Welty St. easement vacation approved

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Dec. 7 to approve an easement vacation for the land which would have been Welty Street.

The county’s Department of Public Works requested the easement vacation of the segment 60 feet wide and approximately 330 feet long to limit public access and the county’s responsibility for the easement section. The county will still be responsible for the 30 feet west of the centerline, as that is now Rainbow Community Park, and the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation will have discretion over the activity which occurs in the vacated area west of the fence.

The 30 feet east of the fence will revert to Vallecitos School, and the Vallecitos School District will now have control of those 10,000 approximate square feet. A gas transmission line is located underneath what was once slated to be an actual road, and the easement vacation included a reservation to San Diego Gas & Electric for the utility easement.

Welty Street between Fifth Street and what would have been Seventh Street had that planned road not been vacated was recorded as an easement on February 7, 1902, after the Board of Supervisors accepted an easement for that road. Welty Street was confirmed as a public road in 1961 with the filing in the office of the County Surveyor of Road Survey 1624. However, the road was never built.

During the easement vacation process the Department of Public Works determined that the Welty Street area would not be needed for any current or future road projects; the Department of Parks and Recreation determined that the land being vacated would not be needed for non-motorized transportation; and the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use determined that the vacation would be in conformance with the county’s general plan.

Welty Street was not part of the county’s bicycle network. All utility companies in the area were notified, and SDG&E’s request for the gas line reservation was the only response.

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