By Town Crier Staff

Local open space enthusiasts may have cause for cheer after Thursday’s Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District meeting. District officials are ready to approve a final environmental impact report and draft service plan, a major step toward annexation of 140,000 acres of coastal lands that could offer continuous undeveloped land from Santa Clara County to the Pacific Ocean.

If the district’s board of directors approves the documents, detailing the district’s intentions for managing coastal open space, the Los Altos-based agency will then prepare plans for annexation with the Local Agency Formation Commissions of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. These agencies are in charge of approving annexation of land, or authority to supervise the coastal properties.

District spokeswoman Kristy Webb said the district should have applications before the commissions late this year. Each commission would then hold its own public hearings with approvals coming sometime next year.

The annexation process goes back to the late 1990s when coastside residents, worried about encroaching development, urged the district to purchase and manage lands, as it has done since its formation in 1972 in the foothills surrounding Silicon Valley. The district has purchased nearly 48,000 acres to preserve as open space and built trails for nature lovers.

Although the plan offers a “sphere of influence” involving 140,000 acres, district officials estimate possible purchase of approximately 11,800 acres of coastal lands over the next 15 years.

Thursday’s meeting is set for a 7 p.m. start at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors chambers, 400 County Center, Redwood City.