County unveils pristine acreage

The 961-acre Spears Ranch purchase by Placer County has turned out to be just the beginning of a larger open-space coup by Placer Legacy.The county has now bought a neighboring 220-acre parcel adjoining the ranch property at the bargain price of $767,000. With sweeping views of the Sacramento Valley and grassy hillsides studded with gnarled oaks, it will become a park next year.And the sellers, who want to develop 21 lots on another adjacent property, have agreed to place a conservation easement on 497 acres of the 560-acre Blue Oak Ranch subdivision.In total, the three agreements add up to 1,678 acres of oak woodland protected in one location by the county's five-year-old Placer Legacy open space preservation program.The land is located north of Mount Vernon Road, between Auburn and Lincoln. The 220-acre parcel - about a 12-minute drive from Auburn city limits - will be opened as early as next summer as a regional park featuring trails for walking, running, horseback riding and mountain biking.County officials showed off the Placer Legacy program's latest coup on Monday for media, pointing out where trails are being planned, where a parking area will be located, and the many natural amenities of land used for at least the past half century for grazing.Supervisor Rex Bloomfield, one of Placer Legacy's most outspoken proponents, was profuse in his praise for the purchase. Supervisors approved the acquisition from BOR Properties LLC earlier this month."I thought the county got an excellent deal," Bloomfield said. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime to provide open space for people who will be able to enjoy an area the way it existed hundreds of years ago."All told, there will be three square miles of open space, much of it accessible through a trail system to be developed by the summer on the 220-acre parcel that makes use of the property's already-established road network, Bloomfield said.Longtime property owner JJD Properties donated the conservation easement over its entire 780 acres at no cost to the open-space program. The easement will protect all areas except for 21, three-acre sections where home-building will take place, said Auburn attorney Paul Aronowitz, a BOR Properties partner.JJD Properties' Jim Didion, a member of a longtime Sacramento family and former CEO of CB Richard Ellis commercial real estate, and Auburn's Dennis Meyer of Andregg Geometrics, are the other two partners. Didion, a Carmel resident and director on the national Trust For Public Land board, is also the brother of author Joan Didion, best known for the book "Slouching Toward Bethlehem."Meyer is on the Sierra Business Council board.Aronowitz said paving roads on the new Blue Oak Ranch development is slated to start today. Eighteen of the 21 lots have already been sold, he said.Aronowitz said he also felt the county had made a good deal. "They got a great bargain, considering the price was based on a two-year-old appraisal," he said.The partnership approached the county in August 2003 with a package proposal that will preserve viewscapes into the valley as well as retain the natural beauty of hillsides. Most of the neighbors have been supportive of the concept, Aronowitz said. The property was initially zoned to allow up to 105 houses, he said. "Jim Didion's family has owned the property for 50 years and he wanted it to be done first class," Aronowitz said.County Facility Services Director Tom Miller said the BOR partners cooperative efforts smoothed a complicated transaction."The acquisition was worth all the hard work because the park will be a tremendous addition to the Placer Legacy program," Miller said.While the land is closed to the public now, Christian Valley resident Dick Cushman was able to snag an invitation to Monday's media event and took the opportunity to hike some of the roads."It's fantastic," Cushman said. "There are incredibly beautiful views and we've seen so much growth, it's refreshing to see this kept open space as a park."Park improvements will include a parking lot with space for horse trailers, a paved access road, and a restroom structure. The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.