OCEANSIDE —— In San Marcos, the North County Transit District has used its eminent domain powers to purchase private property for the Sprinter light rail line. But in Oceanside, the transit district says the owners of a local mobile home park must pay nearly $500,000 to keep their private railroad crossing open.

Michael Cowett, the transit district's attorney, said Tuesday that the two locations are being handled differently because they involve two very different sets of circumstances.

On one hand, Cowett said, the transit district already owns the existing freight rail line that residents of the Cavalier Mobile Estates drive over every time they enter or leave the 348-unit mobile home park on Oceanside Boulevard next to I-5.

"In Oceanside, we already own the right of way and the tracks have been there for a long time," Cowett said.

Cowett said the mobile home park has an agreement with the district to cross the tracks but that the public transportation agency can close the private crossing at any time.

Cowett said San Marcos residents fall into a different legal category because there is no existing railway already in place.

"In San Marcos, you're talking about the loop and the loop is a new right of way," Cowett said. "We're acquiring a new right of way on which to put the tracks."

In the last decade, only occasional plodding freight trains have used the existing freight line to haul supplies to inland businesses. However, when the 22-mile, $375 million Sprinter line is complete, east- or west-bound passenger trains traveling 50 mph will pass through the crossing about every 15 minutes.

In order to keep the Cavalier crossing safe, the transit district says the private driveway must be raised about 3 feet and repaved. Protective crossing gates, a median, warning bells, a sidewalk, lights and signs would also be necessary to bring the crossing into compliance with state grade-crossing laws. Transit district officials Saturday estimated the project's total cost at $445,000.

Brian Alex, president of Dunex Inc., the park's property manager and partial owner, proposed passing the cost of the work onto park residents by adding $15 to their monthly rent for a decade.

However, Oceanside Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said Saturday that the cost should not be passed onto park residents. She said the city will move to make the park's private driveway a public street, thereby requiring the transit district to pay the upgrade costs as it must for all other public intersections.

The council has scheduled a special meeting at 3:30 p.m. today to discuss the matter in closed session.

Oceanside City Manager Steve Jepsen said Tuesday that it will take some time for city staffers to determine whether making taking the road into the city's inventory of public streets would change the status of the crossing from private to public.

"This is a unique situation," Jepsen said. "We've never dealt with a situation exactly like this."

The Cavalier crossing is not the only one in the Sprinter's path.

Transit district spokesman Tom Kelleher said Tuesday that five private railroad crossings on the existing 22-mile freight line have already been permanently closed for the Sprinter project, and he added that one business, Evergreen Nursery in Oceanside, is considering building a private bridge over the tracks to maintain access to its facility on Oceanside Boulevard just east of El Camino Real.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com