The Peninsula Open Space Trust announced Thursday it will purchase the planned Wavecrest Village development, one of Half Moon Bay's most contentious and captivating properties, in a deal set to conclude by the end of the year.
The sale, which involves about 206 acres of the more than 400 acres that make up the total North Wavecrest Area, would mark the end of several eras of Coastside development history and may provide a glimpse of the future for the city's remaining coastal lands. While all parties say an agreement has been reached, the deal is not yet finished. Principals declined to discuss the price of the land.
 The 206-acre Wavecrest property on the south side of Half Moon Bay has been the site of pitched battles between environmentalists and developers for more than a decade. Today, the fight appears resolved. |
The deal with POST ensures that no residential or commercial development will ever occur on the land. And preservation of the wind-and-sun-washed, raptor-swept patchwork of wetlands and coastal prairie is a far cry from early plans for the region. It will preserve the land much more completely than a restoration plan approved by the California Coastal Commission in 1981 that would have allowed significant development on the site, said Russell. And it will forevermore be free from the kind of mixed-use development planned since the early 1990s.
The deal does not scuttle all future development in the area. The land that POST will now control is bordered to the south and west by the other half of North Wavecrest and these parcels are still mapped for large subdivisions. A Realtor's sign sways in the middle of one large tract to the south, offering a 16,000-square-foot lot described as "the jewel of the Wavecrest tract" for sale in the heart of an imaginary grid of hundreds of other houses. Russell thinks such plans are a pipe dream now.
"A lot of these subdivisions were created in the early 1900s when the railroads were here," he said. "The idea was that everyone from San Francisco would take the train down here. It was going to be the Coney Island of the west."
Lack of access roads and a multitude of environmental concerns make any future development of lots near the coastal bluffs very unlikely and the options for owners limited, he added. "I don't know - does POST acquire it? Or does it just sit?"
Many original landowners defaulted during the Depression, said Russell, who has spent the last six months researching the history of parcels in the area. Most of what is now Wavecrest reverted to the state before being sold again to title companies and individuals in the 1950s. The remaining parcels are now owned by a random smattering of family trusts, individuals and municipalities, with San Mateo County owning almost all of the blufftops, according to maps from local land-use groups.
"We get calls all the time from people from out of state who probably inherited, wanting to know if they can sell them," said Russell of the remaining lots.
The Wavecrest Village development was first proposed in 1992. Lawsuits and appeals over the project have roiled local political waters since then - and plans for a middle school and a Boys and Girls Club on the site came and went.
There were many incarnations of the project over the years. At one time, it included commercial and retail space as well as an improved Smith Field. Over the years the density of the development plan slipped, largely due to increased scrutiny over wetlands contained on the site. It became a figurative battleground for the Coastside's political players embroiling City Council members, the board of the Cabrillo Unified School District and dozens of activists.
"I really wanted it," said Mayor Naomi Patridge, speaking of her support for Wavecrest in the 1990s. "I thought it was a win-win for the city with all those amenities. But every time the project went forward, someone pushed it back."
In the end, there seemed little hope of cashing in for landowners or perks for the city - and while parties to the sale would not discuss price - Russell characterized the deal for the stalled project area, still on appeal to the Coastal Commission, as the best that could be expected for the landowners he represents.
"There's no question that a significant development would have produced more profit," said Russell. "But it's very hard to predict what level of development would have been approved. It's fair to say that the owners looked at the situation and decided it was the best economic deal for them."
Many on the Coastside have concerns about the property that are not entirely monetary.
Preserving Wavecrest for open space and public use will have enormous bearing on recreational plans for the Coastside, officials said. It will significantly increase the overall recreational space available to residents, as well as provide a major link to the Coastal Trail.
POST President Audrey Rust said the deal would enable Coastsiders to continue using the land for recreational purposes such as walking dogs, playing on the ball field and hiking. But more work lies ahead.
"We have to work with the city, the county, the Coastal Conservancy and others to determine what sort of long-term management and ownership terms there can be for the property," Rust said.
"It's huge, it's absolutely huge," said David Holland, director of San Mateo County Department of Parks. "It helps protect and provide the focus of the importance of the next few pieces of the Coastal Trail that Coastside Land Trust is working on."
Smith Field, the city's only public sports facility and the legacy of one of the families involved in the current sale, lies in the center of the tract and has been leased to the city for decades for use as ball fields.
"The original lease was with our family," said Jeff Atkinson of Concar properties, owners of more than half of Wavecrest Village. The fields were named for his grandfather, Lawrence Clinton Smith, better known as L.C.
"In some circles he was known as Last Chance Smith," said Atkinson.
Today the fields are heavily used and have been improved recently with city as well as private money.
"All I want to do is work with POST to keep the ball fields there," said Patridge. City officials would like to continue improvements and possibly add soccer fields to the facility, and Patridge said that she is hopeful based on what she has heard so far from POST leaders like President Audrey Rust.
Walter Moore, POST's executive vice president, said that normal use at Smith Field would continue for several years and that a framework for continued use would be worked out along the way.
"The first step is always acquiring the property," said Moore. The owners expect the sale to be completed by the end of the year and no obstacles are anticipated.
"This is such a major, last unprotected property," said Moore of the historic purchase. He described the land as one of the key pieces of the coastal puzzle in Half Moon Bay and a tract that stretches from the highway to the bluffs in a way seldom seen anymore.
"It's not only a window on the coast, but a window on the past," he added.
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Staff writer David F. Smydra contributed to this story.
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WAVECREST TIMELINE
1949 - Giusti family begins working the prime farmland.
1981 - The Wavecrest Restoration Project is one of 17 areas designated for planned development in the city's land-use plan. The project is endorsed by the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Coastal Commission and the city. It would generate revenue to acquire prime agricultural land in the city that would otherwise be developed.
July 1995 - The City Council passes an ordinance approving 750 market-rate houses. It also sets a referendum on the matter so city residents can vote on the project.
November 1995 - Measure I, asking whether city residents supported the Wavecrest project, fails by a 2-to-1 margin.
1997 - School officials first consider building a middle school at Wavecrest
July 1999 - Following hours of debate, the City Council approves a new development agreement that caps the number of houses at 271 and includes open space, 25 acres for a middle school, three acres for a Boys and Girls Club and about 18 acres of commercial space. It also calls for a rebuilt Smith Field. The complicated proposal requires 10 separate votes and almost all of them were unanimous.
August 1999 - Developer Leonard Beuth appeals the project to the California Coastal Commission, citing his concerns over water allocation to the project. Coastal Commissioners Sara Wan and Shirley Dettloff follow with appeals of their own, saying a planned sound wall would block ocean views and that wetlands had yet to be delineated.
2001 - Wavecrest Partners submits new plans, addressing Coastal Commission staff inquiries, but the commission delays hearing the proposal after then-City Councilman Mike Ferreira identifies possible wetlands on the site of proposed commercial space on the site.
June 2004 - Developers send a revised proposal to the Coastal Commission. At the request of the city, developers drops plans for commercial uses and increase dedicated open space. City officials send the Coastal Commission a letter supporting the revamped project.
July 2004 - The school district reaffirms plans to build at Wavecrest, paying $2.2 million to Wavecrest Village developers for 23 acres. But the deal requires approval for the development by Oct. 31 of 2004.
August 2004 - Federal authorities declare parts of Wavecrest to be habitat for endangered California red-legged frogs.
October 2005 - School district abandons Wavecrest in favor of current Cunha Intermediate School site.
August 2007 - POST announces plans to purchase Wavecrest and dedicate entire tract to open space and recreational considerations.
- Sources: Review archives and the California Coastal Commission
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