POST Acquires 119 Acres of Oceanfront at Pillar Point Bluff
August 23, 2004
Menlo Park, Calif. – Peninsula Open Space Trust announced today that it has purchased a 119-acre oceanfront property near Half Moon Bay that eventually will become part of the California Coastal Trail.
The land, located immediately north of Pillar Point and across from the Half Moon Bay Airport, is known as Pillar Point Bluff. It is a popular hiking destination and offers sweeping views of the San Mateo Coast, mountain ridges and farmland. The offshore area immediately adjacent to the land is part of San Mateo County's Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.
POST purchased the parcel from private owners for $2.7 million. The acquisition was made in partnership with the California Coastal Conservancy, which contributed $1 million toward the purchase price and another $85,000 to the planning and design of a nearly 1-mile section of the Coastal Trail.
"It's not every day that you have the chance to save a piece of land on the ocean that can provide such wonderful public recreation opportunities, and preserve important natural and scenic resources," said POST President Audrey Rust. "From the trails on Pillar Point Bluff, you can look down over the cliffs and see tide pools, beaches and seals sunning themselves. It will be the best place along the Coastal Trail to view the Mavericks Surf Contest. "In the opposite direction, across Highway 1, you have grand views of POST's Rancho Corral de Tierra and the 2,000 foot peak of Montara Mountain."
Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer of the Coastal Conservancy, noted the public's desire to get out to the coast, saying, "Everyone who has driven that stretch of Highway 1 has seen the bluffs and wondered what it would be like to hike there. Now they will be able to."
Originally part of the historic 1839 Rancho Corral de Tierra Spanish land grant, Pillar Point Bluff was used as a dairy farm during the 1900s. In the 1980s, real estate developers who planned to build an office park purchased the property. After two of the original partners transferred their interest to multiple family members, one of the new owners contacted open space organizations about the property. POST was able to negotiate a purchase price of $2.7 million, well below the appraised value of $3.8 million.
In addition to its open space preservation and public recreation goals for Pillar Point Bluff, another area of focus for POST will be to restore the health of the land. Severe erosion problems exist along the cliffs and much of the bluff top area is dominated by invasive exotic pampas grass and cape ivy.
"The property has been abused," Rust said. "It will be a long-term effort to get it back in shape. We hope to heal this biologically diverse landscape and restore native California plants and wildflowers. We're developing a land management plan to control erosion, remove invasive exotics and restore native plants. The work is expensive and difficult. We're hoping to partner with other public agencies and restoration professionals to get this done."
The rectangular shaped property is bounded by the Half Moon Bay Airport to the east, residential lots of Seal Cove to the north, a trailer park and privately owned parcel to the south, and approximately one half mile of shoreline to the west. The ocean front bluff drops 170-feet to the tide pools of the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve.
To the east, the property flattens along Airport Street into a seasonal wetland that provides water for birds and wildlife. The wetland may also provide habitat for the endangered San Francisco garter snake and California red-legged frog, as well as for the special status salt marsh common yellowthroat, loggerhead shrike and San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat.
The bluff top portion of the property contains one density credit that could have been developed into a large home. The flat area could have accommodated warehouses and other commercial development.
"We've always wanted to save this property, but until now it's been too expensive and too difficult to get the various ownership parties together," Rust said. "We didn't want to wait until there was development on the bluff. When the opportunity came, we were able to move quickly because of our capital fund. Thanks to support from our private donors, we had the necessary cash in hand to negotiate the purchase."
Ultimately, POST hopes to transfer the property to the San Mateo County Parks system.