Banning together and pooling their resources, the McWhorter siblings are fighting to preserve their parents’ legacy.

Since 1960, the McWhorter family has owned the house and approximately 13 acres at the northwest corner of state Route 67 and Highland Valley Road, where Caltrans recently acquired some of their property for its intersection improvement project.

Family members are not complaining about losing some land to the project — they’ve been down that road before — but instead say they have been treated unfairly, been given incorrect information, are worried about safe access to the house, and are now forced to defend themselves in a legal battle with Caltrans.

“We feel like we’ve been ripped off,” said Candy Smiley.

She and her siblings, Polly Meyers, Venus Andrecht, Jim McWhorter and Arthur McWhorter, who all live in Ramona , gathered together to discuss their plight. Their sister, Barbara Raifsnider, who died in 2014, is with them in spirit, said Candy.

“We must be assured of ingress, egress,” she said. “Caltrans has ignored all this.”

A view of the McWhorter property from Highland Valley Road, with the house at right, shows vehicles lined up on Highway 67 in the morning.

The driveway to the house is off SR-67, just south of the intersection, but for the past 10 years or so they also have had access from Highland Valley Road — a safety move they made when their mother, the late Margaret McWhorter, was elderly and living there. Jim McWhorter said the county told them a driveway on Highland Valley Road had to be 200 feet from the intersection. That caused them to have to cross a small triangular piece of adjacent county-owned property to reach their land, but Jim said the county gave verbal consent to do so. That triangular piece is part of a county-owned remnant, less than an acre, from the 1992 Highland Valley Road realignment, according to documents.

When Caltrans said it would need about 1.2 acres of their property for the intersection improvements, which includes 8,000 feet of frontage on Highway 67 and land along Highland Valley Road, the siblings said they felt they should sell what was needed. That was what their father, the late James McWhorter, had done when the county needed about an acre of his property for the 1992 road realignment, they said.

Caltrans, however, advised the family that to voluntarily sell they needed to probate the Margaret McWhorter Trust, which owns the property, since Barbara died during the negotiations period, the McWhorters said. They hired a probate attorney who began looking into it and, after spending about $3,500 in attorney’s fees, were told the requested probate had not been necessary. In the midst of that, they learned the state transportation agency had filed a court case for eminent domain.

That’s when they also discovered their property along Highland Valley Road wasn’t just for road widening but also for a large bioswale for drainage, according to the family. The McWhorters said the bioswale, which would prevent access to Highland Valley Road, had not been disclosed. Caltrans offered to construct a bridge over the bioswale but later retracted that, the siblings said.

“We’re good people. We’re fair people…but we feel like we’re being damaged by being good,” said Jim.

“We just want fair compensation,” said Candy. “We want growth and infrastructure. We’re not trying to be ‘nimbies’ (not in my back yard).”

Polly said the loss of the Highland Valley access could cause the value of their property to drop as much as 60 percent.

“Without that safe access, it will plummet,” she said.

Candy said they fought with Caltrans to get a center turn lane on Highway 67 in front of the house and were successful, but believe that access will be dangerous because they will have to cross two lanes of traffic when the improvements are completed.

According to court documents, the McWhorter family received a call from the county in March with an offer to sell them the adjacent .82-acre parcel for $106,000. In comparison, Caltrans’ appraiser valued the 1.2 acres of McWhorter property at $59,000, they said.

The McWhorters said the price of the .82-acre parcel, zoned A70 for limited agricultural, has been reduced. The county has it listed as surplus property with a minimum bid price of $90,000.

The county’s Department of Public Works said it cannot find any documents showing it granted the McWhorters access for a driveway on that parcel.

“After reviewing our records, we were unable to find any encroachment permits for the driveway, nor could we find records of an easement granting access from Highland Valley Road,” DPW staff said in a statement to the Sentinel. “Staff will be reaching out to the McWhorters to discuss potential options if they would like to continue using the county-owned parcel.”

The McWhorters said they also learned the county sold its property with the Ramona monument sign at the northeast corner of SR-67 and Highland Valley Road for $1,500 to the Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, which is building a church campus on the adjacent property. They questioned the difference in price. According to county staff, that parcel was only .29 acres and is not a buildable lot so the price was full market value. In contrast, the county said, the .82-ace parcel is a buildable lot.

Caltrans took possession of the McWhorter frontage at the end of January, court documents state.

The McWhorters said they have already spent about $50,000 in attorney fees and going to court to defend themselves in Caltrans’ eminent domain case will cost them even more. The trial is scheduled for Dec. 9 in San Diego Superior Court.

“The risk is, it’s all up to a judge,” said Candy.

The family said they are asking for safe access from Highland Valley Road and reimbursement of attorney fees and unnecessary fees that they have paid.

“We need to be made whole so we aren’t losing anything,” said Candy.