Founded in 1990 by developers Tom Gray and Pete Stocker, they established The Preserve as a conservation community, protecting 90% of the 20,000 acre property in perpetuity through a conservation land trust, named the Santa Lucia Conservancy.[2][3] The remaining 10% would be separately owned and operated by The Santa Lucia Preserve Company, and would feature under 300 homesites, an existing Spanish-style hacienda dating to the 1920’s, a 365-acre golf course designed by Tom Fazio,[4] and numerous recreational facilities. After backlash from a group of local activists, The Preserve Company and the Conservancy were able to move forward with a modified design. The property has served as a shooting location for film, television, and commercials.[5]
Conservation
The Santa Lucia Preserve's property boundaries and immediate neighbors. The Monterey Peninsula is visible at top left.
Conservation efforts at The Preserve are coordinated by the Santa Lucia Conservancy, a legally distinct 501(c)(3) non-profitland trust,[6] the establishment of which had oversight and legal input from the Trust for Public Land.[7] Besides overall protection of the land, significant conservation foci include the use of conservation grazing,[8]controlled burns and maintenance of firebreaks to battle local forest fires, the study and cataloguing of local species, as well as education to both Preserve members and the local community. In early 2016, the Conservancy partnered with the Trust for Public Land and regional conservation organizations to acquire 140 acres of the Carmel River watershed, incorporating it into Palo Corona Regional Park.[9] In late 2016, the Soberanes Fire burned along The Preserve's southwest border, with the property serving as a critical access point and staging area for firefighters.[10] At the time, the firefighting efforts were the costliest in US history.[11] In 2020, the Conservancy was awarded $2 million in state and federal grants to improve local fire resiliency.[12] In partnership with local universities, the Conservancy maintains an ongoing internship program for students looking for field experience in conservation land management and ecology.[13]
Filming location
Since at least the 1960’s, the property has served as a shooting location for film, television, and commercials, including a 2020 film shot entirely within a Preserve home, notable for being the first to be written and produced entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic whilst abiding by local safety guidelines and with approval from the Screen Actors Guild.[14]
When the property was purchased by developers in the early 1990’s, some locals protested, petitioned, and sued in an effort to stop the project, with legal support from the Ventana Chapter of Sierra Club.[21] Besides suspicion that the development was a conservation project in name only, a marketing ploy known as green-washing, some of their specific concerns were that The Preserve would increase local traffic, put strain on water resources, worsen air quality, and that developers were planning far more development than they were declaring publicly. While one such lawsuit was successful in including a measure on the 1996 presidential ballot for Monterey County,[22] the results of which barred developers from building a 150-room hotel and shopping area on the property,[23] a modified plan eventually moved forward with support from conservationists and local officials.[24]
^Sneider, Daniel (April 30, 1996). "Green Scam or Green Model?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
^"Vote Totals, Election Outcomes and Text for County Ballot Measures"(PDF). CA.gov. Center for California Studies and Institute for Social Research. 1996. p. 18. Retrieved February 11, 2021. Measure M: Shall Ordinance No. 03857 approving rezoning of portions of the Santa Lucia Preserve subdivision (also known as Rancho San Carlos) be approved? FAIL
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