For nearly a decade, developers have been building a 6,500-acre property along Highway 101 south of Gilroy that has a rich cultural history, abundant wildlife, and years of failed attempts to develop a golf course. He has been trying to build a sand and gravel quarry on Sargent’s Ranch. To the casino.
The quarry, centered on the largest remaining undeveloped private property in Santa Clara County, is being developed by environmental groups, multiple city councils including Santa Clara, Mountain View and Sunnyvale, and the Amammutsun Tribal Band, which previously lived in the area. It has been opposed. Thousands of years.
Significant changes have now been made and nearly 20% of the original Sargent Ranch will be preserved as open space.
Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, signed a $15.6 million deal on Oct. 18 to purchase 1,340 acres along the southwest edge of Sargent Ranch. The property, known as Pescadero Ranch, has a rustic feel of oak-filled hills, meadows and streams, and is 30 percent larger than San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
“It’s an inspirational property. It’s unique and special,” said Ezekiel Schleiss, senior real estate manager for the land trust known as POST. “There are some cattle fences and a gentle grade dirt road, but other than that it’s wild and unspoiled.”
Ezekiel Schleiss, senior project manager for the Peninsula Open Space Trust, stands next to an old oak tree at Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, California, on Thursday, October 24, 2024. The Trust, a Palo Alto environmental organization, has sold a 1,340-acre scenic property along the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz county line for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
POST plans to continue grazing cattle on the ranch. Ultimately, they hope to transfer the land to another owner, such as a rancher, tribe or park service, with legally binding language that says it can’t be developed.
But it remains unclear what the deal means for quarry plans for the rest of Sargent Ranch, the site of one of the South Bay’s biggest land-use battles in recent years.
The Long Story of Sargent Ranch
Sargent Ranch is owned by a group of investors led by Howard Justus of San Diego. The owners completed a draft environmental study for the quarry project in 2022. Santa Clara County planners are still writing responses to more than 10,000 public comments on the plan, nearly all of which were opposed, and hope to release a final environmental report next time. I’m thinking. year. A vote to approve or deny the quarry by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is expected to occur in late 2025 or 2026.
Justus could not be reached for comment Friday.
But in a 2019 interview with the Mercury News, he said the quarry provides much-needed sand and gravel for construction projects in the Bay Area, and that only about 400 acres of the Sargent Ranch would be affected. , said he agrees to allow some public hiking there. .
“This is a project that enables good by doing good,” said Justus, managing director of Debt Acquisition Company of America. “We can provide the South Bay with a stable, reliable source of sand and protect an amazing property at a fraction of our carbon footprint.”
Justus’ group acquired Sargent Ranch in 2013 from La Jolla developer Wayne Pierce, who sought to build a golf course, hotel, casino and other projects there, but filed for bankruptcy. .
Four years ago, Justus sold 1,340 acres of the Sargent Ranch to Danville investor David Wallace.
Wallace considered various plans and then agreed to sell to POST.
“Our initial goal was to develop the property in a manner that respects the land while simultaneously pursuing the highest economic return,” Wallace said in a statement. “But the more time we spent there, the more it became clear that preservation was the only sensible path forward.”
News that the old portion of Sargent’s Ranch will be preserved has emboldened opponents of the quarry.
“We hope the owners of Sargent Ranch decide to sell the remaining land for conservation,” said Alice Kaufman, director of policy and advocacy for the nonprofit environmental organization Green Foothills. “It should be clear to them that no one wants this quarry. I hope they make the decision to cut their losses and understand that Santa Clara County has no interest in building an open pit mine here. I hope.”
Kaufman noted that the landscape forms an important route for mountain lions, bobcats, deer and other animals to migrate between the Santa Cruz, Diablo and Gavilan Mountains.
The property also has cultural significance. The Ama Mutsun tribal band and its supporters refer to it as part of Juristak. The approximately 30,000-acre area between Gilroy and San Juan Bautista was the ancestral homeland of the Ama Mutsun people for 10,000 years, until Spanish explorers arrived in California in the 1700s. .
“This is a sacred landscape,” said tribal band president Valentin Lopez. “What they are proposing would be like building sand and gravel mines in the Vatican or Mecca or any other holy site in the world. Indigenous spirituality will never be acknowledged, respected and protected. But it should be recognized like any other world religion.”
When the Spanish built missions nearby, López said, indigenous people often fled to avoid the brutal conditions, hiding in Sargent’s Ranch, the foothills of Pacheco Pass and other remote locations. The land became a Mexican land grant and was purchased by James P. Sargent from New Hampshire. Sargent came to California with his brother during the gold rush and became wealthy, eventually representing Santa Clara County in the state legislature from 1871 to 1873. .
In the late 1800s, the ranch included a railroad depot, cottages, hotel, post office, tavern, and outdoor dance floor near the ranch. The area was a popular spot for vacationers from San Jose and San Francisco, who hunted and picnicked along the nearby Pajaro River.
“When you’re in this landscape, you feel like you’re looking at a landscape from hundreds of years ago,” Kaufman said. “You feel like you’re looking at a wilderness. It’s hard to believe you’re so close to a metropolis of about 8 million people. It’s so important to preserve landscapes like this for future generations. .”
A view of the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, California, on Thursday, October 24, 2024. The Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, has purchased a scenic piece of land along the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. For $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) A view of the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, purchased this scenic property along the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County border for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) A view of the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, purchased this scenic property along the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County border for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) A view of the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, purchased this scenic property along the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County border for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) A stately oak tree sits on the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. It was purchased by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group. Purchased a scenic property along the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) Cows graze on the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, purchased this scenic property along the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County border for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) Beautiful views at the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. The Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, purchased the landscape. Property along the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County border sold for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) Water flows through Pescadero Creek on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at the 1,340-acre Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, California. It was purchased by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group. A scenic piece of land along the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties has been sold for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) Marti Tedesco, chief marketing officer for the Peninsula Open Space Trust, stands on a hill overlooking the Pescadero Ranch south of Gilroy, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24. (left) and senior project manager Ezekiel Schleiss. , 2024. The Trust, a Palo Alto environmental group, has purchased 1,340 acres of scenic land on the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties for $15.6 million. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
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