Del Norte supervisors authorize study of Barrow Ranch sale; public raises cemetery, mitigation concerns

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to authorize a task order under an existing contract with Public Square Real Estate to study compliance with the state Surplus Lands Act and evaluate possible listing and sale of county-owned Barrow Ranch property.

The board's action directs staff to ask the contractor to assess legal steps, marketability and procedural requirements before any decision to sell. Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper told the board the task order would “further develop the idea, of potentially listing the property for sale and getting it out on the private market.”

The move prompted several public speakers to ask the county to protect graves and cultural resources. A family member asked the board to preserve a grave she identified as the site of a relative named George Washington on the Barrow Ranch parcel; other commenters said the historical society had not been notified before the notice aired locally.

“There's a whole story about George Washington. He's buried at Barrow Boys Ranch,” a family member said during public comment. She asked the county to confirm whether the gravesite is protected and to involve the family and local historical organizations during the surplus review.

Hooper said the task order process is intended to surface exactly those issues: “I think your comments would be welcome as we go through this process to establish some of these considerations.” The board approved the task order by unanimous vote.

Separately the board took up a proposal to transfer 18 small county-owned parcels in the Pacific Shores subdivision to the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) and the Smith River Alliance under an exempt surplus designation. Assistant CAO Hooper said the state funding, routed through the Smith River Alliance, would compensate the county above what taxes would otherwise have produced and allow the parcels to be incorporated into the Lake Earl wildlife area.

Supervisors pushed back, asking staff to check whether the parcels already qualify as wetlands and whether they would have usefulness as mitigation banks for future county infrastructure projects. Supervisor Short and others noted the county has faced high mitigation ratios from coastal regulators on projects such as airport improvements, and they asked whether holding parcels for mitigation would be a better long-term strategy.

After debate the board rescinded an initial motion to approve the Pacific Shores transfer and directed staff to perform a cursory review to determine whether any of the parcels could be used for mitigation in the future. The item was continued so staff could report back with a short analysis on whether the parcels are already wetlands, whether they contain road segments or other elements that could be restored, and whether the state purchase funds are time-limited.

Supervisor Starkey clarified the task order for Barrow Ranch does not approve a sale: it only commissions study of the legal and market issues and possible subdivision or lot-splitting scenarios. Hooper said there is an existing county appraisal and that Public Square would evaluate listing approaches, including whether subdivision would increase value.

The board also discussed logistics from the feasibility study: Hooper said an earlier engineering study showed “several million dollars” would be required to make Barrow Ranch usable for many county purposes, a factor in deciding to explore sale.

What happens next: Public Square Real Estate will complete the task-order work for Barrow Ranch and staff will return a short, focused memo on the Pacific Shores parcels' mitigation potential before the board proceeds with any transfer or listing.

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Votes at this meeting affecting this topic: the board voted unanimously to authorize the Barrow Ranch task order. The Pacific Shores transfer was continued for further review.