Couple donates $100,000 to Land Trust

Kleins hope their gift inspires other owners

10/17/00

By MARK VAN DE KAMP 
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

mvandekamp@newspress.com

Michael and Robin Klein of Montecito stepped forward Monday with a big present for the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. They're the couple who bought a 1,300-acre property in the foothills of Santa Barbara -- with an 880-acre conservation easement to the trust that eliminates all residential development possibilities. More details emerged Monday about their plans for the highly visible real estate. They will build only one home on the southern corner of the 1,300-acre ranch, although legally they could build more. Also, the couple has donated $100,000 to the nonprofit trust, to be used to seek additional land conservation commitments from other landowners. "We're thrilled to do our part to preserve this pristine natural treasure and encourage others to protect land," said Michael Klein. He explained he wants to give back to the community where he's lived since age 5. "This is a great day for the land trust and for the public," said Michael Feeney, the group's executive director. Representatives of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County and the prior landowner, an investment partnership managed by Chuck Blitz of Santa Barbara and Roger Himovitz of Montecito, signed and recorded the conservation easement on July 18. With the easement in place, the property was then sold on Sept. 25 to Pacificor Inc., which is owned by Michael Klein. He said the purchase price was slightly more than $8 million. Klein built three technology companies: Transoft Networks, Mibek Corp. and Egroups. Egroups was recently acquired by Yahoo! Inc. "Robin and I saw this property for the first time just three months ago," he said. "We were awestruck that there was still such a property in such remarkable, undeveloped condition." 

Formed in 1985, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County has permanently preserved more than 10,000 acres of land for agriculture, open space, wildlife habitat and passive recreational use. A conservation easement does not open the land to public use. In cases where the easement is donated, the landowner is eligible for tax breaks. In related action, the trust's deal to preserve 660 acres at the Freeman Ranch on the Gaviota Coast was finalized last month. The group bought that conservation easement for $990,000. And this week, the city of Carpinteria purchased the 52-acre Carpinteria Bluffs near Bailard and Carpinteria avenues from the trust. The trust owned the property in large part because of the efforts of Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, a nonprofit group that raised more than $4.61 million since 1996 to keep the oceanfront parcel undeveloped.