The ranch, located in Los Olivos,
is currently being renovated by Colony Capital’s CEO, billionare
Thomas Barrack Jr., who saved Jackson from foreclosure on the ranch last year
after the singer defaulted on a $24.5 million mortgage.
It is not clear how Jackson, had he lived, would have
played a part in resurrecting the ranch, but now that he is deceased, questions
linger as to what will become of Neverland.
A spokesman for Colony Capital told the Journal that it
was premature to talk about the ranch’s future or the prospect of burying
Jackson at the ranch. Jackson’s father, Joe, denied media reports that his son
will be buried at the ranch.
On June 30, Barrack addressed these rumors in a letter to
the Santa Barbara County community, which reads, in part:
“We must be prepared for the fact that visitors and fans
will come, with or without permission or an invitation … We must also prepare
to accommodate Michael’s family’s wishes as they contemplate the location of
his final resting place and their own return to the tranquil grounds of the
Michael Jackson family compound.
“As Michael’s final arrangements are planned, his family
wishes should be welcomed by this county with open arms … The consideration of
the future of the Neverland property will be
addressed in due time through normal process and with appropriate
deliberation.”
The letter goes on to say, “This is our chance to teach
the world what ‘Mi casa es su
casa’ really means.”
Barrack Jr. had reportedly purchased Neverland
as part of a bigger plan to rehabilitate Jackson’s career, which would have
increased the market value of the ranch.
The spokesman said Colony Capital is rehabilitating
buildings and grounds, “including landscaping, clean up and painting,” but he
said he could not comment on what will become of the ranch in the wake of
Jackson’s death.
On June 29, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr
held a press conference in Solvang to talk about how the county would respond
to a scenario where the ranch played host to the Jackson’s memorial service.
She told reporters that the county has not been
approached by Jackson’s family with any request to bury the late singer at Neverland Ranch.
The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department said they were
gearing up for joint operational planning with state and local public safety
agencies in the event that a public or private memorial service is held at Neverland; however, the Associated Press reported July 1
that a source close to the family said there would be no such memorial at the
ranch.
Farr fielded questions about talks of a Graceland-like museum
for Jackson devotees.
“That’s a whole different project,” Farr said. “That
would have to go through a thorough vetting by the community for a very long
period of time. So whatever issues the community had, they would certainly come
forward. And I would certainly think they’d have a lot.”
Farr, a former planning commissioner, said turning the
property, which is under a Williamson Act contract — offering landowners an
incentive not to develop their property by keeping it in farming or ranching,
in exchange for a lower property tax rate — into a Graceland-type facility
would require approval of the county Board of Supervisors, but not before it
fell under scrutiny from public review and the Planning Commission.
“It would start with an application to the county with
whatever the idea is,” Farr said. “There are a lot of physical changes on the
property now. There’s a house, a guest house and a lot of structural
development that is already on the ranch. So they would have to do a baseline
study of what is there now and what the application asked for. And it would be
a very rigorous process.”
According to zoning guidelines, “the proposed use of a
property must be compatible with and subordinate to the rural and scenic
character of the area.”
Most Los Olivos residents who
spoke with the Journal said a tourist attraction on the scale of a Graceland
would not blend with their town.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to see anything that would
impact the traffic situation and get more people here than we already have with
the wine tasting,” resident Bob Korte said. “Things
are pretty crowded in this town as it is already. I think it would be terrible.
“And I don’t understand all the fuss over him, but I
guess there some fanatical fans.”
“From a fan’s standpoint, I understand the desire for
it,” Los Olivos resident Janelle Johnston said. “But
it would cause a huge influx of people in the area that could really cause
problems for our small community in the long run.”
Not everyone agreed. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,”
said Julie Kennedy, who also lives in the small town. “We have a lot of people
coming into town for the wine. I’m not crazy about the idea, but people have
been curious about that place for awhile.”
One outsider, Keith Sandford
from Reno, Nev., said the locals were missing the big picture. “Business owners
and county officials should contact Jackson’s family,” he said. “Colony Capital
is, among other things, big in the casino industry and they will turn to recoup
their investment. The property is not going to go back to rural, open space.
“I know people want it to stay rural. If you don’t like
Michael Jackson, it’s just unfortunate that he liked the place and lived there.
The genie’s out of the bottle. He moved in there and now there’s going to be
people who will come to see it for a long time.”
Judith Hale Gallery, of Los Olivos,
picked her words precisely.
“The lines of
traffic coming up and down Figueroa road would be inviting a nightmare,” she
said. “That wouldn’t be a ‘thriller.’”
Reach Jeremy Foster at
jfoster@syvjournal.com.