Tuolumne County Supervisors on Tuesday put their stamp of approval on a proposed $10 million resort near Yosemite National Park. When complete, the Yosemite Rush Creek Resort on Highway 120 will include a large hotel, cabins, a conference hall and a bar and restaurant.
Tuolumne Chamber of Commerce President George Segarini says that this will help other businesses in the area. €œOur analysis is that they will probably benefit from this project,€ he said. The Chamber President and others believe that the added advertising of the area will help the local economy. The developers plan to target potential customers who live in Sacramento and the Bay Area.
But, Supervisor Mark Thornton says the developer already has a history of hurting small businesses in Mariposa County. €œI find it incredulous that you would want to go on the record in support of this project because they€™re going to advertise that corridor,€ he said to Segarini. €œI€™m very disappointed in the Chamber (of Commerce) and for that matter the EDC on what I think is not a thorough investigation into what they€™ve done elsewhere,€ Thornton said.
Back in May, Thornton had said he was concerned that the development would put a major strain on emergency services in Southern Tuolumne County, which he represents. At Tuesday€™s meeting, he indicated that the developer had made good steps toward satisfying him on that issue. The owners are going to add defibrillators and have some medical staff on hand to ease the strain on the one ambulance that serves the Groveland area. Thornton says that if the resort overtaxes the ambulance service, the situation will have to be reevaluated.
The board voted 4-0 in favor of allowing the project to go forward. Supervisor Paolo Maffei chose not to vote.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:45 pm