DHS City Council Study Session - March 23

The audio recording of this meeting of the Desert Hot Springs City Council is here.

City West Visioning

You may recall that last August we had a visioning for the area that is being called "City West." Basically, that's the big open area centered approximately on Indian and Pierson. Tonight that visioning feedback was brought before the city council.

Overall, the configuration of land use designations in City West amounts to a commercial center at the major intersection of Pierson Boulevard and Indian Canyon Drive, surrounded by adjacent medium- to high-density residential that transitions to low density single-family residential.

In the current General Plan most of the area is designated as low-density residential.

The consensus of the stakeholders in the process is that City West should be a gateway to the city and not compete with downtown. Here are some of the objectives. Each serves a goal, but I'll spare you the list of goals. You can figure them out through a little reverse mental engineering.

• Plan active parks and amenities lining the conservation area that provide alternatives to using the sensitive habitat for active recreation. Limit access into the conservation area through well-marked gateways to designated trails.
• Use native landscaping when possible to provide shade, conserve water and protect the conservation area.
• Preserve views and plan neighborhoods to ensure that each unit has a view of the mountains, the Coachella Valley, a park, public open space or the conservation area.
• Promote home ownership by encouraging varying types and sizes of market-rate and inclusionary affordable units in high-density development located along Pierson Boulevard
• Attract higher income residents by permitting development of outlying high-end single-family estates in prime locations.
• Increase the number of high-wage employees living in the area through programs that attract energy companies.
• Plan for social benefits such as parks and schools to support the increase in housing.
• Extend public transit services into the area and provide station amenities.
• Plan, build and maintain a network of trails, sidewalks and bike paths that encourage a variety of transportation choices for pedestrians, bicyclists, equestrians and drivers.
• Provide access and parking in the commercial center for bikes, neighborhood electric vehicles and horses.
• Build parks connected by bike paths or trails that are located within walking distance of all residential neighborhoods.
• Protect the MSHCP by mitigating the impact of adjacent construction and limit access into the conservation area.
• Lower greenhouse gas emissions by approving projects that reduce vehicle trips and energy consumption.
• Promote sustainable development through projects that achieve certification by the U.S. Green Building Council or a similar organization.
• Incubate green businesses such as solar and wind farms.
• Increase the use of alternative modes of transportation primarily through infrastructure improvements.
• Provide public spaces, urban design and street layouts that enhance civic pride.
• Provide a mix of retail opportunities for residents and pass-through traffic in the commercial center.
• Successfully transition the commercial center into an Industrial Energy designation extending southwest of Indian Canyon Drive.
• Attract green technology jobs and train residents for “green collar” jobs in wind and solar energy.
• Compared to businesses located along the corridors, create lower intensity businesses fronting the conservation area to provide space for eclectic mixed-use shops, cafes and offices.
• Recruit some retail anchor venues, possibly sporting goods and stores that specialize in outdoor clothing and gear.
• Promote businesses that complement the downtown and position City West as an additional attraction in Desert Hot Springs.

During the process, the participants were presented with three alternative land use plans. Elements of each alternative were selected for the final plan:

• The low-density outlying development of Alternative 1 was selected because it would attract some high income residents, particularly those with equestrian interests.
• The circulation design of Alternative 2 was selected to provide an optimal mix of transportation options.
• The dense corridor design of Alternative 3 was selected because it plans Pierson Boulevard as a robust corridor. This makes the best use of underutilized infrastructure located under Pierson Boulevard and will work well to brand the corridor as a gateway to the city. The caveat to accepting this density is that quality building design cannot be sacrificed.

The resulting map:

City West Visioning Plan

This is all very loose for now. It doesn't actually say how the streets or buildings will be aligned, nor where the green paths or parks will be. It's unclear how much open space will have to be allowed for Mission Creek. Could be as much as 1,200 feet. The consultants recommend an additional 50 to 100 foot buffer on each side. Views and pedestrian access to the conservation areas are important while still respecting the restrictions on the land. Lots of unknowns, so it's all pencils and erasers. This is only conceptual work at this point.

Here's a concept of Indian and Pierson:

Looking southwest. The building with the clock tower is the site where the empty gas station now sits. It's easy to make conceptual drawings seductively pretty when you make all the ugly parts of reality disappear: no traffic lights, no overhead wires, trees growing perfectly vertical as though they have never felt a puff of wind.

A couple of the recommendations:

• Adopt a cluster ordinance for the Residential Estate designations. A cluster ordinance sets open space requirements while allowing the same number of housing units that would be permitted under zoning. This would increase the continuity of open space and reduce infrastructure costs required to serve low-density residential projects.
• Market City West as a focal point for natural resource recreation and as a non-motorized gateway to the Coachella Valley and Joshua Tree National Park. Signage and amenities, along with a solid non-motorized transportation network that serves bicyclists, hikers and equestrians can draw visitors from cold climates during many months of the year. Trails and points of interest should be mapped and advertised along with connections to external non-motorized transportation routes.

Councilmember Baker said that until there is a flood control master plan in place, any plan for the area is premature. He said the flood control berms along the wash will be ten feet high, so businesses, residences and recreation facilities along the wash will be looking at dirt. He said the wash will also need retention basins in order to get floodwater to soak into the desert rather than rushing downstream. He went on to say that small pocket parks are very little used. He favors a regional active park.

Mayor Pro Tem Matas said the Parks Committee was looking at using the MSHCP as a walking, hiking, bicycling park.

Draft Land Use Map for General Plan Update

Current land use plan.

Proposed draft land use plan.

One of the changes is simply reducing the number of categories of land use. The current land use plan has 17 kinds of residential, 8 commercial, 3 visitor-serving and 3 industrial land uses. The proposed land use plan has only 5 residential, 1 commercial, 1 spa/resort and 1 industrial designation. The zoning code will then determine more categories as necessary.

Some notes on how to read the proposed land use plan: there are some overlays; mixed-use, hot water and MSHCP which are shown with cross-hatching. When you blow up the maps to poster size they can be read, but at the size we have here the colors can be obscure. It would have been helpful to have two more maps: one showing the land use plan without any overlays and one showing just overlays with no land uses.

Also, the land uses in the areas soon to be annexed cannot be changed until two years after annexation. The proposed map shows those land uses as they are, not as we hope they will be. So when you look at Dillon and Palm and see it designated as "Rural Desert Residential" don't go all WTF!

OTOH, in county areas that are not in an active annexation area - like along highway 62 - the actual land use designations that our city's planning department propose to adopt for the future are shown. However, on the east side of the city, the area around the Long Canyon conservation area are shown as "Very Low Density Residential," which is not (I think) what planning hopes for that to be some day. A little inconsistency, then.

The vast pale blue areas mostly outside of today's city limits are designated "industrial." However, Martín Magaña explained that does not mean a manufacturing facility would be put directly across Pierson from Skyborne. He said it could be a business park.

Attention was drawn to Pierson and 62. This is one of the areas with an overlay for mixed use commercial. There are also high and medium density residential areas there. Councilmember Betts said there should be more commercial and less residential close to a highway off ramp. Councilmember Baker said we are missing the boat by not having commercial all along highway 62 south from Pierson to Dillon. Councilmember Betts asked about the possibility of commercial at Indian and 62. Mr. Magaña said that's in the conservation area now. Mr. Betts said he thought there were some allowances for commercial even in the conservation area. Mayor Parks said much depends on whether CVAG buys the land in that area to hand over to the MSHCP.

There are about 40-50 acres designated as commercial down at Palm Drive and I-10, and since the county has already designated that, we are allowed to go right and ahead and put commercial there. To give you a sense of scale, the Vons shopping center is about 20 acres.

There was a discussion of the hot water zone. Mr. Magaña said that in the hot water zone if someone has a 50' by 100' foot lot, the planning department cannot tell the owner that he cannot build a residential home on it. Councilmember Baker said the land northeast of Palm and 8th should be designated as commercial. Mayor Pro Tem Matas said it already is designated as spa/resort commercial, but it's hard to make out because of the overlay crosshatching.

Mayor Parks said all of the west side of Palm south of Dillon should become commercial after the two year wait expires.

Mr. Magaña said he will come back with tables showing acreage designations under the current and proposed plan. He will take his information to the Planning Commission as well for their input.

Mr. Baker said we don't have enough red (commercial) and there's way too much light blue (industrial) and the hot water zone hasn't been adequately addressed. He said that he met with Senator Feinstein over dinner while he was in Washington and one topic of discussion was every time she worked to bring industry to California, the industry always turned around and went to Texas or somewhere in the south. The reasons appear to be tax structure and environmental regulations, plus utility costs. So, if the industries don't want to come to California, there's no point in designating so much industrial land in Desert Hot Springs.

Parks Master Plan Update

No maps for this one. This is coming out of the $40,000 consulting deal approved last November with Desert Recreation District to come up with a parks master plan. We need a parks master plan to establish how many and what kinds of parks the residents of DHS want. Once we know that, then we can get an idea of what it will cost. This valuable information will make it possible for Desert Recreation District to add us into their sphere of influence. Then some glorious day LAFCO will let DRD annex DHS, without any LAFCO curve balls we hope.

All we're doing right now is laying out how the study of the desires of DHS residents will be conducted. The actual work will be done by MIG, Inc. They will get input from focus groups, community workshops, questionnaires that everyone can answer, and interviews with stakeholders. The deal says:

MIG will interview eight (8) key stakeholders to identify key issues, priorities and perceived needs in the provision of community parks and facilities, services and programs. The stakeholders may include City Council members, Commissioners, City staff, and representatives from key stakeholder groups and interests including sports groups, non-profits, community groups, school district and special needs populations.

Councilmember Betts asked who the 8 stakeholders would be who would be interviewed by MIG. It was explained that one stakeholder might represent several different groups in the city. Someone who organizes youth sports might also be a member of the Rotary and a business owner, for example. Mr. Betts said he wants to make sure there's a stakeholder on there "who wants to see parks right along Palm Drive, a big open space. Even if staff wants that to be commercial, that stakeholder wants it to be a park."

Mayor Pro Tem Matas said the Parks Committee has on it individuals who represent every aspect of those groups listed in the MIG instructions.

The Desert Recreation District is supported by a $60 parcel tax. The actual amount of tax that is eventually charged depends on what level of services the residents of DHS want. Councilmember Baker said he was opposed to a fee-for-play because that will cost poor families more. Then he talked about the parcel tax, saying it is unfair taxation because the value of the property being taxed is not reflected in the amount of tax. Councilmember Betts added that it was also unfair if it applied to residential property only.