McGuire: money is ready to buy Fitch Mtn. "crown jewel"

Sonoma County has set aside money to buy a 300-acre tract at the top of Healdsburg's "crown jewel" Fitch Mountain and convert it to a public park, according to North Sonoma County Supervisor

McGuire, speaking after Monday's meeting of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, said the county is waiting to reach an agreement with the current landowners before moving ahead with the purchase.

But whether or not an agreement will be reached is still up the air, McGuire said.

“I think they want to get their money out of this,” McGuire said.

said the owners are open to hearing bids on the land, which, owing largely to a conservation easement imposed in 1994 by the county, does not include any homes.

But he also said they may hold out for an offer that exceeds the current market rates, which are low in the down economy.

An appraisal commissioned by the Board of Supervisors on the value of that 300-acre tract is expected back within the next few months, McGuire said.

Based on that appraisal, the county will approach the current landowners – an anonymous group of stakeholders known as Francez Ltd. and represented by Healdsburg real estate attorney Ed Wilson – with an offer of purchase.

The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District – a commission dedicated to the aesthetic, recreational and environmental upkeep of county lands that is financed largely through a 1/4 percent sales tax – has been wrangling with the current landowners of upper Fitch Mountain for years over the issue of selling the land to the county for public use.

The Open Space District's goal is to build on the slice of upper Fitch Mountain that is not constrained by the conservation easement – about 75 of the roughly 300 acres – with amenities that would complement a public park, like hiking trails and picnic tables for visitors, McGuire said.

“I would really like to see the space open to the public as a park,” McGuire said.

He said existing trails related to fire safety could speed up that process by doubling as hiking paths, but he added that a lot of work still remains to be done

said that the conversion would be a slow process that entails the close assistance and input of the residents who inhabit both upper and lower Fitch Mountain.

“There's a master planning process for a potential park that typically takes three-to-five years,” he said. “This is to ensure neighbors and homeowners have a say and participate in the planning process.

"It would not be an acquisition and then the next day it opens up as a park," McGuire added. "Residents want to make sure the county has a thoughtful, well-executed plan.”

At Monday's Open Space District meeting, county supervisors, who serve on the district's board, debated whether to pursue new land acquisitions.

A three-person panel led by Open Space District General Manager William Keene was in charge of the discussion.

 Keene noted that the District has worked to impose protections – through both acquisitions and easements – on over 86,000 acres of valuable county lands since voters approved its creation in 1990.

He also noted that the ¼ percent sales tax which funds the commission was extended through 2031 by a 2006 ballot measure that an astonishing 76 percent of county voters approved – a high vote tally for any referendum, but especially so for a pro-tax measure. During their various speaking turns, each supervisor (and most of all McGuire) also had words of praise for the commission.

Keene noted that the District, since its inception, has spent $282 million on lands with an estimated total value of $393 million – a savings made possible by a combination of “generosity of landowners and critical partnerships,” he said.

“We're looking for projects that have the most bang for our buck,” Keene said.

For example, he said, the District's acquisition of Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa ushered in the protection of wetlands, the maintenance of grazing lands and programs for agriculture and sight-seeing all in one, he said.

But several supervisors questioned the soundness of making new land purchases with so much land already to maintain. Especially because, as Keene himself pointed out during Monday's discussion, the management of acquired lands has proven particularly difficult in the down economy, due both to declining sales tax revenues and the growing scarcity of non-profits willing to assume the stewardship of county lands.

“Property management alone of what we have seems pretty overwhelming,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown, an Open Space District board member like all the county supervisors. “Rather than fund more acquisitions, I wonder if it makes sense to re-allocated that money to the sustainability of the lands we have.

"It's like the landlord who decides to have 100 rental properties, and he can't take care of one of them,” Brown added.

There was also a short discussion on Monday about the hazards of marijuana grow operations on public lands, as well as multiple questions from McGuire about whether the District's was considering projects around water protection and conservation -- which District officials said they'd research as a topic for their next meeting.

McGuire also took Keene's side that, despite certain overarching economic difficulties, it remained in the District's best interest to continue acquiring new lands where environmental needs and/or economic advantages present themselves. McGuire cited the District's upgrades and maintenance to as an example of a local coup.

Ed. note: Laura Tietz, founder of FireFreeFitch, has received a Red Cross Heroes award. Tietz in 2008 founded FireFreeFitch to promote fire safety on Fitch Mountain. At least 800 residents have gotten involved. and conversion to a public park, but cautioned that proper fire safety measures need to be put in place to accommodate added visitor traffic.