Escrow closes on FPUD's Santa Margarita property sale

Escrow for the sale of the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s Santa Margarita property closed Dec. 19.

“The ownership of the property is now transferred to the Wildlands Conservancy,” FPUD general manager Jack Bebee said.

The Wildlands Conservancy paid FPUD $10 million for the 1,384-acre property which was at one time planned for a dam along the Santa Margarita River.

“I think it’s a good deal for the community,” Bebee said.

In the late 1940s, the FPUD board pursued the building of a dam on the Santa Margarita River and purchased the 1,384-acre property with the intent to use the land for a d...