Famed musician’s former beach property to become new park on San Mateo coast

For years, a mile-long stretch of sand on the rural San Mateo County coast was known for loud late night parties that left behind huge piles of litter.

On Tuesday, the stunning property, once owned by rock singer Chris Isaak, moved a big step closer to becoming a new public park — the first of its kind in more than 50 years.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve an $11.6 million construction contract to build parking, trails, a ranger station, restrooms, interpretive signs and other amenities at Tunitas Creek Beach.

Construction is set to begin by July. When work is completed by next summer, the new park will be the first major coastal beach added to the San Mateo County parks system since Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach in 1969.

“This is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been on in the entire state,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose district includes the property.

“It’s wide open,” he said. “In many ways it’s different than the other beaches we have in San Mateo County. And you have the view of the bluffs. It’s just breathtaking. This is a legacy project.”

Studies have shown that endangered steelhead trout live in Tunitas Creek, which flows through the property, and that the beach is home to snowy plovers, a small shorebird that is federally listed as a threatened species. The 58-acre property, with cliffs more than 100 feet tall on the northern edge, looks similar to Point Reyes National Seashore.

It is open to the public now but on an informal basis with no amenities.

The property will be closed for safety when the construction contractor, Gordon Ball Inc., of Alamo, brings in heavy machinery and begins work next month, said Nicholas Calderon, San Mateo County parks director.

Calderon said a ramshackle, boarded-up pink house on the bluffs, built in 1958, was torn down a few months ago. In addition to the upcoming project, which will feature four overlooks and parking for about 60 vehicles, Calderon said the county plans to build a ranger residence on the site in the future but is still exploring funding sources.

And the date of the public grand opening?

“It comes down to weather,” Calderon said. “If we are able to get a winter that cooperates with us, we’ll be able to open it in early 2024. But if we have a winter like this past one, we are looking at mid-2024.”

The beach has a colorful and rowdy history.

Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola and his men camped along Tunitas Creek in 1769 during their expedition from Baja California to San Francisco Bay. The property was in private ownership for generations, its soaring cliffs and sand dunes hidden from motorists zooming along Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay.

A company known as Todd Gelfand Trust, which is linked to pop singer Chris Isaak, purchased the bluff-top land, the house and most of the sand on the beach for $3.1 million in 1998.

Isaak, 66, a Stockton native who had hits in the 1990s with songs such as “Wicked Game,” was never seen at the property, locals say. The singer has declined interview requests to discuss the land purchase.

But over time, the scenic landscape became a major headache for Isaak, police and nearby landowners.

A decade ago, hundreds of people with stereo systems, disco balls, tents, kegs and mattresses regularly left huge amounts of trash, set off fireworks and used Tunitas Creek Beach as a bathroom during all-night raves. Several people drowned in the ocean there. A landslide wrecked the small home’s water system. And the raucous parties presented an increasing legal liability.