Conaway Ranch facts for kids

Conaway Ranch is a very large property, covering about 17,300 acres, in Yolo County, California. This huge piece of land is located between the cities of Woodland, Davis, and West Sacramento. It forms a triangle bordered by State Route 113, Interstate 5, and Interstate 80.

About Conaway Ranch

Conaway Ranch is a big property, about 17,244 acres, located east of both Davis and Woodland, and west of Sacramento. A large part of the ranch is within the Yolo Bypass, which is an important flood control area. Most of the ranch is protected by special agreements called Williamson Act contracts. These contracts help keep the land used for farming.

All of the land on Conaway Ranch is set aside for agriculture or as an agricultural preserve. More than 40 farmers lease parts of the ranch to grow crops. Different groups also use the land for waterfowl and hunting. The ranch also has three large wetland areas, each about 500 acres.

Who Owned Conaway Ranch?

Before 2001, a company called PG&E Properties owned the ranch. This company was part of PG&E. When PG&E Properties faced financial trouble, another company, National Energy and Gas Transmission (NEGT), took over the ranch.

In 2004, NEGT also faced financial problems. The Yolo County government announced that it wanted to buy Conaway Ranch from NEGT. However, because of a court order, the ranch had to be sold in a special auction where Yolo County could not bid. The land was bought for about $60 million by a group called the Conaway Preservation Group.

The Conaway Preservation Group

The Conaway Preservation Group is owned by several local business people. One of them is Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, who became the President & CEO of AKT Development Group.

The ranch became the subject of a legal action called "eminent domain" started by Yolo County. Eminent domain is when a government can take private land for public use, even if the owner doesn't want to sell it. The ranch has valuable water rights and other natural resources. The county said it wanted to make sure the land was not developed. Yolo County officials wanted to take the land to keep it as it was, for what they called a "public purpose."

The county suggested that a group of organizations, like Yolo County itself, cities in the county, the Yolo County Flood Control District, University of California at Davis, and possibly the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, would manage the ranch.

Why the Owners Resisted

The Conaway Preservation Group did not agree with the county's eminent domain action. They argued that the county did not need to take the ranch to protect its resources. They said the land was already protected by local rules and state laws. The Conaway Preservation Group stated they had no plans to build on the property and had not asked the county to change the land's zoning.

Steve Giardo, a former president of the group, explained that their main goal was to keep the ranch privately owned. They also wanted to allow for agreements that would protect the ranch's water, farmland, wildlife, and flood control benefits.

The Settlement

Yolo County had planned to borrow all the money for buying the ranch from the Rumsey tribe. The exact price and interest rate were not made public. The county thought a jury would set the price at about $60 million. However, in September 2006, Yolo County and the Conaway Preservation Group reached a settlement agreement. This meant the county stopped its eminent domain action.

Conaway Ranch Timeline

Here are some important events in the history of Conaway Ranch:

• 1990 — The Conaway Conservancy Group, which included local landowners and PG&E Properties, Inc., bought the ranch. They suggested building homes and businesses on a part of the property near Woodland. However, the city government did not approve this plan.
• 1991 — The Conaway Conservancy Group sold $6.5 million worth of water to the state's Drought Water Bank. The Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted to support this water sale.
• December 1994 — PG&E bought out the local landowners' shares, including those of Steve Gidaro and John Reynen. Both Steve and John later hoped to buy the property back.
• 1996 — PG&E decided not to go ahead with development plans and put Conaway Ranch up for sale for $68.5 million. Gidaro and Reynen thought about buying it again. Local officials discussed forming a group to get money to buy Conaway. But PG&E Properties then took the property off the market.
• 2001 — The property was transferred from PG&E to National Energy and Gas Transmission (NEGT). This happened as part of PG&E's reorganization during its bankruptcy.
• March 2004 — NEGT announced it would sell the property through a closed bidding process. Steve and John started putting together an investment group to bid. Local officials also formed a group to try and get money to bid for the ranch.
• May 2004 — Yolo County supervisors decided not to join the closed bidding process. Instead, they started the eminent domain process to try and get the property.
• July 8, 2004 — Yolo County supervisors voted to officially start the eminent domain process to acquire the property.
• December 15, 2004 — After NEGT's bidding process ended, the Conaway Preservation Group, LLC, became the owner of Conaway Ranch. This group included Steve Gidaro, John Reynen, and other investors. The group tried to work with the County supervisors to find a solution that would keep the property privately owned but with more public controls on the land and water.
• February 2005 — The Conaway Preservation Group offered tours of the property to County supervisors. Yolo County stopped its public meetings about the joint group they had formed.
• May 2005 — Yolo County officials announced an agreement with the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians. The tribe agreed to provide money for the eminent domain action.
• November 30, 2005 — A Yolo County Superior Court Judge ruled that the county could use its eminent domain power to take the ranch. This happened even though the Conaway Preservation Group argued that the county didn't clearly say what it planned to do with the property.
• June 13, 2006 — A jury in Yolo County Superior Court was scheduled to start hearing evidence to decide how much the county would have to pay for the property. Estimates for the price ranged from $50 million to over $389 million.
• September 7, 2006 — Yolo County and the Conaway Preservation Group reached a settlement. The eminent domain action was then stopped.
• December 2010 — Developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos gained control of Conaway Ranch through a purchase made by his company, Tri-City Water and Farm LLC.