Galvin Family Refuses Open Space Purchase Offer

by John Barinaga

The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District's offer to buy 1,626 acres of the Galvin Triangle G Ranch for $26.8 million was refused by the Galvin family.

The offer would have left 120 acres to the Galvin family, with the right to build two homes. This ended SMPG's hopes, and the hopes of the county supervisors, that the threat of ridgetop development would be ended with the purchase. The negotiations by the Open Space District and the Coastal Conservancy had been under way since last April.

Since the original application for subdivision was submitted to the county, one of the original six parcels, the one south of Stage Gulch Road, has been sold and planted with vineyards. Another 96 acres has been leased to the UCC Vineyards Group and is now being planted.

The Galvin Ranch ridgetop, which forms the visual horizon from Petaluma, from Sonoma, and from the scenic roads in both valleys, has been threatened with the development of a subdivision. The subdivision application submitted to the county planning department in 1996 was plagued with problems. The applicant requested amendment of the County General Plan, a change in zoning, exemption from the regulations governing clustering, and transferring housing density into a scenic landscape area, among many other problematic requests.

The application for subdivision has not been withdrawn from county's Permit and Resource Management Department. The Press Democrat reported that on April 22, 2001, a Galvin representative named Brittain said that "If negotiations fail, he would return with a new proposal." On the October 29, 2001, the Press Democrat reported that "Brittain said he would like to revive the development plans, but that county leaders seem against it." Citizens should continue to urge the country supervisors to reject any ridgetop development that is contrary to the County General Plan.