any other action required to finalize the contract, designated the director of the county's Department of Parks and Recreation as the county officer responsible for administering the contract, and found that the 2008 Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for the San Luis Rey River Park and the August 2021 Environmental Review Update Checklist Form satisfied California Environmental Quality Act analysis requirements.

"The San Luis Rey River Park has been in process since 2008, so this has been a long time coming," said Supervisor Jim Desmond.

The river park will stretch for 9 miles and encompass approximately 1,600 acres. The 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. The San Luis Rey River Park boundaries are yet to be determined and land will be acquired only from willing sellers, so the total area is not finalized. The county currently owns 717 acres of land designated for the river park.

"The River Park is an essential regional asset. It's going to provide recreational opportunities for all our county while advancing open space and preserving land," Desmond said. "It's also going to provide a trail all the way from the beach to the inlands of the I-15."

Bonsall Community Park will be part of the San Luis Rey River Park and will be located near the intersection of State Route 76 and Camino Del Rey. The county acquired the land which includes the future Bonsall Community Park in 2015. Bonsall Community Park will total 63 acres including 55 acres to be developed. Two public workshops to ascertain community desires and preferred amenities were held in 2019 and a virtual public meeting was held in November 2020. The amenities for Bonsall Community Park will include soccer fields, baseball or softball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park, a bicycle skills park, playgrounds, multi-use pathways, picnic areas, a dog park and restrooms.

The estimated total cost for the park improvements is $24,977,000 which includes some design and environmental analysis as well as construction. The county will use $24,940,000 of general fund money and $37,000 of Park Land Dedication Ordinance funding provided by developers to fund park facilities. Once the park is completed, which will not occur during Fiscal Year 2021-22, the one-time costs for vehicles, equipment, and tools are estimated at $155,000 while ongoing services and supplies costs along with adding four full-time equivalent positions are anticipated to be $552,000. The four full-time positions will consist of a supervising park ranger, a recreation program coordinator, and two park maintenance workers.

Construction on Bonsall Community Park is expected to begin in winter 2021 and be complete in summer 2023.