Fact vs. Myth: the real story. Our opposition, the Banning Ranch Conservancy, is attempting to trick the public and the Coastal Commission into believing it is working in the public’s best interest.


Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy is working in the public’s best interest.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy wants to prevent the environmental clean up proposed by the NBR plan. They are opposed to opening up the property to a variety of uses important to the local and state community.

Banning Ranch Conservancy frivolously sued the City of Newport Beach after the City approved Sunset Ridge Park. The courts ruled against them—but the damage to the community was done. The Banning Ranch Conservancy forced a dangerous access condition to the park—which now threatens users.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy will open the property for the community.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy cannot open the land for the community. They do not have the means to restore, let alone purchase the property. Restoring and preserving the vast majority of the land as part of a larger project is the only way to open it for public access.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy will purchase the property and restore the land.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy has never put together any proposal to purchase the property. Nor have they ever created a viable plan to raise the funds necessary to restore the land to government approved environmental standards.

Banning Ranch Conservancy says it has secured a “conditional” pledge for $5 million. The City of Newport Beach and a private appraiser in 2009 set the price for Banning Ranch at “well over $200 million” and area real estate prices have climbed notably since then. The Conservancy simply does not have the plan or the financial resources they claim.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy is an organization with the financial resources and expertise to fully restore Banning Ranch.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy has no financial resources. They have had more than 15 years to present an offer to purchase the property and a plan to restore the land. Not a single offer or proof of any amount of funds have been put on the table.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy has an alternative solution.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy has no tangible alternative to our proposal other than maintain the property’s degraded condition and keep it fenced off from the public for eternity.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy has a plan to protect and preserve the property for generations.

Fact
Newport Banning Ranch has a plan that will restore, protect and preserve the land—more than 80% of it. Without this plan, the property will remain an operating oil field. Without approval, the land does not go to the Conservancy or the community. It remains a private, operating oil field. It will not be cleaned up. The fences will not be removed.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy wants to save Banning Ranch.

Fact
The only way to save Banning Ranch is with our proposal. We are financing the clean up and the restoration. We are giving back more than 80% of the property to the community and funding the management and stewardship in perpetuity—with NO COST TO THE TAXPAYER.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy will save the entire property, not just 80%.

Fact
Banning Ranch Conservancy does not have the financial ability to purchase the property. Taxpayers and the government have not indicated a willingness to purchase, restore and manage the land. The public does not get access to the property—any of it—without approval of the NBR plan.

Myth
Banning Ranch Conservancy will give back the entire property back to the community.

Fact
The Conservancy does not have the financial resources to purchase the land. They don’t have the resources to restore the land. They can’t give back the land if they don’t own it. Newport Banning Ranch is giving away its open space (more than 80% of the property) as part of the project proposal—and financing the management and stewardship of the land in perpetuity.

Conclusion
NBR is working in the public’s best interest. NBR seeks to develop less than 20% of the property, which will provide the capital resources necessary to open up and preserve the balance of the property.