FPUD hears anger regarding trespassers near Santa Margarita River

De Luz residents were disappointed to learn that there is not going to be immediate action to resolve littering, trespassing, and illegal bonfires in the Santa Margarita River area.

At the Aug. 24 board meeting, the Fallbrook Public Utilities District (FPUD) board of directors faced a room filled with upset residents, some of whom were chanting for the Santa Margarita "swimming hole" area to be shut down. FPUD owns the property where problems are occurring.

Approximately a year ago, the FPUD board reached out to the Fallbrook Sheriff’s substation, the California Highway Patrol, and Fallbrook Land Conservancy’s Trail Council to help maintain the popular open space, which is used by everyone from hikers and equestrians to campers and partiers.

"We wanted to give [the community] an update on what we have done for a year," said Don McDougal, the board president. "We have worked with Cal Fire, and spent 25 to 30 days cleaning up the area, and [FPUD board vice president] Milt Davies had a big work day with the [Church of Jesus Christ of] Latter Day Saints to create custom benches along the hiking trail. We have two new kiosks at Sandia Creek and Willow Glen, and we have GPS emergency response available."

However, not all of the issues at the Santa Margarita River have been addressed.

"We know trash has been a problem, and we hired a volunteer go out on Mondays," said Donna Gebhart, a representative of the Trails Council. "We do trail cleanups where the biggest problem is on a regular basis, but how we pay the volunteer is through donated dollars. We have tried to raise donated dollars to maintain the trial system."

One of the largest litter causes comes from individuals who use the river area when the area has been closed by FPUD.

FPUD has put up a gate at the main access point of the trail area and put up signs that say people need to be out by 6:30 p.m., said Gebhart.

"People ignore all signs, and we have locked as many as 25 cars in there. We did this several times a week ago," said Gebhart. "When we have gone back, rocks and boulders have been moved out of the way."

Individuals who have had their cars locked in after hours have broken the gate lock, or have driven off-road to get their vehicles out of the locked area and damaged the nearby terrain. Others park alongside Sandia Creek, causing traffic concerns.

The FPUD board has met with the Sheriff’s substation throughout the year, but it was ultimately decided that there was not enough staffing budget to take care of the graffiti, trespassing, and littering that occurs.

"If they can come, they come, but sometimes they can't," said Gebhart. "We redid the signs on the kiosk and parking lot, and on the other side of the road we have put up 'No Trespassing' signs. People take them down as fast as we put them up. We have spent $3,000 to redo all the signage with all the code sections on them.”

De Luz residents voiced their disapproval of the circumstance when Gebhart stated that the County Department of Public Works would not place ‘No Parking’ signs along Sandia Creek "because there is not a sufficient enough safety hazard."

"The bottom line is that we need more voices," continued Gebhart. "We are all at a loss because we are not sure what [the public] can suggest, as we have tried a lot of the stuff you might suggest."

A large complication with properly containing the littering and trespassing issue is the fact that the FPUD property is on both sides of a road easement. Because of the easement onto a private property, a lot of citations that could be written up by deputies cannot be charged. Cal Fire did state, however, that an open fire would require an immediate response upon being reported.

Sheriff’s detective sergeant Patrick Yates was at the meeting and explained that the Santa Margarita property is an anomaly between private and public property, making it very difficult for arrests to be made.

"We enforce what we can, but there is a trail with an access through private property," said Yates. "We can’t say some, like horses and hikers, can go through while others can’t. The swimming hole is more private than public. We cannot enforce trespassing laws on the trailhead, but we have arrested people for having an open fire."

Yates also stated that most crimes committed on the FPUD property are considered misdemeanors, which deputies cannot take enforcement action on unless it is performed in front of them.

"If someone is tagging, we cannot arrest them even if the pen is in their pocket," said Yates. "We can document them and take their name, but cannot enforce any law."

Yates suggested that individuals can always perform a citizen’s arrest, but acknowledged that this was not a popular option for residents.

"We are sympathetic with the problem, but we cannot ask people to leave, and we cannot arrest someone for being drunk in public on private property," said Yates. "We are sued often enough. I wish we could do more, and we had plans in place, but we were told by our legal team that we were not allowed to [enforce the plan]."

Board member Davies asked if it would be feasible to hire armed security, but Yates stated it would be more of a liability than an answer.

"This is semi-public property, and you have a whole stew of stuff you have to deal with. Trespassing is one of the most convoluted laws in the state," continued Yates. "I would think it wouldn’t be, but as the laws exist now, the district attorney will not consider [the Santa Margarita incidents] trespassing. If you’re allowing access in any way, it’s open for everybody. It’s not against the law the way it’s written now."

Local residents, who packed the board meeting to standing room capacity – indicated they wanted FPUD to be more active regarding its property.

"As board members, you have three options," said one resident. "Enforcement and closure, where you can have the Sheriff enforce and have cars towed. That would solve problems. We are not talking about shutting down for equestrians and hikers; that’s there to stay and very nice. The cesspool is on your property, not ours. We don’t care what Gebhart and the deputies are going to do. As our neighbors, we want you to please clean up your property."

Other residents voiced issues about seeing individuals defecating along the road, drinking on the trails, and tagging. A large portion of the residents began chanting loudly for the board to close the property.

"Don’t wait until a house is burned down and you have a class action lawsuit," warned a De Luz resident.

"We have been very persistent and are doing our due diligence," said McDougal. "When the community talks, steps up and helps, the problem will be rectified. These are the type of people who won’t listen to volunteers – they need to see a badge. From my point of view, we will not let this drop. We will see how far we can go. We have found out that we have to go other directions for additional support."