Supervisors Resolve to Buy Holmwood Canyon

In a move that makes it increasingly unlikely Holmwood Canyon in Solana Beach will ever be developed, county supervisors Tuesday affirmed their intention to acquire the lush, 15.9-acre canyon for inclusion in the adjacent San Elijo Regional Park.

On a motion by Supervisors Paul Eckert and Susan Golding, the board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution stating its commitment to the acquisition and agreed to consider using general funds to purchase the property during budget hearings for fiscal year 1986.

The vote was welcome news for a citizens group that has fought a 38-unit housing project already approved for the canyon, located on the southwestern shore of San Elijo Lagoon.

“We regard this as a major, positive step forward,” said Jack Peek, an architect and leader of the 600-member Friends of Holmwood Canyon. “There have been indications of the county’s intent in the past, but this is the first time there’s been a firm statement that public monies will most likely be used to purchase the canyon.”

The supervisors’ action was considered critical to ongoing negotiations between North County developers Donald and Joseph Balsley, who have indicated a willingness to sell the parcel as open space, and the Trust for Public Land (TPL). The 11-year-old trust is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that buys environmentally sensitive land and then resells it to public agencies.

“From my understanding of what has taken place, our efforts to proceed with the purchase of Holmwood Canyon are enhanced by the actions taken by the Board of Supervisors,” Craig Lee, a project manager with TPL in San Francisco, said following the vote. “I am optimistic about . . . the action taken, and believe it will help us move forward with our negotiations with the landowner and the county.”

Lee said that TPL requires a commitment from a public agency before proceeding with a land deal because the trust “doesn’t want to get stuck holding the property.”

The board’s action comes four months after supervisors on a 3-2 vote approved the housing development the Balsleys have proposed to build in the canyon. In February, Peek and other project opponents appealed to the board to reconsider the plan, but supervisors refused.

Since then, negotiations between TPL and the Balsleys have been ongoing. Lee said trust officials more than a month ago made “an informal offer” on the property and recently received a counteroffer from the developers. TPL now is working on a second offer, Lee said.

TPL officials declined to reveal any figures, but the Balsleys at one point were asking $3 million for the canyon. The county has appraised the parcel at $2.25 million.

On Tuesday, supervisors also authorized the county to apply for a $150,000 state grant for use toward the purchase of the canyon. The grant requires local matching funds of $50,000, and Peek said his group intends to launch a fund-raising effort to come up with that amount.

The state Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board, an arm of the Department of Fish and Game, also have been approached for assistance in funding the purchase.