California buys Hearst property
LOS ANGELES – California agreed Friday to buy a parcel of coastal property near Hearst Castle in a tentative deal that would bar housing development on nearly 82,000 acres that many consider among the most beautiful and threatened land in California.
The agreement calls for the Hearst Corp. to sell 1,500 oceanfront acres, as well as a conservation easement that would bar housing and commercial development on about 80,000 additional acres, an area twice the size of San Francisco, said Sam Schuchat, executive officer for the California Coastal Conservancy.
The deal will cost the state $95 million, including $80 million in cash and $15 million in tax incentives, according to Hearst Corp. Vice President Stephen Hearst.
“I think it’s good for every stakeholder involved,” said Hearst, the great-grandson of William Randolph Hearst. “I think it’s great for California, for the environment.”
The conservancy is one of several state agencies that must sign off on the deal for the land between Los Angeles and San Francisco. If approved, it would be the largest conservation agreement of its kind in California history, Schuchat said. Public hearings are planned this summer.
An independent appraiser determined the land is worth more than double the asking price, according to Roger Lyon, a lawyer for Hearst, but the company is willing to donate the difference.
Those involved in the tentative deal said they hoped to finalize it by the end of the year.
“We know that the state has been negotiating hard to get the best deal for the public,” said Tarren Collins, who heads the local Sierra Club chapter.
Under current San Luis Obispo County law, the Hearst Corp. could build “wineries, dude ranches and slaughterhouses” without going through development hearings, Collins said. That raises concerns about water use, fencing and pesticides.
Lyon said the deal will include agricultural restrictions, but declined to provide specifics.
Funding will come from bond measures already approved by California voters along with $23 million in federal transportation money.
The company began looking into selling the land and development rights in 1998 after the California Coastal Commission shot down a proposal to build an 18-hole golf course and 650-room resort on some of the ranch property.
The castle became a state park in 1958, though nearby hills and rugged beachland remained in the hands of the Hearst Corp.
“Our hope is that the ranch stays pretty much like it is today forever,” said Al Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Board. “It’s a unique opportunity on the coast of California to find a property like this that’s relatively undisturbed by man.”