City Council Approves Taking State Lands for Sidewalk

The San Diego City Council has unanimously decided to take state lands by eminent domain in order to build a sidewalk on a dangerous stretch of road in the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa area.

An alarmingly dangerous dirt path is used by school children on a busy stretch of Old Otay Mesa Road to get to school at San Ysidro High in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

Now, the city will take a patch of state lands from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete a $8.5 million project that will create a safer sidewalk for them, according to board documents.

Councilman David Alvarez, who represents that community spoke on the item.

"Everyday, kids of all ages make their way through this dangerous path," Alvarez said. "They need a sidewalk, and it is critical that we give it to them."  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

The agenda says the city first tried to purchase the approximately $66,500 worth of lands where it wants to build a trail from the state agency. Gail Sevrens, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said they are supporting of the sidewalk project and are actively working with the city to process paperwork and do the mitigation.

While the agency does not usually give up conservation easements, Sevrens said the they are amending it this time for the sidewalk. The city will send the department a proposed mitigation plan so fish and wildlife officials can review it.

According to Sevrens, reviews usually do not take long.

It's not the first time the project has stalled. City staff say they've been working to build a sidewalk there since 2002.

For student Nicolax Mauro, who walks to San Ysidro High, the dangers are apparent on a daily basis.

"It's all dirt and sometimes I kinda slip off and I kinda feel like I'll fall in," Mauro said. "They're supposed to care about our safety ... you know ... and it's really dangerous to be walking without a sidewalk or skateboarding without a sidewalk."

Sweetwater school officials have taken action to make the situation safer for kids. The district provides free school bus passes to students who would otherwise have to walk that path.

City staff says this latest development will not delay the project further. However, the last timeline the city gave NBC7 Investigates was that bids would go out late last year, and shovels will be in the ground in early 2015. Bids to build the project have not yet gone out as of March 2015.

"Someone is going to get hurt, and then the city and politicians will be motivated to act, unfortunately," said San Ysidro High Principal Hector Espinoza in a prior story about the situation.

Espinoza said the city has had ample time to work on the issue, referring to the latest eminent domain issue.

"I'm not sure why this is an issue now," Espinoza said.

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