The Sea Ranch Properties, Gualala CA

Category & Type :

Real Estate

Location :

Cypress Village , Gualala CA

Phone :

707-884-4500

Website :

http://www.thesearanch.com/

Information about The Sea Ranch Properties...

The Sea Ranch offers, among many other things, three pools for the towns' visitors and locals. All three of the pools are equipped with tennis courts and saunas. The pool pictured left and above features a basketball hoop and sand volleyball court.

History

By 1870 the sawmill at Black Point was producing 8 million board feet of lumber a year. An even larger mill operated at the mouth of the Gualala. Soon railroads were built along the Gualala, at Del Mar landing and Black Point. Small towns developed at Stewart's Point, Black Point, Del Mar Landing and Gualala. Salt Point to the south had over 1,000 inhabitants.

The Land is restored as The Sea Ranch

In 1963 the land was purchased by Oceanic California, a subsidiary of Castle & Cooke, Inc. Their first order of business was a massive study of native plants, animals, soils and weather, followed by a carefully wrought plan to develop portions of the land for housing and recreation, while returning the bulk of the land, step by careful step, to an earlier, more natural condition.

Removal of logging slash and debris in the forests was followed by planting of thousands of trees in overgrazed and logged areas. Native grasses and wild flowers were reseeded, providing refuge for wildlife and reversing the effects of erosion.

Between 1964 and 1972 a lodge and restaurant were built, along with a small business center with an airport and fire station, and several hundred homes. The Sea Ranch was beginning to receive national acclaim as a model of environment-sensitive development.

Then, in 1972 California voters passed proposition 20, setting in motion the Coastal Zone Conservation Act. For the next 9 years The Sea Ranch became a focal point for the issue of private property rights versus the public need for coastal access and open space.

After nearly continuous negotiation and much litigation the California Legislature passed a bill enabling settlement of the dispute. Implementation of the legislation was approved by the California Coastal Conservancy and The Sea Ranch Association. On July 24, 1981 the settlement became effective, allowing orderly development at The Sea Ranch to continue.