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Regular-Community Services # 35.
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| Board of Supervisors |
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| Subject |
| Consider and provide direction on a request to allow four gates installed across County rights-of-way along a 2/3 mile stretch of County Road 107, southwest of Clarksburg, and set a public hearing for May 23, 2017, to hear evidence to determine the public necessity of this stretch of road. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu) |
| Recommended Action |
- Consider and provide direction on the applicant’s request to process an encroachment permit application to allow four gates installed across County rights-of-way along a 2/3 mile stretch of County Road 107, southwest of Clarksburg;
- Set a public hearing for May 23, 2017, at 9:00 a.m., to hear evidence to determine the public necessity of this 2/3-mile stretch of County Road 107, and consider ending county maintenance; and
- Direct staff to mail a notice to each property owner in the immediate area of this section of County Road 107, and publicly post the notice, as required by the California Streets and Highway Code Section 954.5.
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| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
| Operational Excellence |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
An application has been submitted requesting permission from the Board of Supervisors to allow four non-permitted gates to remain across county rights-of-way along a section of County Road (CR) 107. See Attachment A for a Location Map. The gates were installed by the applicant to discourage dumping and other illegal activities on the applicant’s adjacent property. If the Board allows the gates, the subject road section can no longer be publicly maintained using State funds. Termination of County maintenance requires that a public hearing be set for a future Board of Supervisors Meeting.
BACKGROUND
On October 31, 2016, County staff received a complaint from a natural gas well company that their staff was unable to access two of their gas wells along CR 107 due to a new, locked gate at the west end of Courtland Road. See Attachments B and C for photos of the gate. County staff investigated the complaint, and found that in addition to the gate at the end of Courtland Road at CR 107, there were three additional locked gates recently installed at the Teal Road/CR 107 intersection about 2/3-mile to the south. See Attachment D for a photo of these three gates. All four gates are non-permitted encroachments within county right-of-way. See Attachment E for a Vicinity Map.
Per California Streets and Highways Code Section 1486, new gates are not allowed on any county highway except those allowed by the Board of Supervisors. Records show that this section of road has been on the county maintained mileage at least since 1955.
County staff investigated further to determine that the new property owner of Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) 043-020-003, Mr. Anthony Vasquez, was responsible for installing the gates. Mr. Vasquez was notified by staff that he needed to restore public access immediately, and to submit an encroachment permit application if he wished to have the Board of Supervisors consider approval of the gates; otherwise they needed to be removed. On November 22, 2016, Mr. Vasquez (applicant) submitted an encroachment permit application for the four gates across county road rights-of-way. The applicant is requesting that the Board approve the gates in order to discourage trash dumping and other illegal activities on his property (e.g., firearm discharge). On February 14, 2017, the applicant’s parcel, adjacent to CR 107 and behind the closed gates, was approved for an outdoor cannabis grow site.
The gates can be managed by four different locks. There are at least three entities that would require access through these gates: Reclamation District No. 999 for levee maintenance and patrol, California Resources Production (operates the two natural gas wells accessed through this section of road), and the Port of West Sacramento. The Reclamation District has expressed support for the installation of these gates, and informed staff that two grass fires were started by trespassers in this area of CR 107 during the summer of 2016. California Resources Production is not opposed to opening the gates to access their sites. The applicant would be conditioned to provide continuous access to the three above-mentioned entities, Yolo County Public Works, and any emergency responders.
To allow these four gates and restrict the access to public motorists, the County would also need to cease maintenance on this 2/3- mile section of CR 107. County Road 107 is a remote, unpaved road, serving very few motorists. The road is mostly used for maintenance of the Deep Water Ship Channel, flood fighting, and for farmers to access their land. This road does not serve as a primary access to a home. Ceasing maintenance and gating the road section would not restrict access to any public lands.
Streets and Highways Code Section 954.5 provides the legal framework for terminating county road maintenance responsibility. The Board of Supervisors must find that a county road is unnecessary for the public convenience, after hearing evidence at a public hearing. All property owners served by the road must be notified of the hearing, and the road must be posted with notices of the hearing as well. Streets and Highway Code Section 954.4(b) provides that:
“A county highway road may be deemed unnecessary for the public convenience on the basis of any of the following:
(1) The county highway does not provide the primary access to occupied properties.
(2) Traffic on the county highway is intermittent and of low volume.”
County Road 107 has been identified in the 2013 County of Yolo Bicycle Transportation Plan as a potential alignment for a Class 1 bikeway from West Sacramento to Solano County. Though this is listed as a low priority project in the plan, the Board of Supervisors would retain the right to resume maintenance of this road section in the future, and utilize it for such a use.
The applicant would be responsible to reimburse the County for the installation of new traffic warning signs necessary to appropriately notify approaching motorists of the gated and non-maintained road section. The applicant would also be responsible for the ongoing operation and maintenance for the four gates, as well as reimburse the County for the ongoing maintenance of the traffic signs at the gates and the warning signs ahead of the gates. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
Reclamation District No. 999
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
The applicant paid fees per the Master Fee Schedule for processing these actions.
Based on an analysis of revenue received for each county-maintained road mile and average road fund expenditures for road maintenance, ending county maintenance on remote and underutilized roads could result in annual savings. |
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