Mid-year budget adjustments fund Village View Park, Bonsall Community Park

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The mid-year budget adjustments approved Tuesday, Dec. 13, by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will establish additional funding for Village View Park and Bonsall Community Park.

The supervisors’ 4-0 vote, with Jim Desmond absent, budgeted additional amounts of $6,737,000 for Village View Park and $2,000,000 for Bonsall Community Park. The funding includes Park Land Development Ordinance fees which are collected from developers to fund park improvements in the area of the development, federal and state grants and transfers from other projects.

Village View Park will be on 6.8 acres of land on the south side of Fallbrook Street between Morro Road and Golden Road. The planned amenities include play areas, a picnic area, a multi-purpose field, an open field, a skateboarding facility and a dog park. The restrooms will be shaded to reduce energy use and mitigate heat effects. The 68 planned parking spaces include three stalls meeting Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and parking for five bicycles is also planned. More than 100 new trees will be planted, and gardens with native plants will provide local habitat for wildlife. The park will also have multi-use trails.

Park Land Development Ordinance fees can be used for acquisition of land, park development, new playground equipment or replacement of playground equipment. The Dec. 13 action appropriated $1,000,000 of Fallbrook area PLDO balance for Village View Park. The Urban Greening Program was created by 2016 state legislation, is administered by the California Natural Resources Agency and supports infrastructure projects which reduce emissions and provide other benefits, and the county has received a $1,000,000 Urban Greening Grant for Village View Park.

A separate $1,200,000 Statewide Park Program grant was also awarded; that program funds projects which provide park and recreation opportunities in critically underserved areas. Community Development Block Grant projects are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and intended to revitalize lower-income communities. In April, the county supervisors approved $656,959 for Village View Park including $6,959 for environmental review, but the money could not be budgeted until it was actually received from HUD and the Dec. 13 action budgets the $650,000 for construction.

The county’s 2019-2020 budget included $582,000 for the construction of a skate park in Fallbrook and later that year the supervisors accepted a $20,000 donation from Fallbrook Skatepark Inc. for a future skate park; the $602,000 will be applied to Village View Park and was reflected in the formal budget transfer. If a capital project is postponed until a subsequent fiscal year the budgeted funding for the current fiscal year may be reallocated, and $2,285,000 for the Twin Oaks Local Park expansion and improvement project was transferred to the Village View Park budget.

The mid-year funding will assist with additional project costs due to inflation and an estimated 20% increase in the cost of labor and materials. The total project costs for Village View Park are now estimated to be $10,209,000. The park is anticipated to be completed in January 2024.

Bonsall Community Park is sometimes referred to as the Moosa Downs Active Recreation Node of the San Luis Rey River Park. Bonsall Community Park will be located near the intersection of state Route 76 and Camino Del Rey. The park will total 63 acres including 55 acres to be developed. The amenities 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.

If funding permits, the initial construction contract will include a photovoltaic energy system utilizing carport roofs. Inflation and increased labor and materials costs now create a total cost estimate of $27,302,581 with park completion scheduled in March 2025. The mid-year budget adjustments add $2,000,000 of Bonsall area PLDO funding for Bonsall Community Park.

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