Group interested in Sequoia Crest property
Plans are to develop an educational research facility
The very small community of Sequoia Crest may one day get an educational research campus.
That is, after, or if, Eden Conservancy of England — the group wanting to establish the research campus — successfully negotiates a plan with Skip Rouch, one of the owners of the property.
As of now, Rouch said he and the conservancy are still in negotiations, and noted that the property, which has been on sale for a number of years, has not been sold yet.
The property, which is located in Alder Grove, is approximately 520 acres and includes Poppy Lake, a lodge, two motel cabins, water company properties, a logging camp and a gravel pit.
Rouch said the property as a whole is approximately 670 acres, about 150 of which he said is being used for five different subdivisions with close to 200 lots.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Sequoia Crest has a population of 10 people.
One resident, who wished not to be named, said he is not thrilled about a possible educational research center being developed on the property, but said it would be a lot better than a hotel or resort, which he said would bring in a significant amount of traffic.
The resident said he is also concerned that others in the small, quiet community will be bothered by the noise of construction if plans for an educational research center go through.
If the deal goes through, Rouch said he would be willing to serve as the property manager for at least three years to help smooth the transfer, a request the Eden Conservancy of England made.
However, before Eden Conservancy of England could develop an educational research center on the property, Tulare County District 5 Supervisor Mike Ennis, who has property nearby, said such plans would first have to go through and get approved by Tulare County’s planning commission and other agencies.
“Before you can get anything like that done it would have to be zoned correctly, and right now it is zoned strictly for residential areas,” Ennis said.
Sequoia Crest, which sits at an elevation of 7,008 feet, contains more than 300 Giant Sequoias scattered throughout the subdivision. The largest Sequoia on private land — Stagg Tree — is accessible to visitors at the intersection of Alder Drive and Redwood Drive.
It is the only residential subdivision located entirely within a Sequoia Grove, the Alder Creek Grove, and is surrounded on all sides by the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Forest and the Golden Trout Wilderness.