Land donated to city of Ukiah
Parcel is 128 acres near Doolan Canyon
At a special virtual meeting held Wednesday, the Ukiah City Council approved having City Manager Sage Sangiacomo negotiate a final agreement for the donation of open space in the Western Hills.
“This is part of a vision we’ve been working on for a long time,” said Sangiacomo, explaining that the parcel being donated by David Hull near Doolan Canyon is 128 acres with “a number of assets, including redwood forest land, oak woodland, and of course the watershed.”
“I’d like to acknowledge city staff for staying on top of this,” City Council member Jim Brown said. “Through their hard work and the generous donation of Mr. Hull, this is going to happen.”
According to the staff report prepared for the meeting, “this donation is separate from a larger project that is under review and development to secure even more open space in the western hills,” part of the city’s goal of “promoting the protection of Ukiah’s western urban interface to restore and conserve forest and stream ecosystems, provide large-scale wildfire mitigation and to protect the Upper Russian River Watershed to benefit fish, wildlife and the greater Ukiah community.”
The staff report also explains that “Hull, along with a business partner, has made a similar donation of open space to the city in the past, and (this) donated property, if secured by the city, will provide protection of oak woodlands, conifer and riparian habitat, including conservation of old growth Redwood and Douglas Fir stands. This unique property currently supports an abundance
of wildlife including steelhead, amphibians (foothill yellow-legged frog, red-bellied newts) and large mammals (including mountain lion and black bear).”
The final agreement negotiated by Sangiacomo will “complete the donation and execute any other related documents necessary to close escrow with a commitment to pay title and escrow fees required in connection with this transaction, which will be paid by the city with funds in the Open Space reserve account. A budget amendment may be necessary to transfer the funds from the Open Space fund to the Park Development fund.”
The transaction was found by city staff to be “exempt from environmental review under (the California Environmental Quality Act) “because it involves the donation of land to the city for the preservation of approximately 128 acres of open space in the western hills adjacent to Doolan Canyon. No other uses for the land besides open space preservation are planned.”