RMWD quitclaims Bonsall Oaks easements

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The redesign of the planned Bonsall Oaks development will involve the relocation of facilities for which easements must be granted and, on Jan. 24, the Rainbow Municipal Water District approved the quitclaim of easements previously granted to Rainbow.

Rainbow’s board voted 5-0 to approve the quitclaim of the easements. The quitclaim excludes certain portions for which facilities will be constructed, and subsequent easement dedication is expected.

“We’ll get new easements,” said Rainbow acting district engineer Chad Williams.

The Bonsall Oaks project was called the Polo Club in September 1999 when the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a final map to subdivide the 449.54-acre parcel on the northside of Gopher Canyon Road at Vista Valley Road into up to 165 dwelling units with two open space lots. The final map included easements granted to Rainbow as well as to the County of San Diego, and additional easements were granted to Rainbow in January 2012.

The development was conditioned to obtain permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board before construction could begin. The ownership negotiated with the regulatory agencies, and the project has undergone multiple design changes so that the required permits could be obtained. The subdivision was renamed Bonsall Oaks when Bonsall Oaks, LLC, agreed to purchase the project from Vista Villas Development, L.P.

Bonsall Oaks will be constructed in phases. Phase 1 consists of a winery, a tasting room, and a bed and breakfast off of Oak Bridge Drive. The tasting room and bed and breakfast will be across Gopher Canyon Road from the entrance to the Vista Valley Country Club. Phase 2 will include 59 residential lots, Phase 3 will provide 57 residential lots, Phase 4 will build 41 residential lots, and Phase 5 will construct seven custom homes.

The design changes impacted the grading plans including the street alignments, and since Rainbow prefers to have water and sewer facilities within public right-of-way the water and sewer alignments have also been modified and many of the easements granted in 1999 and 2012 are no longer in alignment with the planned improvements. On January 11 the Board of Supervisors approved open space and drainage easement adjustments for Bonsall Oaks.

The easements Rainbow quitclaimed were for facilities which were never constructed, so Rainbow does not have a need for those easements. Recorded easements are required prior to Rainbow’s acceptance of water and sewer facilities, and new easements will be dedicated and accepted prior to the facilities becoming part of the Rainbow system. Rainbow’s quitclaim of the easements eliminates unnecessary maintenance of those areas and allows resources to be redirected for other assets.

Rainbow retains the right to construct, operate, and maintain improvements on the portion of the easement which is associated with the planned Dentro De Lomas Pump Station.