The wealthy Hollister Ranch enclave has begun working with California officials on a plan to open its gates, as required by a recent state law mandating beach access. But not every beach lover thinks unfettered public access to otherwise private coastal property is a good thing.
(CN) — Rolling green hills spill into the Pacific Ocean. Brown pelicans glide over Eocene rock formations jutting out from the sand. A western snowy plover struts across shoreline bluffs overlooking 60 million-year-old tidal areas. Mountain water flows through sweeping, desolate canyons into arroyos feeding the ocean.
For these wonders and many others, the Golden State is fiercely protective of its coastline. But how such protections are carried out is often the source of political consternation and legal wrangling. And for ultra-rich homeowners on Hollister Ranch — a 14,500-acre stretch of privately owned shoreside property in Santa Barbara County — the answer, for decades, has been to close it off to the world.
While entrancing views of the ocean and mostly undeveloped waterfront are hallmarks of California’s hailed coastline, Hollister Ranch offers scenes from a time before coastal highways, commercial boardwalks, glittery and crowded piers and hordes of black-clad surfers.
Scrolling through Hollister Ranch Realty’s Instagram feed takes you behind private gates, revealing an immaculate landscape accessible only to those who can afford $6 million, 100-acre canyon properties or $10 million shoreside estates.
“Winter @ Hollister Ranch. blizzards back east,” says the caption on a December 2016 photo of Hollister’s unblemished shoreline valleys, unspoiled beaches and waves coveted by the world’s best surfers. “Lucky us.”
'A promise fulfilled'
Extending west from Gaviota to Point Conception and north from the shore to the Santa Ynez Mountains, the ranch’s nearly nine miles of shoreline and canyonlands are a natural wonder millions of years old and once home to the indigenous Chumash people. But its configuration into a private enclave for the ultra-wealthy is more recent.
The Hollister Ranch corporation assumed ownership in 1970, promising to reject unchecked coastal development that could damage the area’s unique ecosystems. In exchange, exclusivity for the sake of environmental sustainability would be the ranch’s guiding principle.
“A Tradition, A Commitment, A Promise Fulfilled,” reads a real estate brochure touting the corporation’s wildlife stewardship.
Since the ranch’s founding, homeowners have fought for years in and out of court to restrict access to the property and its coastal areas.
The lone public beach on the sprawling property is only easily accessible by boat, involving a nearly four-mile trek from a nearby state beach. But the journey, and beach conditions, depend on the tide, which can easily trap unprepared visitors.
“You've got this place that's been off limits for a long time,” said Sam Schuchat of the Coastal Conservancy. “People who live there have pretty much enjoyed exclusive access to it.”
Schuchat said enjoying the coast is part of Californians’ “core identity” and one that Santa Barbara County residents should be able to experience more.
“How ever much access we have to the outdoors in California, we could always use a lot more,” Schuchat said in an interview. “Particularly where cities are concerned, beaches are the closest you can easily get to nature.”
According to Santa Barbara resident and longtime coastal access advocate Susan Jordan, people believed for years public access to the ranch, and the entire California coast, was never a right.
“This is about environmental justice,” said Jordan, founder of the California Coastal Protection Network. “It's about allowing access for everybody, not just some.”
The Hollister Ranch Conservancy, the corporation’s sustainability branch, would say limiting public access is vital to the corporation’s preservation efforts.