Conaway Ranch facts for kids
Conaway Ranch is a 17,300-acre (70 km2) ranch in Yolo County, California. The vast property is located between the cities of Woodland, Davis, and West Sacramento in a triangle formed by State Route 113, Interstate 5, and Interstate 80.
Background
Conaway Ranch is a 17,244-acre (70 km2) property that sits to the east of both Davis and Woodland and west of Sacramento. Two-thirds of the property sits in the Yolo Bypass (the 'causeway'), the sink of Cache Creek, or the Green Zone between County Road 27 and County Road 29. Most of the ranch is currently protected by Williamson Act contracts. All of the land is zoned for agriculture or agriculture preserve and is leased to more than 40 farmers and various waterfowl and hunting groups. Also, there are three different 500 acre (2 km2) wetlands on the ranch.
Prior to 2001 the property was owned by a subsidiary of PG&E, called PG&E Properties. When PG&E Properties went bankrupt, it was acquired by National Energy and Gas Transmission, NEGT. In 2004, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors announced plans to acquire Conaway Ranch from NEGT, which itself was now bankrupt. By order of the bankruptcy court, the property had to be sold in a closed-bid auction. By state law, Yolo County could not participate in that auction. The land was purchased in that auction for about $60 million by the Conaway Preservation Group.
The Conaway Preservation Group is owned by a group of local businessmen, including Kyriakos Tsakopoulos who was named President & CEO of AKT Development Group. The land was the subject of an eminent domain action initiated by Yolo County. The ranch holds valuable water rights, among other natural resources. The county claimed that it had an interest in the land not being developed. Yolo County officials were attempting to seize the land for what they described as the public purpose of maintaining the status quo. The county claimed that it proposed transferring long-term management authority for the ranch to a Joint Powers Authority or similar consortium of entities such as Yolo County, municipalities within the county, the Yolo County Flood Control District, University of California at Davis, and possibly the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians.
The Conaway Preservation Group opposed the action, arguing that the county did not need to condemn the ranch to fully protect the ranch's resources, which were already protected through local zoning, existing state law and local ordinances. The Conaway Preservation Group claimed it had no plans for development on the property, and made no requests to the county for any of the land to be rezoned. "The primary goal of the Conaway Preservation Group is to maintain private ownership while allowing for easements and other mechanisms to be placed on the ranch to protect the property's water resources, agricultural land, wildlife, and flood control benefits," asserted former president Steve Giardo.
The county planned to borrow all of the money for the acquisition from the Rumsey tribe. A price had not yet been determined, nor was any rate of interest publicly disclosed. The county contended that it estimated the price (which would be set by a jury) at $60 million. In September 2006 the county entered into a settlement agreement with the Conaway Preservation Group and abandoned the eminent domain action.
Conaway's Future
June 13, 2006: A Yolo County Superior Court jury is scheduled to begin hearing evidence of how much the county will have to pay for the property. Estimates range from $50 million to more than $389 million.
