I do not think it is overly simplified. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
The Presidio and other lands become available and they choose a park. Other land is set aside as open space. You may not build multi story buildings to preserve the sky line/view. Impact fees and permitting costs tens of thousands for modest structure to hundreds of thousands for large structures.
It is this way all up and down CA’s coast. It is what drives the cost.
Thoreau said we are wealthy in proportion to what we can leave alone. If you are a multimillionaire you can afford a Presidio park but most of us cannot. As he noted, Reagan said the solution is simple but the choices are hard.
Sowell doesn't know what he's talking about. He's discounting that the reason the land would be cheap if the restrictions were lifted on development is that environmental laws have socialized so many assets on the land as to have depressed its value for anything but development. The distortions are everywhere, and politicians run around plugging them with yet more dirty deals.