Santa Margarita River trespassers addressed

The Dec. 14 meeting of the Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) board included an update on the issue of illegally parked vehicles at the Santa Margarita River Trail parking lot.

FPUD general manager Brian Brady and assistant general manager Jack Bebee updated the board on recent activity, including actions which could be taken administratively and did not need board approval.

"We haven't contracted with a security company yet, but there is a towing company that has agreed to be called out," Brady said. "There is a towing company that will be used to tow either illegally parked cars or cars that are in the parking lot after hours."

A request for informal proposals has been made to security companies. The agreement with the towing company isn't an official contract but a working relationship, and the lack of either a binding contract or an obligation expenditure allowed that agreement to be made administratively rather than by board approval.

"The district doesn't pay any money for that service," Brady said.

The trails are open to hikers on foot or on horseback between 8 a.m. and sunset. The hiking trails are open to the public, but deviating from the trails is considered trespassing onto private property as is being on the trails after they close.

The area outside of the trails has been the site of parties, trash dumping, campfires, alcohol consumption, trespassing, graffiti, and cigarette smoking whose impacts have included a 2013 wildfire. Much of the trespassing involves activities at the "swimming hole".

FPUD has previously installed No Trespassing signs, but those signs have been taken down or covered with graffiti. FPUD has also placed concrete barricades and large boulders in front of access points which have been created by trespassers and has installed a gate at the Sandia Creek trailhead parking lot to reinforce the sunset closing time.

FPUD held a special board meeting Sept. 16 and approved nine actions: the installation of fencing to separate the trails from the area prohibited to the public, coordination of traffic control measures with the County of San Diego, the provision to tow illegally parked cars, a publicity campaign to educate the public on the location of the trails and the allowed uses, coordination of efforts with local law enforcement and the District Attorney's office on crime prevention and enforcement, coordination of efforts with local fire department officials on fire prevention and enforcement, investigating the possibility of hiring a private patrol officer, improving trash management, and development of an ordinance to establish penalties for trespassing with additional punishment for fires and other areas of concern. An update was also provided at FPUD's Nov. 23, 2015 regular board meeting.

Brady also noted that the county has placed No Parking signs along Sandia Creek Road. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has delegated the county's Department of Public Works the authority to install No Parking signs if the parking prohibition has the approval of the adjacent landowner and the community planning group.

The Oct. 19, 2015 meeting of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group included support for the parking prohibition. Parking prohibitions, which do not require Board of Supervisors approval, are effective immediately.