Ruling hampers Yosemite-area resort plan

Written by Union Democrat staff August 02, 2012  01:23 pm

A federal appeals court upheld a ruling on Friday  that a California developer
does not have the rights to build a road connecting  his property to Yosemite
National Park.

Solvang developer Lewis Geyser, head of Hazel  Green Ranch LLC, wanted to
construct the road to reduce travel time for visitors  to the upscale 300-building resort he wants to construct on the 83-acre  property.   The property is located near the Big Oak Flat  entrance to Yosemite.

He purchased the property along the western  boundary of the park in March 1998
specifically to construct an all-season  resort to serve as a gateway to
Yosemite.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a  2010 decision in California’s
Eastern District Court denying the landowner’s  claims that he had the right to
use two stagecoach-era dirt roads that connect  his property to Yosemite.

The roads, Old Coulterville and Crane Flat, run  from the town of Coulterville
in Mariposa County through the Hazel Green  property and connect with Highway
120 near Crane Flat in the park.

Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said the two  roads are only used for emergency
vehicles.

John Buckley, executive director of the Central  Sierra Environmental Resource
Center in Twain Harte, said that the organization,  along with many others
concerned with protecting Yosemite, has opposed the  development for several
years.  “Opening up old, abandoned routes would have  resulted in potential development of a massive commercial enterprise within a  few hundred feet of Yosemite Park,” he said.

The Sierra Club, Wilderness Society and Natural  Resources Defense Council
joined the National Park Service in defending the  lawsuit.

Hazel Green sued the Park Service in 2007,  claiming that it had legal rights to
the roads under a 19th century mining law  known as Revised Statute 2477.

The district court dismissed the claim and  allowed Hazel Green to amend its
case, said George Torgun, an attorney for  Earthjustice, a public interest law
firm that represented the environmental  groups in the case.

Hazel Green amended its case, claiming it had  easement rights to the roads as
an abutting landowner. The argument was rejected  by the lower district court
and that decision was upheld by the 9th Circuit  Court of Appeals.

In 2000, Geyser and the Park Service explored the  idea of using the land for a
parking lot as part of the Yosemite Valley Plan, an  effort to reduce traffic
and crowding in the valley. The idea for the parking lot fell through,  however, when the plan became entangled in lawsuits, Gediman said.

The Park Service does not know if Geyser plans to  continue with the resort,
which could include 210 log cabin-type units, 40 lodge  rooms, a village center
complex and conference facility, 50 summer tent-cabin  sites, a restaurant,
offices, an outdoor amphitheater and on-site services and  staff accommodations.
“It’s private land outside of the park so … he  doesn’t have to share that with
us,” Gediman said.

Mariposa County administrative officer Rick  Benson said Geyser has not
submitted a development application for the project. Geyser and his attorney, Martin Pitha of Irvine,  did not return phone calls
Wednesday  afternoon.