Tentative Deal Would Create Palos Verdes Peninsula Reserve

More than two square miles of undeveloped land on the Palos Verdes Peninsula would remain forever so under a tentative $30-million deal struck Wednesday afternoon with the property owners, Rancho Palos Verdes officials, and the peninsula’s land conservancy.

The deal, which City Manager Les Evans on Thursday called “very preliminary,” would add 722 acres of privately owned property to 600 acres of existing public land. The additional acreage would be replanted with native species such as sage, and hiking trails would be created along rolling hillsides and steep canyons that offer views of the Pacific and Santa Catalina Island.

“We have $4 million,” half of what remains of the city’s portion of a 1996 county park bonds measure, Evans said. “The other $26 million we’ll have to find someplace.”

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy has pledged a $6-million private fund-raising effort to help, and county and state funding will be sought, Evans said.