POST Transfers 966-acre Rancho San Vicente to Santa Clara County Parks for Permanent Protection
November 2, 2009
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today that it has transferred ownership of 966-acre Rancho San Vicente in south San Jose to the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department for inclusion in adjoining Calero County Park. POST purchased the property from private developers in June for $16 million and on October 30 sold the land for the same amount to County Parks.
“In just five short months, the natural wonderland of south San Jose’s Rancho San Vicente has gone from threatened landscape to permanently protected parkland, thanks to POST’s acquisition of the property this summer and now its transfer to Santa Clara County Parks,” said POST President Audrey Rust. “With this project, we’re creating a protected corridor of open land for wildlife, recreation and scenic enjoyment at the southern tip of Almaden Valley, right at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The valley will be greener and more livable, and these rolling hills will remain beautiful thanks to POST’s partnership with County Parks to preserve this amazing property.”
Rancho San Vicente is a key link between Almaden Quicksilver and Calero county parks, with the potential to connect more than 31,000 acres of surrounding open space and parkland. Once part of a historic Spanish land grant, in recent times the ranch had been used for cattle grazing. Protection of the land as park and open space helps connect much-needed habitat for migrating wildlife, preserves rare serpentine soils for spectacular wildflower displays, and will eventually provide easy access for world-class outdoor recreation to residents of south San Jose and beyond.
Prior to POST’s purchase, Rancho San Vicente had, at various times, been slated for up to 900 residential units, an 18-hole golf course and 16 large private estates to be built on the land. When such plans became difficult to pursue within their timeframe, New Cities Development Group, in Monterey, decided to abandon developing the property and instead sold it to POST for preservation. POST worked through the summer with Santa Clara County so the land could come under the county’s ownership using funds from the Parks Charter Fund. Now Rancho San Vicente’s scenic expanse of grassy hills, serpentine slopes and majestic oak trees will be preserved forever as Santa Clara County parkland within the protected greenbelt of hills and mountains that ring Almaden Valley and the South Bay.
County Parks is now in the process of planning future public recreation on Rancho San Vicente. Such access will take time to develop and the property is not yet open to the public, though docent-led tours may be available through County Parks at a future date.