Magoon Estate Limited – which at that time owned Guenoc Winery, later Langtry Estate and Vineyard – gave the land near Middletown to the county in 1998 to hold while the board of Guenoc Valley College raised funds to build the private institution, as Lake County News has reported.
The company put a stipulation on the land donation that limited its use to the college project alone, according to county officials.
But an additional 200 acres with a flat area suitable for building which had been promised to the effort was never handed over the county, officials reported.
Since then, Hawaii-based Malulani Investments has taken over Magoon Estate Limited. The company has undertaken a a series of projects on the 22,000-acre Langtry property, including a renovation of Lillie Langtry's home and a new 18-hole golf course project.
Additionally, in a 2008 interview, Malulani Investments President Easton Manson told Lake County News that the company was not willing to donate more land for the college plan, and that its property was encumbered by loans for its projects.
Last June the Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with beginning the work to give the land back to the Malulani Investments, which now owns the former Magoon Estate Limited. The resolution that went before the board on Tuesday was a result of that 2009 direction from the board, according to County Counsel Anita Grant.
Given the topography of the land donation, which Grant said was “mostly vertical,” it wasn't conducive to a building project.
Deputy County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano worked with Malulani Investments representatives to put together the proposed resolution, which completed the process of rescinding the original land donation, Grant said.
The agreement also included a payment to the county of $27,090 to cover back property tax.
Katherine Philippakis, Malulani Investments' attorney, told the board, “We feel that this is the best solution for all concerned.”
When Board Chair Anthony Farrington asked for public comment, no one came forward.
College President Fran Peretti – who last year had told the board that efforts were still under way to establish the college – did not appear at the Tuesday meeting. A message left for her was not returned.
“The idea of a college was a wonderful one and this piece of property is not conducive to that – unless it was a mountain climbing college” said District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, in whose district the land is located.
Comstock moved to approve the resolution rescinding the land donation, which the board approved 5-0.
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