Price Tag For Jamestown Mine

Jamestown, CA — The Tuolumne County Supervisors will vote whether to sell the county’s portion of the Jamestown Mine Tuesday.

County staff and the developers have negotiated a price of $169,000. The property was appraised as being worth $961,000, but annual water monitoring costs over the next 15 years will be an estimated $105,000 annually, which decreases the value. The group Yosemite Gardens Park Inc., formerly known as Gold Rush Gardens, is hoping to buy the property and make it a tourist destination.

The price could change depending on when escrow closes. It goes up $105,000 each year to offset the water monitoring costs. The developers plan to build ball fields, lodging, shopping and create a garden area similar to Butchart Gardens in British Columbia.

300 acres of the mine site is owned by the county, and the remaining 370 is held by private residents. The developers are planning to use the full 670 acres for the project. The Yosemite Gardens group claims that there is the potential to create 1,740 full and part time jobs. The sale would save the county around $1.6 million over 15 years in water monitoring costs. It would also eliminate any future liability associated with the property. The Supervisors will meet at 9am Tuesday.