DEL MAR — Residents of a private stretch of San Dieguito Drive and the adjacent Oribia Road will form a tax assessment district with the City of Del Mar to split the cost of $1.2 million in repairs to the private street after a vote of approval from an overwhelming majority of residents last week.
Twenty-six of the 31 properties along San Dieguito Drive and Oribia Road submitted ballots, with 86.67% voting in favor of forming the assessment district, according to the ballots tabulated on June 17. A majority of at least 50% was required for the agreement to pass.
Under the assessment district, the city and the subject residents will share the $1.2 million cost of repairs in a 70-30 split, with the city taking on around $888,000. Repairs will include a new 20-foot-wide road, 3.5-foot concrete rolled curbs, improved drainage, and installation of a retaining wall at the bottom of the hill near Racetrack View Road.
“I’m incredibly proud and heartened by the coming together of the neighbors. This is a phenomenal vote,” said City Councilmember Terry Gaasterland.
The vote marks a significant milestone in residents’ push for the city to assist with covering the cost of repairs along the 1,000-foot, severely deteriorated road, which has suffered from potholes, poor drainage and breakdown of the road surface.
In conversations going back two decades, the city has historically taken the position that this portion of San Dieguito Drive is a private street with an overlying public easement, placing the burden for repairs on residents themselves. However, city officials have changed their tune in the past couple of years, working with residents to figure out how to collaborate to fix the road.
Due to the project’s different benefits for San Dieguito Drive and Oribia Road, assessment fees were weighted differently for the two streets. Each property along San Dieguito Drive will be responsible for $16,924, and Oribia Road properties are responsible for $8,462.
“I am thrilled that the Crest Canyon residents voted to approve this project by an overwhelming margin. Despite the cost to individual residents and the City, everyone involved was able to work together toward a solution that will provide long-term benefits to all stakeholders including the general public,” said San Dieguito Drive resident Beth Westburg.
Residents can pay the assessment on their property tax bill over 20 years or pay off the entire amount upfront.
This stretch of San Dieguito Drive will also be added to the city’s public road system in the future, making it subject to the same regular repairs as other city roads.
“We need to have a road that is up to the standards that are provided by the county and the city, so that we can take care of this road into the future,” said Mayor Dave Druker. “I’m very pleased by the fact that it was overwhelmingly passed.”
Utility lines will also be undergrounded along San Dieguito Drive as part of the city’s X1A undergrounding utilities project. Both the San Dieguito Drive project and X1A projects are planned to go out to bid in the coming months, with construction bids to be awarded by November.
Councilmember Dan Quirk was the sole dissenting vote against forming the tax district. Quirk stated that he remained concerned about how the city calculated the cost of public works projects.
“I’m thrilled for the residents of San Dieguito Drive that are gonna get this done. I’m gonna vote no on this, and it’s not because I don’t want this done; it’s because I have concerns big-picture about how the city approaches its public works projects,” Quirk said.
Other council members noted that city staff worked hard to reach an agreement with residents and attempted to lower the project’s cost as much as possible.
“The cost of this project is the cost, and there isn’t any magic bullet that is gonna somehow change that cost, no matter what any one council member thinks,” Druker said.
Quirk’s stated concerns regarding the San Dieguito Drive project have landed him in hot water. In April, he was censured after an investigation found he had shared closed-session information about the project and acted outside his purview as a council member by harassing staff about cost justifications for various projects.
