Tourist train in far northern California takes advantage of "common carrier" status to buy coveted coastal land

The Press Democrat (Sonoma County, California) reported a few days ago from Fort Bragg, in coastal Mendocino County, about how the owners of a tourist attraction, the Skunk Train, have used their status as a "common carrier" to exercise eminent domain over a very desirable piece of land in the city.  Here's an excerpt from Mary Callahan's story: 

Whoever possesses the more-than-300-acre bluff-top property — with its sweeping views of the rugged coastline and the ocean beyond — in effect holds title to the city’s future. That means a single owner will now control the type and scale of new residential, business and tourist-oriented development in a community badly in need of renewal.

Officials with the Mendocino Railway, owner of the Skunk Train and the River Fox Train near Sacramento, said they’ve long bolstered the Fort Bragg economy and are ready to move forward with a unified plan for the roughly 375 acres the agency now holds.

The company has spent most of 20 years trying to acquire the property and working with the city and the public on a vision for the site, representatives said.

After the decline of the timber and fishing industries over recent decades, the city has taken too long on its own planning efforts for the lumber mill site, shuttered in 2002, said Skunk Train president Robert Pinoli.

“Let’s get on with doing something that’s productive,” he said.

But for city officials, the railway’s acquisition amounts to an end-run just as the city itself was close to a deal with Georgia-Pacific. That deal, they say, would have allowed for greater civic involvement as well as enhanced environmental oversight and greater public good.

“It is a land grab,” said Vice Mayor Jessica Morsell-Haye. “There’s no other name for it. They now own 20% of this damn town.”

The company plans to tie the land to expanded rail use in an area where the city envisioned expanded open space and inroads toward a new “blue economy” focused on ocean resources and resilience.

There is a fabulous aerial photo of the disputed land, pictured in juxtaposition to the city, in the Press Democrat story. It's a reminder of the unusual siting decisions made decades ago--a sawmill on prime real estate with dramatic ocean views.  

A recent story out of Fort Bragg and an economy struggling to remake itself is here, and story about the county's water crisis is here.