Reporter’s Notebook: Oh, the possibilities for ranch

Standing on top of a bluff in Banning Ranch overlooking the crashing waves off West Newport on Wednesday, I was overwhelmed by the possibilities that exist for this roughly 400-acre parcel of land in coastal Orange County.

Newport Banning Ranch LLC, a consortium of three land owners, this week let me on the property, which is fenced off to the public, for a tour.

If the landowners have their way, a public walkway spanning West Coast Highway will link a system of bike and walking trails to the beach, but they also want to build a hotel, houses and shops on the land.

Arguing that there are few large chunks of undeveloped coastal land left in Orange County, environmentalists want to see the land preserved.

Marice White, a spokeswoman for the landowners, is quick to tout the large chunks of Banning Ranch that will be preserved if the landowners get city and state approval to build 1,375 homes, shops and a hotel on the 400-acre Banning Ranch.

About 70% of the land will be set aside for parks and open space under the latest set of plans, but environmentalists say that’s not enough.

About 156 feet above sea level at its highest point, Banning Ranch has panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Various small birds and ground squirrels dart along the ground at the sound of a car, but much of the scenery is marred by oil wells and pipeline. Banning Ranch is as much an active oil field as it is fragile ecosystem.

White gestures toward a row of old oil pumps on one side of the dirt road as we drive past.

“Every now and then you’ll see an egret perched on top of one,” she said.

The developer has estimated it would cost between $30 million and $60 million to clean up the land after years of oil production. Environmentalists from the group Save Banning Ranch contend those numbers are inflated.

There’s a slew of environmental regulations Newport Banning Ranch has to abide by to preserve the habitat for the various “critters,” as White calls them, that call Banning Ranch home.

There’s a slight depression in the dirt roped off by temporary, plastic orange fencing on one part of the land.

It doesn’t look like much now, but it was once the site of a makeshift baseball diamond that some bored oil workers created there to pass the time.

Water filled the worn-down area and it attracted ducks. A tiny critter called the fairy shrimp also took up residence there.

It seems the little shrimp like to live in duck droppings, White said.

The pond has since dried up, but the shrimp can lay dormant for 25 years or more, so now the site has to be preserved, as per state law, because fairy shrimp are a protected species.

Whatever happens with Banning Ranch, I hope as much care will be taken to protect the other species there as the fairy shrimp.