MENDOCINO CO., 6/12/25 — About 50 people turned out Monday at Whitesboro Grange in Albion for a community meeting on the future of the Albion Headlands, a rare opportunity to make an approximately 84-acre stretch of scenic coastal land public after being recently listed for sale.
The land, described as “one of California’s Last Great Places” by local realtor Justin Nadeau, has been private for over 30 years. It was recently listed by Nadeau for nearly $7 million, and the Mendocino Land Trust has made an offer.
“We’re feeling very motivated about acquiring the Albion Headlands,” said Conrad Kramer, executive director of the Mendocino Land Trust. “We thank Justin for giving us a heads up before it actually went to market, and we got a little bit of a jump on it. We made an offer right away.”
Kramer said it was a “weak” offer, but the Trust is “trying to get a few things sorted out before we try again.”
The issue, according to Kramer, is that the organization needs time to raise the funds, a point he emphasized throughout the meeting. He said the Mendocino Land Trust has put up $20,000, but would need quite a bit more before he thinks the seller, Carol Smith, would be willing to give the organization the time it then needs to raise enough money for the actual purchase. He estimated that earnest money in an amount closer to $200,000 might be sufficient to buy the organization time.
“We have no doubt we can raise the money if we have the time,” said Kramer.
When asked about the seller’s willingness to work with the Land Trust, Nadeau said that she’s not only willing, but she wants to and has been working with the Trust for months before the property was publicly listed.
“She’s doing everything she can, within reason,” he said.
He emphasized that over the course of the last 30 years, the seller has been trying to sell the land to a public entity, but for different reasons, those deals have fallen through.
The meeting, hosted by local activist Tom Wodetzki, gave the community a chance to hear from Nadeau, Kramer and another Land Trust member and lawyer Emily Griffen.
Local activist Rixanne Wehren, who, according to Wodetzki, has spent decades working to protect the Albion Headlands from being developed, was also a key speaker.
Wehren opened the meeting by walking attendees through the recent history of the Albion Headlands, beginning in 1987 when she said the land was first purchased by the Smith family.
The land is currently “16 separate legal parcels zoned for residential use,” according to Sotheby’s listing, which was a point of discussion during the meeting.
This is because, according to Wehren, the land consists of one large lot of about 80 acres and 14 or so “teeny tiny” lots.
Nadeau said those lots were designated in 1908 for workforce housing, confirming Wehren’s estimate that the large lot is about 80 acres, while he said 15 separate parcels make up the remaining four acres.
One attendee asked about the buildability of those lots. She said she thinks a Sotheby’s sign on the property that faces Highway One and advertises “16 legal parcels zoned for residential use” is misleading because it’s unclear if those parcels are buildable.
Wehren said the property is zoned for 40-acre minimum subdivision size due to its scenic value and environmental concerns, including the presence of the endangered Pygmy cypress. Due to the size of the property, this would mean it can only be split into two lots.
Nadeau said that the 15 parcels are, in fact, legal, and the property is zoned for residential development.
“The question of buildability can be answered and discussed at a later time, but that’s not really my role,” he said.
Wehren said that in 1988, the Smiths began the process of rezoning the land into four 20-acre lots, but after a complex process involving the board of supervisors, the planning commission and the California Coastal Commission, the board of supervisors ultimately denied the request, even after the Coastal Commission initially gave it the green light.
This decision, she said, was contested all the way to the California Supreme Court, which eventually sided with the county.
Ten years later, in 1998, Wehren said the Smiths applied for a boundary line adjustment, aiming to create larger parcels of some of the small parcels designated in 1908 in order to make them buildable. She said it took nearly a decade for the request to get back to the Board of Supervisors, and by that time, the Albion Residents Association had formed in order to fight in preserving the land.
The Board of Supervisors eventually denied the boundary line adjustment request, Wehren said, and two efforts were made over the following years by the Albion Residents Association to purchase the land for public use, both of which fell through.
Nadeau, who’s from the Mendocino Coast, said, “I felt it was a big honor to be able to be a local person to be able to step up and represent this property, because we want local people having a say and being part of the big decisions that are made up and down the coast. That doesn’t happen if these types of opportunities go to out-of-town consulting firms or brokerages or things like that.”
Nadeau said that when he began working with Smith, it was part of their agreement from the beginning that they would reach out to the Mendocino Land Trust first.
Nadeau said growing up on the coast, he’s seen the Albion Headlands as one of California’s most spectacular oceanfront properties without homes, vacation rentals or hotels. A marketing video he made depicts sweeping views of the property, noting the adjacent Albion River Bridge, California’s last remaining wooden bridge.
“When I talk about reimagining the future, I’m talking about let’s collectively find a way to really do this, because if that doesn’t happen, and I’m not here to talk about development or buildability or anything like that, that property will be purchased probably by a private entity and they’ll build something out there,” said Nadeau, who said he’s big supporter of the Mendocino Land Trust.
“What we’re talking about here is a forever protection on one of California’s most spectacular oceanfront properties, I think we really need to be focusing on, hey, let’s do what we have to do to get it, right?,” said Nadeau.
Wehren said that this is an important time for Albion, because in addition to the efforts to make the Albion Headlands public land, there’s also an effort to restore the historic Albion River Bridge, replace the Salmon Creek Bridge and an ongoing effort to open public access in the Albion flats.
Wehren and others said that unlike other Mendocino County towns, Albion lacks public coastal access.
Many public commenters discussed ways to help in addition to donations to the Mendocino Land Trust, which Kramer said would be welcome, even if they were in small amounts.
Kramer said small donations could help pay for Director of Land Protection Emily Griffen’s time on the project, as well as appraisal and other related fees. Like Nadeau, Griffen also grew up on the Mendocino Coast, and she’s currently working full-time on the Land Trust’s Albion Headlands acquisition effort. Kramer said donations can be designated specifically for the Albion Headlands.
Kramer said that the Land Trust has pulled off acquisitions like this in the past, but the difference was that it had more time to raise the funds. He said even small donations could help the Land Trust buy the time needed to raise funds to purchase the property.
One concern voiced by multiple attendees was the possibility that an appraisal could come back below the asking price. Attendees asked Nadeau if Smith might come down on the price in that case, but he said he wasn’t willing to speculate on what she might or might not do.
Attendees also raised the possibility of using private funds to help meet the seller’s asking price, in case the appraisal came in low and the seller remained firm.
Griffen said that if state funds were being used, which would likely be necessary, the organization cannot pay more than the property’s appraised value, even if donors raised the additional amount.
She said in addition to donations, a community letter to the California Coastal Conservancy making public interest clear could help the project move forward.
“They have voiced initial interest in the property, but how deep that interest is, and what I mean by that is how much money they will give us to help us buy it, might, you know, be swayed by public opinion,” Griffen said.
Attendees discussed other ideas for getting word out to folks who might make donations, such as a float in Mendocino’s Fourth of July Parade and booths at popular events over the summer to raise awareness and attract donors.
Griffin and Nadeau encouraged the group not to alienate the seller.
“I realize this is a spirited group, a lot to say,” said Nadeau. “But let’s all remember that in the current days of social media, sellers are also there reading all of the public comments, and reading the things that people are saying, and even reading the anonymous comments that we get. So I think it’s better to stay positive rather than focus on some of the negative stuff that’s come out.”
A recording of the meeting was made by local activist Jim Heid and is available on YouTube.
The subdivision west of Salmon Creek ,Pacific Reefs through to years was chronically short of water. We have two large parcels on Navarro Ridge East and West of the Whitsboro Grange Hall and you wouldn’t believe the restrictions on our properties even through we are not even in the view shed. The Coastal Commision was supposed to disappear ten years after it was voted in. Once something like it is voted in it never goes away.