Big Oak Flat’s $60 Million Project

Big Oak Flat, CA – A developer is hoping to make Big Oak Flat the main stop for tourists heading to Yosemite.

The Tuolumne County Community Development Department has begun work preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Report for a project deemed the “Yosemite Gateway Plaza.”

The $60 million project calls for the construction of two hotels with a combined 350 suites, a 21,250 square foot indoor water park, ten buildings for retail and business space, two take-out style restaurants, a gas station, an IMAX type movie theater, a 10 lane bowling alley/arcade and a sports and fitness center.

Space would be set aside for a Boys and Girls Club, non-profit medical/dental clinic, senior activities center and staging for Yosemite National Park tour buses.

The project is being developed by San Luis Obisbo developer Morgan Burkett, who is President of Legacy Hospitality.

The project site covers 38 acres and is adjacent to Hwy 120 in Big Oak Flat.

“This is a project site that has been the subject of development speculation for the best part of 30 years,” says Mike Laird, Tuolumne County Deputy Community Development Director. “It is nice that something is finally being proposed to be built there.”

Laird says it typically takes around six-to-nine months to complete a Draft EIR for a project of this magnitude. Once completed, it will go before the South County Planning Commission.

Written by bjhansen@mlode.com.