Morro Bay peak popular with hikers, butterflies now free from development. This is why
Eagle Rock in Morro Bay is safe from future development after a small nonprofit organization purchased a conservation easement from the city to protect the land.
The Morro Bay Open Space Alliance purchased a conservation easement from the city of Morro Bay, which owns the property for $265,000.
The deal, which was finalized in April, marks the end of a decade-long land use controversy involving plans to develop the hill, also known as Cerrito Peak.
Located near Tidelands Park in the southern end of Morro Bay, Cerrito Peak is listed in the Native American Heritage Commission’s Sacred Lands Inventory and is home to a sacred site for the Chumash people.
Western monarch butterflies, an imperiled and vulnerable species in California, typically overwinter in the eucalyptus trees on the 214-foot peak.
In addition, Eagle Rock is used widely by locals for hiking, climbing around on the rocks and admiring the view of the Morro Bay estuary.
Bayshore Realty owner Dan Reddell owned the property in 2011 and proposed building a two-story house and granny unit on the hilltop.
In December 2011, the Morro Bay City Council voted to allow the real estate broker to develop the property — denying four separate appeals by community members. (Reddell died in 2014.)
After the City Council’s vote, a local organization, Save the Park, sued the city in 2012. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, an Oregon-based nonprofit organization that researches monarch butterflies and advocates for their protection, later joined Save the Park in its lawsuit.
In August 2015, a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge sided with Save the Park and the Xerces Society and ordered the city to suspend the project.
According to a city staff report, Reddell’s widow, Janne Reddell, approached the city of Morro Bay after the court’s decision about whether it was interested in purchasing the property. The council at the time directed city staff to negotiate the sale.
Morro Bay used emergency funds and bought the Eagle Rock property for $350,000 — $85,000 of which was reimbursed by the Reddells to cover legal fees spent fighting the lawsuit.
In 2017, the Morro Bay Open Space Alliance began a fundraising campaign to purchase a conservation easement from the city.
By spring 2020, the nonprofit had raised the $285,000 needed to purchase the easement, though the easement was not recorded on the deed until April.
The easement is binding on all owners, current and future, meaning that even if the city sells the property it cannot be developed.
“By raising over $265,000 through 175 contributions large and small, (the Morro Bay Open Space Alliance) has ensured that current and future generations of Morro Bay residents will be free to climb and enjoy this unique formation in its undeveloped state,” Glenn Silloway, co-chair of the nonprofit, wrote in a news release.
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
