Fate of Hearst Castle Land to be Decided

By: Tim Molloy, Associated Press Writer (AP) The Hearst Corp. is offering California a way to permanently preserve the property surrounding Hearst Castle, a stunning stretch of land ranging from rugged beaches to thriving ranchlands.

For $80 million in cash and $15 million in tax incentives, the company will sell the state 1.8 square miles of coastal land between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and place another 128 square miles of ranchland east of Highway 1 under a conservation easement that would bar most development.

Dozens of environmentalists back the plan, but others are alarmed by provisions that would allow Hearst to develop parts of the ranchland, which it will continue to own. They fear the company will add mansions and vineyards.

The worst-case scenario, they said, is that state officials trying to meet a May 31 deadline set by the corporation could approve the plan without reading all the small print -- some of which the company hasn't yet provided.

"I don't think we can say we're opposing it because we don't know what it is," said Susan Jordan, executive director of the California Coastal Protection Network. "It's fuzzy in areas that we consider to be of extraordinary importance."

State officials negotiating with Hearst and the American Land Conservancy, which is brokering the proposed deal, will make sure it is fair, said Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the state Coastal Conservancy.

Hearst attorney Roger Lyon said an independent appraiser has determined the land is worth more than double the asking price, but the company is willing to donate the difference. All the details of the agreement will come out eventually, a legal requirement because it involves state money, he said.

Hearst Castle, with 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, and pools, became a state park in 1958, even though the rolling hills and rugged beach nearby remained in the hands of the Hearst Corp.

On the coast, sea otters and windsurfers frolic in tides that wash over rugged shoreline where elephant seals sprawl. Inland, forest and grasslands are home to cattle as well as zebras, sambar deer and other exotic species imported by William Randolph Hearst when the castle was being built.

Threatened red-legged frogs and endangered steelhead trout live in the streams, and several species of oak found nowhere else thrive with California poppies and other native plants.

Adding the coastal land would allow the state to establish 18 miles of the California Coastal Trail, a project state officials have been seeking for years to fulfill hikers' dreams of a continuous oceanside route.

In 1998, the California Coastal Commission rejected a Hearst proposal to build an 18-hole golf course and 650-room resort on ranch property after strong opposition from environmentalists, residents, and even some members of the Hearst family.

William Randolph Hearst's great-grandson, Hearst Corp. Vice President Stephen Hearst, began looking into selling the land and development rights after the commission decision.

He sees the deal as a way to protect both business interests and the land where his family has camped, raised cattle and gone horseback riding since George Hearst bought the first acres in 1865.

"When we drive through the gate and enter the property, every one of us believes we're home," Hearst said. "There are lots of folks that have an emotional attachment. It doesn't come anywhere near the emotional attachment that this family has for this land."

Under the deal, the company would retain the right to build a 100-room resort designed decades ago by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan. The company also would give up the right to develop as many as 400 homes on the property, but retain the right to build 27.

No exact locations have been set, but Lyon said the homes wouldn't upset the environment: each will be constructed on a five-acre site with 20-acre buffer zones, and won't be visible from Hearst Castle or Highway 1. No trees would be removed, and no roads added.

But Mark Massara, the Sierra Club's director of coastal programs, said nothing in the guidelines would prevent the company from building 27 new Hearst castles. In Orange County, one of the state's hottest real estate markets, as many as 100 homes have been built on a five-acre parcel, he said.

Hearst would be allowed to continue ranching on the property protected by the easement, but the Sierra Club and others are concerned the family could use it for more, including vineyards requiring fencing and pesticides.

American Land Conservancy project manager Kara Blakeslee said no information has been released to suggest the company plans vineyards, and that critics have no basis for such fears.

"That's pure speculation on their part," Blakeslee said.