San Miguel Land for Sale - South Monterey County
Travel along scenic, pastoral roads and enjoy stunning mountain views as you draw near to Oak Creek Ranch, offering country living at its best. Encompassing 695± rolling acres of apples, grapes, and grazing land, Oak Creek Ranch is currently utilized as a farm featuring 60± acres planted with 37± acres of Granny Smith Apples and 23± acres of grapes. The remaining 635± acres have historically been utilized for grazing land.
Oak Creek Ranch is improved with a modest main residence, shop, barn, airplane hangar, and airstrip. The Ranch is perimeter and cross fenced, includes solar-powered electricity, and is under Williamson Act Contract (offering reduced property taxes). Water is supplied by two irrigation wells and two storage tanks.
LOCATION & ACCESS:
Positioned just 8 miles east of Highway 101, Oak Creek Ranch is located in the southeastern portion of Monterey County near the small town of San Miguel. Situated at 77620 Lowes Canyon Road, Ranch access is gained via a gated entrance. Lowes Canyon Road is gravel and runs through the southeastern portion of the Ranch.
With a population of approximately 3,100 people, San Miguel is a small community in California’s Central Coast Wine Country. The jewel of the town is the famous Mission San Miguel Arcangel founded by Franciscan Father Fermin Lasuen in 1797. The “town” of San Miguel, likely began with the Rios-Caldeonia Adobe, which was constructed in 1835. By 1871, a stagecoach ran daily from San Miguel to San Luis Obispo, and in 1886 the Southern Pacific Railroad reached San Miguel. Shortly thereafter, the town was leveled by a disastrous fire, and the new town was rebuilt north of the Mission.
San Miguel is positioned 10-miles north of Paso Robles, the mid-point between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Ranch is a short 20-minute drive from the Paso Robles Municipal Airport which offers fuel & line services, aircraft maintenance, air charter, restaurant and ground transportation. The airport also has a jet center and private hangars for general aviation.
San Luis Obispo County’s Regional Airport, approximately 49 miles from the Ranch, offers commercial service daily to Los Angeles and San Francisco connecting to international flights. The San Luis Obispo Airport offers convenient access to and from the Central Coast. Residents and visitors have the choice of three commercial airlines with flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas. The airport is also home to fuel service, general aviation, and corporate facilities.
IMPROVEMENTS:
Surrounded by restful shade trees sits a single-story, mission-style main residence built in 1992. Comprising 2,463± square feet, interior features include two bedrooms, two-and-one-half bathrooms, a utility room, a study, a laundry room, and a great room with a screened in porch area. There is also Saltillo tile flooring and custom textured walls throughout. The exterior of the home is wood framed with custom stucco exterior, and a Spanish tile roof. The main residence also includes an attached garage that is 628± square feet.
A wooden-framed shop building comprises 3,192± square feet, with 528± square feet of covered storage equipment and bathroom. The shop sits on a concrete slab and has a corrugated metal roof and siding. There is also a 3,360± square foot barn. Though the barn is in poor condition, it is completed with wood siding and walls with a corrugated metal roof and has a dirt floor.
Nearby sits a 2,400± square foot airplane hangar (with a half-bath) built on a concrete slab. There is a 350-foot taxi strip attached to a 2,800± foot airstrip. The airstrip is equipped with a solid main-line pipe for irrigating the airstrip for pilots preferring grass.
WATER:
Seasonal streams and drainage swales can be found on the property, but offer little to no water supply.
There are two irrigation wells providing water to the property. Both irrigation wells are run on fuel-powered pumps. One pumps water to an 18,000-gallon concrete water tank and then distributes via irrigation system to the apples and grapes. A second water tank, holding up to 5,000-gallons, sits hilltop behind the house, and gravity feeds water for domestic use.
Oak Creek Ranch is situated inside the bounds of the Upper Valley Aquifer Subbasin which rests within the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, making it subject to current groundwater regulations. In accordance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin was created to sustainably manage groundwater resources.
Consultation with a water-use professional is recommended before proceeding with development.
OPERATIONS:
Oak Creek Ranch presents a total of 60± planted acres, farmed with 37± acres of Granny Smith Apples and 23± acres of Vineyard. The balance of 635± acres have previously been leased out for grazing, but they are not presently running any cows.
Planted in 1987, the apples are traditionally sold to S. Martinelli & Co. in Watsonville, who then press them into juice. The apple orchard is fully irrigated and its operations are overseen by the on-site foreman.
The vineyard was originally established and planted in 1998. It is enveloped by the San Miguel District American Viticultural Area located at the top of the Paso Robles AVA. The soil consists of recent alluvial fans and deep alluvial soils, and is composed of sandy loam and clay loam. The climate, similar to that of the surrounding districts, presents hot days and cool nights, offering ideal growing conditions for producing red wine grapes. The vineyard is also fully irrigated and managed by the on-site foreman.
ACREAGE, ZONING & TAXES:
Oak Creek Ranch encompasses 695± acres, zoned PG-160 (Permanent Grazing) in Monterey County. Oak Creek Ranch’s four parcels are enrolled in the Ag Preserve (also known as the Williamson Act). Generally, the Williamson Act contracts limit the land usage to agriculture or related open space uses in exchange for reduced property taxes.
Property taxes for the 2023/2024 tax year were approximately $17,000.*
*Upon consummation of sale, property taxes will be reassessed and are subject to change.
