Rainbow adopts Resolution of Necessity for county-owned road land

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

A segment north of State Route 76 and west of South Mission Road is owned by the County of San Diego and is designated as a road but is not currently being used. The Rainbow Municipal Water District will need an easement on that land as part of its Lift Station No. 1 replacement project, and Rainbow’s March 22 board meeting included adopting a Resolution of Necessity which will allow the district to commence eminent domain procedures if a purchase agreement is not reached.

“This is a pretty standard action to acquire an easement,” said Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy. “We don’t expect to have to use the eminent domain process as we are continuing to negotiate with the county.”

A Resolution of Necessity allows a public agency to initiate eminent domain action if negotiations have not been completed before the project schedule necessitates the acquisition. The March 22 action does not initiate eminent domain but allows subsequent action if negotiations are unsuccessful.

The project will replace Lift Station No. 1, which was constructed in 1974, with a newer lift station whose capacity can handle Rainbow’s projected growth. The project will build a new lift station on a Thoroughbred Lane parcel the district has purchased, construct an equalization basin near Thoroughbred Road and State Route 76, build a force main from the Thoroughbred Lift Station to Old River Road, upsize the existing sewer line along Highway 76, and construct a gravity main from Olive Hill Road to the Thoroughbred Lift Station.

The construction will require various easements. A California licensed surveyor was hired in May 2021 to prepare legal descriptions and plat maps for the permanent easements and temporary construction easements Rainbow needs. The temporary construction easements are needed for necessary and convenient activities associated with the construction, including to maneuver equipment and store materials.

Ironically it was the county itself, specifically the county’s Asset Management Division, which informed Rainbow that a sewer pipeline across the unused road would require the acquisition of an easement. The county’s Department of Public Works had indicated that an encroachment permit was sufficient. The county’s Department of General Services handles real property transactions, and San Diego County Board of Supervisors approval may be necessary to grant an easement on county land.

A permanent easement totaling 4,080 square feet is 20 feet wide. A temporary construction easement averaging 30 feet wide totals 5,891 square feet. The temporary easement would be limited to a period of 18 months beginning with the start of the construction activity.

Both the county and the Rainbow Municipal Water District make offers for real property acquisitions based on valuations from an independent appraiser. The appraised value of the easements on the county-owned land is $1,610.

The Resolution of Necessity makes the findings that the public interest and necessity require the project for which the property is sought, that the project is planned or located in the manner that will be most compatible with the

greatest public good and the least private injury, that the property sought is necessary for the project, and that an offer has been made to the property owner.