‘Builder’s Remedy’ Housing Project on Yosemite Border Draws Opposition From Locals, Environmentalists

A developer is planning to build 110 units of housing on the edge of Yosemite National Park, sparking concerns among conservationists who say preserving the borders of the park as wildland is key to the health of the park’s ecosystem. 

As Kurtis Alexander explains in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The proposal calls for construction of 110 “factory built modular” homes, 20% of which would be reserved for low-income residents, on two wooded parcels totaling 31 acres.” The property is mostly zoned for forest and is adjacent to the 189-home Yosemite West community, built on the remnants of an old logging operation. 

While they are located outside the national park itself, access to both areas require traveling through Yosemite. “The company’s 20-page application leaves a lot of unknowns. It does not address the project’s impacts on the national park nor many fundamental issues, including how future residents would access the site through a gated and unpaved road owned by the park service; where water supplies would come from; and how houses would be built on the property’s steep slopes.” Additional traffic would also strain the park’s already clogged roads, Alexander adds. 

The project is being proposed under the so-called Builder’s Remedy, a California law that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules if the jurisdiction does not have a state-approved housing element. 

The isolated location of the proposed development has also raised questions about its purpose and whether it is intended primarily as a short-term rental community for park visitors, and who the 20 percent of units reserved as below-market rate would actually serve.