A regular reader of the Sacramento Business Journal would have seen two articles in 2006 relating to Amador County real estate development.
In June 2006, one had the headline “Developers Swarm Amador”, with the sub header “Ranch sale may open door to foothill county”. Excerpts from the article:
“Developers are reportedly looking at buying all or part of the 23,000-acre Howard Ranch in Amador County, about 20 miles east of fast-growing Elk Grove and one of the largest undeveloped parcels in the region. Western Amador County, with its gently rolling hills, is attracting developers looking for the next frontier in the increasingly built-out Sacramento area, industry leaders say.
“Several buyers have looked into purchasing at least some of Howard Ranch, including Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, Steve Gidaro and Jack Sweigart of JTS Communities, insiders say. JTS Communities, Reynen & Bardis and other well-known land developers are already in the county.
“Now, Bill Bunce and a partner are looking at the property, said Chris Wright, executive director of the Foothill Conservancy. Wright said that Bunce has told conservancy officials that he is part of a group of buyers considering the purchase of at least some of the property.
“'I'm not at liberty to discuss Howard Ranch at this time,’ Bunce said this week. ‘I'd be happy to discuss it at a time when there is something to discuss.’ Bunce and John Telischak, a Corte Madera-based developer and investor, are partners in Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort, a 945-acre development proposed for adjoining Sutter Creek. That development would include 1,634 homes, a golf course and resort hotel.”
A second SBJ article in December 2006 had the headline “Investors Corral Large Amador Ranch”, with the sub header “Development likely; local input sought”. From the article:
“A group of investors has purchased 16,100 acres of Howard Ranch in Amador County, the largest land deal this year in the Sacramento region, according to real estate experts. Bill Bunce, one of the buyers, said the long-term plans for the property west of Ione will include some development. But he and his partners intend to meet with community leaders and nearby residents before deciding on a course of action.
“The buyers include Bunce of El Dorado Hills, his development partner John Telischak of Corte Madera, and Farallon Capital Management of San Francisco, which manages equity assets for institutions and wealthy clients.”
In June 2006, one had the headline “Developers Swarm Amador”, with the sub header “Ranch sale may open door to foothill county”. Excerpts from the article:
“Developers are reportedly looking at buying all or part of the 23,000-acre Howard Ranch in Amador County, about 20 miles east of fast-growing Elk Grove and one of the largest undeveloped parcels in the region. Western Amador County, with its gently rolling hills, is attracting developers looking for the next frontier in the increasingly built-out Sacramento area, industry leaders say.
“Several buyers have looked into purchasing at least some of Howard Ranch, including Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, Steve Gidaro and Jack Sweigart of JTS Communities, insiders say. JTS Communities, Reynen & Bardis and other well-known land developers are already in the county.
“Now, Bill Bunce and a partner are looking at the property, said Chris Wright, executive director of the Foothill Conservancy. Wright said that Bunce has told conservancy officials that he is part of a group of buyers considering the purchase of at least some of the property.
“'I'm not at liberty to discuss Howard Ranch at this time,’ Bunce said this week. ‘I'd be happy to discuss it at a time when there is something to discuss.’ Bunce and John Telischak, a Corte Madera-based developer and investor, are partners in Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort, a 945-acre development proposed for adjoining Sutter Creek. That development would include 1,634 homes, a golf course and resort hotel.”
A second SBJ article in December 2006 had the headline “Investors Corral Large Amador Ranch”, with the sub header “Development likely; local input sought”. From the article:
“A group of investors has purchased 16,100 acres of Howard Ranch in Amador County, the largest land deal this year in the Sacramento region, according to real estate experts. Bill Bunce, one of the buyers, said the long-term plans for the property west of Ione will include some development. But he and his partners intend to meet with community leaders and nearby residents before deciding on a course of action.
“The buyers include Bunce of El Dorado Hills, his development partner John Telischak of Corte Madera, and Farallon Capital Management of San Francisco, which manages equity assets for institutions and wealthy clients.”
“The Howard Ranch property - also known as Rancho Arroyo Seco - was a sprawling ranch looking upon the foothills. The original land grant likely dates before the United States took possession of California. Charles Howard, an auto sales magnate and owner of the legendary racehorse Seabiscuit, eventually bought the property.
“In 1999, The Nature Conservancy purchased about 12,300 acres of the ranch in Sacramento County for $13.6 million and placed a permanent conservation easement on the property to preserve it. The Nature Conservancy then sold the land as ranch land. With the recent sale of the 16,100 acres, about 3,700 acres remain with Charles Howard's heirs, Bunce said. We just acquired the property,’ Bunce said of the deal completed Nov. 28. ‘We intend to begin the process of collaborating with the local community and talking about good uses for it'".
In the intervening years, Amador County residents have begun to witness the unfolding of the first of these “good uses”- the Newman Ridge Quarry Project. They have read and heard much discussion, pro and con. The Ione Valley Land Air and Water Defense Alliance has advanced the most vigorous opposition. A visit to their website will provide a list of issues and objections.
An “open letter” was recently published in the Amador Community News, paid for by Amador Ranch Associates, LLC, a corporation based in Corte Madera, California. According to CorporationWiki it has one member, Bt Amador LLC, also based in Corte Madera.
Bt Amador has two members, the aforementioned John Telischak and William Bunce. Mr. Telischak has interests in other corporate entities including Wp Realty & Management Co., Wp Construction, Inc., and nineteen more corporations. He is President of Deep Cliff Associates, LP, a golf course management company. He is also one of two members of Oakland Golf LLC, a golf course management company.
The open letter in support of the Newman Ridge project makes a number of claims, most notably that railways will transport 95% of the mining products and only 19 trucks per day will pass through Ione. Ione Valley LAWDA, on the other hand, points out in their website that the County Supervisor’s plan allows for the number to be up to 1,380 trucks per day.
The open letter makes no mention of the substantial water requirements of the project, and the resulting impact to the surrounding farming and ranching. It provides no substantiation that rail operators would be willing to upgrade to handle the traffic from the quarry and asphalt plant.
Going back to the June 2006 Sacramento Business Journal article:
“‘Any development of Howard Ranch could be limited by the lack of water supply and the need for a wastewater treatment plant’, said George Lambert, interim city administrator of Ione. The small city is on the edge of Howard Ranch and would likely annex any nearby development.
“Some of the ranch is being mined for aggregate and it may need an environmental cleanup. Other parts of the ranch are home to valuable plant species that will need to be protected, environmentalists say. But even if one-fifth of the ranch is developed and turned into 20,000 homes, the land developers could enjoy a multibillion-dollar payday, said Greg Paquin, owner of The Gregory Group, a firm that studies the new-home market.
“And Ione could claim municipal control of the ranch during the next few years. The city is starting a "visioning process" to prepare for an update of its general plan, said Sharon Long, chairwoman of the visioning committee.
“Land use will likely be a major issue in drafting the plan, since many developers are interested in the area, she said. JTS Communities and Ryland Homes are already building in town. “Howard Ranch almost surrounds the city and could become the next phase of development, Long added. ‘One common theme we're hearing from people is we don't want to be Elk Grove’, she said.”
Could it be that home building was never the aim of Amador Ranch Associates, LLC, at least in the relatively short term? Why would home developers purchase such a large tract of land, knowing the pitfalls that existed such as lack of water? Did they see the actual value of the purchase to be the extracting of needed building materials for development projects elsewhere in the State? Why couldn’t they give that business to the other quarries in the area?
As anyone with a little time can discover, the buyers of the Howard Ranch are from outside the area. The principle investor is from Marin County. Many of the corporate entities he is involved with were formed in 2006, and based in Corte Madera.
The citizens of Amador County deserve transparency. Reading or hearing about the land purchase back in 2006, they could have reasonably assumed that homes, not a quarry/asphalt plant, would be in their future. And an open letter directed to the opponents of the Newman Ridge project, paid for by the developer using a locally-sounding name, does nothing to promote transparency.
D. Norman
