Santa Margarita Ranch has been up for development for as long as 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson has been in office—that’s about 17 years.
But as of Sept. 23, more than 100 home sites are up for sale on the 14,000-acre North County property.
“It was a project that started around the time I took office in 2007 that finally got to the [Board of Supervisors] on appeal, and there was a good bit of controversy about it,” Gibson said.
As part of the San Luis Obispo County Agricultural Conservation Easement, The Preserve at Santa Margarita Ranch project will consist of 111 homes on 3,600 acres. The remaining 10,000 acres of the ranch will be preserved farmland.
Although the project was initially approved by the county in 2008, local ranchers appealed the housing project to the Board of Supervisors that same year, and Supervisor Gibson said the public response was overwhelming.
“When we started it, there was so much public comment, we had to continue it for another day,” he said.
According to previous New Times reporting, ranchers prepared a 38-page appeal, calling out 11 unavoidable environmental impacts that included 1,154 additional car trips per day, building over native habitats, and urbanizing a historically agricultural area.
Gibson told New Times that he voted against the housing project because he thought there were environmental impacts that weren’t properly considered, but ultimately, the project was approved by the board.
In 2012, two environmental groups petitioned the board’s 2008 decision and argued that the county’s approval of the project would harm native wildlife and compromise the area’s cultural integrity.
But this effort also failed.
“This [current] project came forward as the consequence of a failed conservation attempt, … and they received approval for the project,” Gibson told New Times. “It’s taken nearly 17 years to start to see the actual development start.”
Santa Margarita Ranch co-owner Karl Wittstrom said that The Preserve’s construction was initially set to start in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the project. In 2021, weather conditions delayed it again. But 2025 is set to go.
Throughout years of public concerns and opposition, Wittstrom said that the project has adjusted to better preserve Santa Margarita Ranch agricultural land including strong conservation footprints, tighter clustering and design control, water stewardship, and fire resilience, which will also serve the community in several ways.
“The benefits are tangible for Santa Margarita,” he said via email. “Local jobs, wildfire resilience investments, private road maintenance, funding for water and infrastructure, and a long-term conservation framework that keeps the landscape open and working rather than subdivided piece by piece. In short: a small neighborhood, a healthier ranch, and a stronger community.”
But Supervisor Gibson said if the project were set before him again, he’d still vote against it.
“These are luxury homes, right? These are big mansions. These are not the kind of housing that we need in this county, that we’re desperate for in this county,” he said. “But I acknowledge that the project got approved, and so it’s moving forward under the conditions that were established when it was approved. So, I’m not fighting it at this point. It is what it is, and we’ll move on and deal with other stuff.” ∆
This article appears in Oct 9-19, 2025.
Everything is about the money instead of leaving the countryside pristine and ecological factors intact let’s ruin the countryside with buildings and cement
Oh how wonderful! A community of multi-millionaires and billionaires. I’m sure it won’t change the nature of the entire area. Well, at least they’ll be hiring lots of vassals to serve them. 😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖😖