Miles of coastline to be preserved, opened to public
By Tony Barboza / Los Angeles Times
Published: April 14. 2012
LOS ANGELES — A spectacular stretch of Northern California coastline that includes oceanside bluffs, beaches, rolling hills and redwood groves will be permanently protected from development under a landmark deal approved this week by the state Coastal Commission.
The 6,800 acres of undeveloped shoreline, wooded areas and farmland in northern Santa Cruz County — known as Coast Dairies — will be transferred to the state and federal government, which will operate it as open space and preserve portions for agriculture.
Much of the land will be opened to the public.
The coastal panel’s unanimous vote at a meeting Thursday in Ventura, Calif., protects 7½ miles of coastline that had been one of the three largest pieces of private coastal property between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Mexican border, according to the agency.
The 10-square-mile expanse, former Spanish land grants that were acquired by Swiss farming families in the 1860s, was purchased by the Trust For Public Land in 1998 as rumors swirled that developers had plans to build homes there.
“This is important, an incredible part of the Central California coast that’s going to be retained in the form it was years and years ago,” said Dan Carl, the commission’s Central Coast District director.
By Tony Barboza / Los Angeles Times
Published: April 14. 2012
LOS ANGELES — A spectacular stretch of Northern California coastline that includes oceanside bluffs, beaches, rolling hills and redwood groves will be permanently protected from development under a landmark deal approved this week by the state Coastal Commission.
The 6,800 acres of undeveloped shoreline, wooded areas and farmland in northern Santa Cruz County — known as Coast Dairies — will be transferred to the state and federal government, which will operate it as open space and preserve portions for agriculture.
Much of the land will be opened to the public.
The coastal panel’s unanimous vote at a meeting Thursday in Ventura, Calif., protects 7½ miles of coastline that had been one of the three largest pieces of private coastal property between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Mexican border, according to the agency.
The 10-square-mile expanse, former Spanish land grants that were acquired by Swiss farming families in the 1860s, was purchased by the Trust For Public Land in 1998 as rumors swirled that developers had plans to build homes there.
“This is important, an incredible part of the Central California coast that’s going to be retained in the form it was years and years ago,” said Dan Carl, the commission’s Central Coast District director.
