Sargent Ranch: Landowners who proposed controversial quarry sell large chunk of property in Santa Clara County

In a major development affecting one of the most contentious land use battles in the Bay Area over the past decade, a Palo Alto environmental group has purchased a large chunk of Sargent Ranch, a sprawling property along Highway 101 south of Gilroy — and the Southern California investor group that proposed a sand and gravel quarry there has asked officials to suspend their review of the project.

The nonprofit Peninsula Open Space Trust spent $25.1 million to buy 2,467 acres of the ranch from Sargent Ranch Partners LLC, based in San Diego, in a deal recorded Thursday in Santa Clara County records.

“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with the previous landowner to have achieved such a positive outcome,” said Gordon Clark, president of the Peninsula Open Space Tr