Riverside County planning commission approves vacation of Haskell Road segment for Sunline Transit expansion

Riverside County planning commissioners on Feb. 18 approved a request from Sunline Transit Agency to vacate and terminate county maintenance of a portion of Haskell Road in the Thousand Palms area to accommodate the transit agency’s facility expansion.

Ryan Holm, supervising land surveyor with TLMA Transportation, told the commission the affected section of Haskell Road now lies entirely within property Sunline acquired as part of its expansion and “needs to be vacated to accommodate Sunline’s development and expansion project.” Holm said the action is CEQA exempt and that the resolution will include a reservation for existing public utility easements.

Holm said two adjacent property owners were notified; one, Superior Ready Mix, responded with no objection and the other did not respond. He said county transportation, fire and the Coachella Valley Water District reviewed the proposal and had no objections.

With no public speakers on the consent item, Holm moved to approve item 1.1 “per the staff report,” the chair seconded, and the commission approved the measure by a 4–0 vote. The approval removes the public-road designation and ends county maintenance only for the described portion of Haskell Road, according to staff.

The commission’s action is procedural: it directs staff to finalize the resolution of vacation with the reserved utility easements and to transmit the recommendation as provided in the staff report. The resolution and any final mapping or legal descriptions will be completed as part of the implementing paperwork.