SANTA LUCIA PRESERVE

BACKGROUND

The Santa Lucia Preserve is a 20,000 acre parcel located in the Santa Lucia Mountains just inland from the coastal town of Carmel, California. This land was a working cattle ranch called Rancho San Carlos for 200 years, but came under increasing development pressure as land values in the area began to soar. At one time, the land was approved for 11,000 homes, but the owners did not want to see the land, which is one of the largest sections of private property remaining on the California coast, divided into so many pieces. For this reason, they decided to sell the property to a limited partnership consisting of the Pacific Union Development Company and private investors that was able to buy the entire parcel. The Rancho San Carlos Partnership thus purchased the ranch in 1990 for approximately $70 million, with the expressed intention of developing part of it for 300 home sites while leaving the majority as open space. 

RELEVANCY

Like the owners of Rancho San Carlos, the residents of Pinetop-Lakeside do not want Woodland Lake Park divided into a maximum number of housing lots. Given the need for funding in order to purchase the park, a partnership with a developer may be necessary. With the involvement of the community and guidance and limitations from the town, development can occur that will be environmentally sensitive as well as lucrative, and will preserve much of the park as an open space amenity.

SANTA LUCIA PRESERVE AND CONSERVANCY

The initial vision for creating this extremely low density project with a very small number of highly dispersed, high-priced home sites and a non-profit conservancy created to serve as stewards for 90% of the lands came not from the regulatory authorities, but from the developer and his team of consultants and advisors.  It was a creative conservation experiment that worked, and now the Conservancy has been fully endowed and will protect the natural amenities of these lands in perpetuity. The Ranch San Carlos Partnership formed the Santa Lucia Preserve, which has three objectives: (1) resource protection, including the long-term protection of the areas unique beauty, vitality and habitat values; (2) a community within a preserve, where a new human settlement would be created as an integral part of a healthy rural and wild land ecosystem; and (3) sustainability, where the residential community would provide the cultural and financial support necessary for the preservation of the open lands. The developers, in partnership with the board of supervisors, protected the land by creating the Santa Lucia Conservancy before building permits were issued, and financially assisted in upgrading local infrastructure. Due to the large size of the property, low-density development was approved, while a hotel and small general store were defeated in a public referendum.

The Conservancy, with the assistance of national organization Trust for Public Lands, oversees the protection of the 90% of the land which remains open space. To insure its protection, Trust for Public Lands would also become owner of the land title should the Conservancy ever disband. The Conservancy owns 12,000 acres, with additional easements on 6,000 acres, all to be held in perpetuity. The 300 individual homeowners of the Preserve hold title to these 6,000 acres of open space as well as their home lots. The Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is led by an executive director, answerable to a board of governors. The Rancho San Carlos Partnership continues to subsidize the Conservancy through an endowment fund started in 2004. The funds for this endowment, which is targeted to reach $25 million in 2008, are taken out from the sales of home lots in the Preserve.

DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

• Selling to one developer rather than to several parties increases the chances of maintaining open space.
• While low-density housing allows for a great deal of open space at Santa Lucia, a denser configuration would be needed at Woodland Lake Park to achieve the same effect.
• Public involvement and pressure from governing bodies can shape development.
• A third party organization is an effective way to manage and preserve open space.
• Home and/or lot sales can finance conservation efforts.