The First Street roundabout project in San Juan Bautista, part of the Rancho Vista subdivision, was set for construction in February with all parties, the city, Meritage Homes and property owners having reached an agreement. After nine months, construction is finally underway.
According to the city, property owners Edmundo and Rosa Loayza delayed construction by not giving a construction license to Meritage to build on their property “until the city agreed to fix the date of valuation, in the event the city needs to proceed with an eminent domain action.”
The date of the valuation was agreed to be Sept. 23.
That signature was approved unanimously by the San Juan Bautista City Council on Oct. 19. Councilmembers Scott Freels and Mary Edge were absent.
According to the agenda packet, the Loayzas wanted the signature to ensure the project would not affect the value of their property should the city undertake an eminent domain action.
“The Loayzas’ attorney wants the date of the valuation not to be the date set in the eminent domain law, which would be sometime in the future, but she wants it to be set right now,” San Juan Bautista attorney Deborah Mall said.
She added that setting the valuation date now may have implications if the city goes through the eminent domain process, but said that while the Loayza’s attorney may think the property value may change significantly, the city does not.
According to a letter by the Loayzas’ attorney, the agreement of the valuation date prior to the start of the construction was to ensure that the purchase or taking of the property was done “in a manner that does not adversely affect the amount of just compensation it should be awarded to the Loayzas.”
Councilman John Freeman said he fails to see how improving their property’s ingress and egress have a negative impact for them.
“To me that would actually raise the value of their property,” Freeman said. “We’re going to build something for them including the road into their subdivision and that’s a thing of value. They ought to be jumping for joy instead of harassing us with these letters.”
Mayor Leslie Jordan agreed with Freeman.
“Absolutely,” she said. “How many times can one dedicate a property? We were here several months ago.”
A day after the meeting, San Juan Bautista notified the residents that Don Chapin was scheduled to begin construction on the 12-week project on Oct. 25, weather permitting.
City Manager Don Reynolds told BenitoLink that work began with marking utility lines on the asphalt and that by the end of the week construction should be obvious.
According to the release, the project also includes a center landscaped circular area, lane striping, traffic signage and asphalt overlay.
Work is scheduled to occur Mondays through Fridays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. In January, the City Council opted to keep one lane open for the project rather than closing the road and providing a detour route.
The roundabout has been a source of contention, first with the developer and later with property owners.
Meritage Homes, the developer of Rancho Vista, attempted to get out of building it by first saying it wasn’t required by the conditional approval of the development. It later said the area was too small to build an adequate roundabout.
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