City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening everyone. We're going to get our presentation period uh started here. It is 5:30 and we first have a presentation by the landscaping certification training presentation. Is that anyone here for that from I think it's college of the desert. Is that is that you guys? No. Anyone? All right. I don't see anybody here. So, we're going to move straight to Don't Sit down, Chief. We're going to move straight to you and let you do the introduction and swearing in of the new police officers. All right. Thank you, Mayor, Council, and staff, family, friends, and community guests. Uh, welcome tonight. Tonight, we have I have the pleasure of introducing two new police officers to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Uh we're going to introduce them, give you a little background on them, uh do a pinning, a swearing in. Um so let's start with Officer Alio Alvarez, if you come on up. And then Emilio, I'm going to have you stand right here. And then with Amelio tonight, uh is his daughter or his wife Britney. Um his Noah and Emma, his son and daughter. Emma's in the uh sleeping over there, I think. And then uh Amelio's parents, uh Martina and Arando. So, welcome. Um and Britney is gonna pin officer Alvarez tonight. So, Britney, come on up here and let me just give you a little background on Officer Alvarez. All right. Please welcome new police officer Alio Alvarez to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Prior to joining the Desert Hot Springs Police Department, Alio attended the Riverside County Sheriff's Academy in Riverside, California. Officer Alvarez spent the

last three years working as a community service officer with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, where he was assigned to the Harupa Valley Station. While working at the Harupa Valley Station, he was assigned to the city's Eastville, the city of Eastville as a traffic cso. Officer Alvarez graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in criminology. Almelio is grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department and looks forward to serving the community. During his free time, Alio enjoys relaxing with his wife Britney and his two children, Noah and Emma. Alio married his high school sweetheart in 2019. That's Britney, right? Okay. All right. Just wanted to make sure. Alio has always dreamed of being uh father and a police officer and is blessed to be able to achieve both of his dreams and we are very excited to have him join the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. If you see Officer Alvarez out on the street, say hi. So with that, Britney, I'm going to give you this and you can pin him. All right. Congratulations. You can sit down and I'm going to have you stay up here for just a moment. And next I would like to have come up uh Officer Martin Carillo. here and then joining uh Officer Krill tonight. I know he's got some family here, but his mother, Patricia, is going to pin him. So, Patricia, come on up.

Welcome. All right. So, please join us in welcoming police officer Martin Curillo to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Officer Carrillo is a proud Coachella Valley native who has long been committed to serving the community he calls home. Prior to becoming a police officer, Officer Carrillo served as a deputy sheriff uh for over two and a half years with the Imperial County Sheriff's Department. Right. Um while working closely with members of the community. During his time in that role, he built strong relationships, developed critical skills in public safety, and demonstrated a genuine dedication to service. His work as a deputy allowed him to fulfill a childhood dream of pursuing a career in law enforcement while also reinforcing his passion for protecting and supporting the people around him. Officer Carrillo now brings that same dedication, experience, and passion to Desert Hot Springs Police Department. As someone who grew up in the Coachella Valley, he understands the importance of community connection and takes pride in serving the region that helped shape who he is today. Please give officer Krillo a warm welcome as he begins his next chapter of law enforcement with the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. All right, Patricia. All right.

It's never as easy as you think it is. I guarantee you that. So, All right. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. All right. I'm going to have you. I'm going to make one adjustment. All right, I'm going to have you two step right up here. All right, you guys ready? All right, raise your right hand, please. And you're going to repeat after me. All right. All right. I state your name. I

do solemnly swear Do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. was for defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies against all enemies foreign and domestic. foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution in allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution of California and the Constitution of California. that I take it this obligation freely. And that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation, without any mental reservation. For purpose of evasion, for purpose of evasion, and that I will well And that I will well and faithfully discharge

and faithfully discharge the duties upon the duties upon which I'm about to enter. I'm about to enter. Congratulations. just say a few words.

Uh, thank you everybody for being here. I'm super excited to start with the city of Desert Hot Springs. Um, I'm super grateful and I'm going to give the city everything I have along with my department with my co-workers and hopefully uh I make them proud as well and my family. Thank you for having me. So, my name is Martin Kario. Uh, thank you everyone. Uh, it's a wonderful and blessing opportunity to work here for Hot Springs. I first applied here to to be an officer at the age of 20 and now I'm 23 years old. So, it took me about 3 years to get here and I'm really excited to work for the community and grow and just be a part of it. And hopefully I can continue doing that until the day I retire at 57. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know if you're out of the presentation.

Did Did anybody show up from the landscaping certification training presentation? No. All right. So, we're going to adjourn so you can have pictures. Feel free to come up. Gentlemen, on behalf of the city council, please be safe and thank you for your service. All right. We'll adjourn now till 6 o'clock. behind.

All right, we're going to get started. Good evening everyone. This is the city of Desert Hot Springs regular meeting of the city council and the city council serving as a successor agency to the former redevelopment agency board for Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. This is our 6 p.m. regular session. Roll call, please. Council member Gardner Radzen. Council member Pittz present. Council member Pi present. Mayor Promvos present. Mayor Max present. Invocation tonight will be by Mayor Prom.

All right. Dear heavenly father, we want to thank you for the opportunity to meet here tonight. We want to thank you for providing uh some guidance and providing leadership and providing nourishes and for all of our residents. We ask that you put a shield of protection over our public safety and as they go out and do their job and what they do in performing and keeping us safe and keeping us um taken care of when we're out in the in the area. We ask that you uh uplift our community and give them all the blessings that they deserve and that you help guide them as well and uh open doors for them not just for one or two but for every resident here so they get those opportunities. We thank you for what you're going to provide for us. We ask for safe travels as we head up to Sacramento tomorrow in our group that's going to go and represent our city. Please give us some guidance and good wishes. And in your name, amen.

Amen. Miss P, you lead us in the pledge. With enthusiasm, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. City Attorney, there was no closed session, so I'm assuming you have no report. Uh, that's that's exactly right. All right. uh approval of the agenda. At this time, the city will or city council may amend the order of the agenda, approve the consent calendar, remove items from the consent calendar. Today's consent calendar consist of items 3 through 11. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak on these items? See none. Is there any from the city council like to pull in these items for discussion? If not, I'll take a motion to approve. Motion by Mayor Pro Tim, second by council member Gardner. Get it up on the screen. Please vote.

Motion passes unanimously.

All right. Move to public comments at this time. Pursuant to the Brown Act, any person may comment on matters of general interest within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council not listed on the agenda. Under the Brown Act, the city council shall not take action on or discuss matters raised during the public court comment portion of the agenda that are not listed on the agenda. All comments are be directed to the city council and should be devoid of any personal attacks. Members of the public are expected to maintain a professional courteous decorum during public comment. I have one blue card that was handed in. Anyone else like to speak in public comments? Please see the city clerk. Oh, I have two. I see one coming. Our first speaker will be Dy Wilder. question.

All right, that was easy. Second one is Karen Goodwood. Godwin, sorry.

We're going to right in front of you down at the bottom there's a button. If you press that, it'll turn that mic on and everybody can hear you. Hi. Can you hear me? We can. Perfect.

I brought copies of uh what I'm going to say and a map attached um for many people here. Um, and I just wanted to uh say good evening, mayor and city council. I'm Karen Godwin, an owner resident of Vista Montana Senior Community on Palm Drive. We're on the east side of the road between Camino's Companro and Compacino. Our gated community's only entrance exit is on this block. and I'm here to respectfully but urgently request a practical safety improvement, installing keep clear pavement markings and do not block driveway signage at our entrance. Uh similar measures already exist further north on Palm Drive near the Desert Hot Springs Library and at the Vaughn Shopping Center where the speed limit there is 40 m an hour. During peak hours, northbound traffic regularly backs up bumperto-bumper, sometimes over a half a mile south of Dylan Road, and that continues as we travel into town. When that happens, our entrance often becomes completely blocked. Our residents face long delays and dangerous conditions entering the comm um entering the community from the north or exiting south going toward the freeway. Our residents have limited mobility and slower reaction time being seniors which makes these situations even more hazardous. I believe that this is a relatively simple fix for our community. My understanding is that the keep clear markings typically require only an engineering review, not a full traffic study, making this a lowcost timely improvement with meaningful safety benefits. It is certainly worth it if if

it prevents even one accident or injury or death. In addition to those street markings, I also ask the city to consider restoring the center merge lane. I I understand it has a different name for it. It's something about a a center um bumper or something from traffic. We used to have that where we could exit our community, turn left, and sit in that designated um area to then merge with the traffic that's going south. And that's been taken away from us. Um its removal made exiting much uh much more difficult to the left and it as it increased the risk that uh when it merges were merging to very fastmoving traffic. Um, and I'm going to explain that what I mean by that. Um, it's hard for us to see when the traffic is backed up. I've lived in Vista Montana for over 20 years and there have been well over a dozen traffic accidents and I believe many fatalities as a result as a result of those and I believe that some of those factors include the speed limit which when I moved in was 35 m hour. It was increased 30. it was increased to 35 and now it has been increased to 45 miles an hour. The center merge area being removed and the significantly increasing traffic um volume that's made the safe access more and more dangerous. I appreciate the city's focus on safety and the designation of this corridor. Um, with targeted improvements like these, the city would make a real difference for residents who rely on this one single access point from our community every day. In addition to this request, I'm also going to point out that some of those keep clear signs that I mentioned, they're starting to fade on the road. So, if um it is acted upon to put that in our community, maybe at the

same time because the paint crews are going to be out, they might touch those up as well. Scott, your three minutes are up, but I'll give you I'll give you 30 seconds to wrap up if there's something really important. No, no, that's all. Thank you very much for your time. And I what we'll do is we'll have somebody reach out from our staff and uh discuss this with you further and if you all my contact information is on the page I gave and we'll find a pathway for you. Anyone else like to speak to the city council?

Final call. Okay, we'll close public comments at this time. We're going to move the city manager's report. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, City Council. Uh we only have one update tonight. Robera Cernick, our recreation and community services director, will provide a couple of updates to the council.

Yes. Good evening, Mayor, City Council. I'm excited to share two opportunities for our community to come together this week. First, we invite everyone to join us for Desert Nights on the Boulevard this Saturday from 4 to 8:00 p.m. This week will feature a performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute Band, Red Hot, bringing music to our downtown corridor. Um, the evening will include a fun crowd singalong moment. We're going to be doing an air guitar contest for a chance to win a gift card and featured a se a signature drink the chili pepper margarita by bar one. Um so the event will include local vendors and familyfriendly activities. And then finally we encourage the community to participate in our Earth Day community cleanup tomorrow, April 22nd from 4 to 6:00 p.m. at Guide Tedesco Park. We will be meeting at the picnic benches and we will work together to keep our city clean and beautiful. Gloves, bags, and water will be provided and we look forward to seeing everyone there. Thank you. Thank you, Robera. That concludes our updates for tonight.

All right, we'll go to mayor and council member comments. I'll start with Miss Pie.

Okay. do the right thing. Joseph Ronco um attend attends Edward Winslow Education Center. Joseph started the school year very very deficient in credits but worked hard each quarter passing all of his classes with A's and B's. Active in the Desert Hot Springs Explorer program, Joseph is enrolled to attend College of the Desert in the fall, majoring in crim criminal justice and hopes to become a police officer. um our police chief Shaw was there and after uh Francisco received all of his awards, he had private communication with the chief and so that was a big highlight to him as well. In the photo, you'll see next to him on the left is the chair of regional access project and then next to her is um a member of the Palm Springs Unified School District trustee and next to her is um Kathy Gavin and I invited her to come both the two of them to come. uh she is president of the women's club and that concludes my remarks.

Thank you, Mayor Pat.

Yes, sir. Uh on the 8th attended the RCTC regular meeting that was held here in Cathedral City at their double tree and so that was informative. Um then of course on the 13th the California city's monthly division meeting which was good. That was at the Lintita Resort which was nice. and the uh last week I spent some time at the Cal Ed conference in Palm Springs which was informative about some new upcoming ways of funding options and programs and some different economic development ideas recommended for um municipalities and counties to possibly consider. and then yesterday participated in the airport commission's uh budget and finance meeting as they're doing their budgeting and we're planning out their big project. They've got like a billion dollar project going on over there. They're wanting to do over 10 years and dealing with the financing of that and how that works and that's it.

Mr. Gardner, thank you. Um attended the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission. uh purchased some additional land both east end of the valley and here in Desert Hot Springs along the Mission Creek Wash. Uh we had the monthly Southern California Association of Governments Regional Council meeting. Nothing really interesting there, but next month the annual SCAg annual conference will be here in Palm Desert and I'd encourage my fellow council members to attend if you haven't registered and it's free because you are a council member. And note that our own DHS high school Marine Corps junior ROC will be doing the honors of acting as color guard there this year. Uh along with council member Pi um we attended the do the right thing reception after the presentation. I wasn't able to make it to the presentation part. It is, as you've heard over the course of the last two years, Miss Pi, an amazing organization, and it's branching out, too, beyond just recognizing exceptional young people. They're starting to offer scholarships now, too. Um, Miss Pie and I also went to the Desert Valley Builders Association monthly lunch with an update from RCTC on the Coachella Valley Rail Project. uh League of California City Riverside Division in Lita with the mayor prom and Miss Pi as well with an extensive very extensive update on pending bills in Sacramento that affect cities and the mosquito vector control board met uh not on the agenda but a strategic planning session. And one of the things that I suggested in their uh strategic plan for the future is that in the long term, the district might consider establishing a satellite base here at the west end of the valley to better serve this side of the valley and save on the expenses of traveling from all the way down in East Indo uh when they have to have new services and things from this end of the valley. And

lastly, the Rotary Club Big Heart Awards. Congratulations to police detective George Bailey who along with our code compliance officer Linda Hume won the police officer and city employee of the year. So congrats to them. Thank you. Spitz.

All right. Mine's going to be short. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and city council members. This is my update for April 21st, 2026 community engagement. On April 16th, I had the pleasure of also attending the 10th annual Big Hearts Award presented by the Desert Hot Springs Rotary. Happened to be on a Thursday evening. Community members and local leaders were recognized for their outstanding contributions and dedication to our beautiful city. And uh I would like to also give a special congratulations to two of our own. Linda Humeman from our code compliance department honored as 2025 city staff person of the year along with Detective George Bailey also recognized as 2025 person of the year. Both of these awards are incredibly welldeserved. Congratulations to both of them. Mr. Mayor, that completes my report.

And I will be quick also. Oh, I did attend the big heart awards obviously uh representing the city and the city council. Um 10th annual it's gone by so quick. Uh so the first year I became mayor was a year that I wanted to bring back some sort of awards to the community and Rotary was already putting something together. So I was able to ask them if I can participate and not have two separate events and they allowed me to do so. So ever since we've uh had the mayor's award at the end of the uh the um program. So, it was great to recognize Randy Miller of youth football here in Desert Hot Springs for his service to our community this year. Um, he's been president of that organization for six, seven years now and been part of it for much longer and does a lot with little league and the youth of our community. So, it was a great opportunity to recognize him. Uh, last Friday I was asked to sit with uh as one member of the eight cities that were invited to leadership Coachella Valley. Leadership Coachella Valley is a a program that's put on yearly and basically any business, government agency, elected officials, anyone that would like to know more about leadership in the Coachella Valley could take this course and in 2010 or 11 uh I graduated from the program and it was a great opportunity to learn more about the valley and it does everything from agricultural in the east end to uh at that time we went to the desert sun in Palm Springs and uh a little bit of everything in between. There's always a political day where they bring in people to talk about politics and I was representing Desert Hot Springs. This year they did it a little differently. They had all eight cities in a 45minute span to basically by the time we were done with our introductions each person we got maybe one question to answer. Uh but it was a great opportunity to see the future leaders of our communities um going forward. So I represented the city there. That's all I have. All right, we're going to move to public hearings.

We have one item. Item is continued from the April 7th 2026 a resolution two number one adopt adopt an amendment to the land desert land ventures environmental impact report 2011751070 EVN 25-2. Number two approved DHS Varnner Road specific plan amendment SP 4024-2 amending the desert land ventures specific plan in the city. Number three, general plan amendment GPA 24-1. Uh item four, trackmap TM25-1. Number five, design review DR24-4. And six, approve an ordinance amending chapter 17.210 to amend the Desert Land Ventures specific plan and development develop a logistics center. All right, Patricia, your report going to be longer than the title this time? Go ahead.

Thank you. The project site is located north of the I 10 freeway approximately 2800 ft west of the intersection of Palm Drive and Varner Road as shown here. Here are some site photos. Top left is looking west on Varner Road. The middle photo is looking southwest along the property line and the top right photo is looking south from Varner Road. On April 17, 2018, the city council approved their original project, Desert Land Venture specific plan. Their approval included the certification of the environmental impact report, a specific plan, a general plan amendment, zoning ordinance, and a vesting trackm for the entitlements of a mixeduse cannabis development project. On September 26, 2024, the applicant Newling Capital submitted a specific plan amendment, a general plan amendment and addendum to the certified environmental impact report, a tenative parcel map, and a design review application to amend the desert land venture specific plan within the city. On March 24th, 2026, at a special meeting of the planning commission, a recommendation for approval was made to the city council. Then on April 7, 2026, per the applicant's request, the item was continued to a date certain of April 21st, 2026. The specific plan amendment would rename the Desert Land Venture specific plan and will now be known as DHS Warner Road specific plan as shown here. Here is the approved land use plan for the desert land venture specific plan that consisted of two planning areas. Planning area 1 included approximately 1.9 million square ft of mixed commercial and industrial uses. Planning area 2 was proposed undeveloped and restricted to open space and conservation. The proposed DHS Warner Road specific plan amendment proposes to modify the

specific plan to allow up to 1.5 million square ft of logistic space and adjust the development standards and guidelines to support the proposed changes. The specific plan area would be divided into three planning areas. Planning area 1A indicated in blue is 83.3 acres of land and would accommodate a range of industrial uses. Planning area 1B shown here in yellow on the north side of Warner Road encompasses 11.6 acres of land and would be designated for storm water control that would allow for the development of drainage, flood control channels, and basins that will serve the industrial development. Planning area 2 shown here in dark green encompasses 28.5 acres and would be designated to open space conservation land use district. Per table 5-1 of the DHS runner road specific plan. A design review application is required for the development of a proposed warehouse and distribution within planning area 1A. The project proposes a 1,160,989 ft building that includes 28,800 ft for office use on an 83.3 acre site. Two access points will be provided, a primary and a secondary. The primary access points will be along Varner Road and a secondary access would be off West Drive. Interstate 10 would provide regional access to the project site via the Palm Drive exit and local access would be via Barner Road. A breakdown of the parking requirements is as follows. The total square footage of the proposed warehouse totals 1,160,989 ft. That includes 28,800 ft of office space. Therefore, a total of 447 spaces is required and the project has provided 661 spaces exceeding the minimum. Per the 2025 building code, 20% of the

parking spaces shall be dedicated to EV chargers in which 132 spaces of the 661 will be EV charging. The site has also provided 721 parking stalls for semi-truckss and 220 dock spaces for loading and unloading. The general plan amendment application proposes to remove Mahala Road from the mobility and infrastructure elements roadway plan. Mahala Road located adjacent to a high-pressure gas line would be a difficult road to build out as currently planned. It would slice through many of the parcels to the east at odd angles making them difficult to develop. A better solution would be to establish a grid network for the area between Palm Drive and West Drive that follows property lines. The removal of Mahalo Road would accommodate the proposed project and surrounding areas. Here are some of the design inspirations that include the blue glass windows, the canopy inspiration with the vertical concrete form liner, and the natural color tones from the surrounding desert. The building will be designed with a concrete tiltup wall system and a steel frame structural grid allowing for large open interior spans to maximize flexible storage space. A rectangular design will allow for loading and unloading on opposite sides of the buildings. To blend into the desert surroundings, the exterior will be painted in neutral tones such as light beiges, whites, and grays. To break up the horizontal massing, vertical striping will be utilized intermittently. The entry doors will have a canopy installed to shade the entries and the windows will have a dual glaze. Walls and fences will be constructed to protect from wind and sand, providing screening of certain uses and areas that would increase safety and security. Per section 6-20 of the DHS Runner Road specific plan design guidelines and

standards, all walls and fences will need to minimize the visual impact while maximizing the function. As shown here, a 10-ft screen wall is proposed to be painted to match the building and incorporate a visual element and break up the expanse. Shown here, highlighted in blue, indicates the screening for the truck base, which is on the south side of the building, fronting the I 10 freeway. Here are some perspective views. The top is the northeast from the I 10 freeway and the bottom is the northwest view from also from the I 10 freeway. A proposed tenative parcel map is for the subdivision to create four parcels for industrial development, flood control facilities and open space areas as shown here. The parcel map will also establish the primary design for the roadway improvements, utilities, flood control facilities and rideaway dedications and easements. Parcel one is proposed to be the largest at 83.3 acres for the industrial warehouse. Landscaping plants, materials, and irrigation systems will be installed by the project developer and maintained in accordance with the specific plan amendment. Landscaping will be along the perimeter of the site and on all sides as well as in the parking areas. A contemporary desert theme is created through the use of native and desert friendly species planted in masses of larger shrubs and trees. Shown here is a landscape inspiration that include msqu trees, oatillos, desert willows, century plant, and fairy dusters to name a few. Fronted streets and internal driveways within the specific plan area will provide a cohesive landscape through the use of the contemporary desert theme. An addendum was prepared to analyze potential impacts of the proposed project and any amendments and associated applications as compared to those previously identified in the 2018 desert land ventures project EIR. Based on the evaluation of information

provided, no new significant impacts would occur, nor would there be any substantial increases in the severity of any previously identified adverse environmental impacts. Therefore, an EI add a addendum is an appropriate document to comply with SEC requirements for the proposed project. And with that, this is a resolution of the city council of the of the city of Desert Hot Springs, California to one adopt an addendum to the environmental impact report ENV25-2. Approve the DHS Barner Road specific plan SP24-2. Approve the general plan amendment GPA 24-1. Approve trackmap TM25-1. Approve design review DR24-4. Approve an ordinance amending chapter 17.210. An application to amend the Desert Land Ventures specific plan and the development of a logist logistics center for APN's 66950 001 and 002 subject to the conditions of approval and findings. And I would like to note that since the posting of the agenda, we have received a comment letter that was distributed to council and hard copies are also available. That concludes my report. I'm available if you have any questions and the applicants team is also here. Thank you.

Thank you. And the comment letter was from Abigail uh Smith, the law office of Abigail Smith representing the Sierra Club for the record. Um we do have uh entertain questions of staff from the city council. Will the city council have specific questions before I open it up to public hearing? I see nobody jumping at that. I will open the public hearing at this time and take any testimony. So, anyone would like to give any testimony in favor, opposed, or a neutral position? Yes, sir. Uh, good good evening. Uh Tom Donahghue with the applicant uh Newand Capital. Uh thank you for uh seeing our our project today. Uh I wanted to come up and just um speak for a couple items, but really my appreciation to the staff. Um you'll notice that the application was filed in 2024. It's now 2026. Um, and as uh your agenda showed, it's like 1,900 pages. Uh, your staff has been amazing to work with. Um, the team here on both sides of me, very detail orientated. Um, they have played both uh progress and for the constituents protecting them. Uh, and so, uh, we've had a lot of back and forths about the size of the building, the parking, the EV chargers, um, the utilities, the grading. You saw the screen walls, um, everything has been designed uh, with the city's request and intent. So, I wanted to give a kudos to the city staff that we've

worked with. Um, and then I noticed uh, there was a letter uh, from Sierra Club. I think we were expecting it. Um I've worked with uh Miss Smith and uh Sierra Club before. So we intend to engage them um after the meeting here to uh make sure that they're on board with our our project going forward. Um, and then uh I don't know if there I I can probably answer questions after all of the public comments, but I did want to bring up uh Nicole Christie with Teranova, who is our uh EIR consultant for a couple. That'd be great. We're very familiar with the dance with the Sierra Club, so good luck with that. Thank you.

And thank you for the kind words with our staff. We really appreciate that,

Mr. Mayor, members of council. My name is Nicole Christ. I'm with Teranova Planning and we prepared the addendum for this project. Um, and because we received the Sierra Club letter very late in the afternoon, there are a few things I would like to um just clarify and and correct on the record. The the commenter, Miss Smith, asserts that a an um an addendum is not appropriate in this case because changes have been made to the project. But she um only partially cites section 15162 and I wanted to cite it ex exactly because it's particularly gerine here. um an EIR is required. Um a subsequent EIR is required if the changes in the project um are due to the involvement of a new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. In this case, the the addendum um clearly provides substantial evidence that the project has substantially less environmental effect. Specifically, the water demand for the 2018 project was 405 acre feet per year. This project has a water demand of 72 almost 73 acre feet per year. Um, Miss Smith cites um, NOX emissions as being over the threshold which was identified as a significant impact in the EIR in 2018. But under those conditions for the previous project

um instead of the 71 um pounds per day of of NOX that will be generated by this project, the previous project generated 119 pounds per day. She also challenges GHG emissions um because of reduced trips and the in the reduced intensity of the project. The 2018 project would generate almost 30,000 tons per year of um CO2 equivalents. The current project will generate 19,000 tons of CO2 um equivalents per year. The 2018 project would have used um more than double the amount of electricity that this project will use at 15 million and change kilowatt hours per year versus this project's 7.8 million kilowatt hours per year. And this project reduces vehicle um daily trips from 28,719 trips to 3,194, thereby cutting vehicle miles traveled from 30 thou 30,959,640 to to 19,273,36. 63. Um, Ms. Smith also lists a number of air quality measure measures which she does not quantify, but she does assert that they would reduce um, air quality emissions and several of them are already in the 12 mitigation measures

that are included in the EIR in the addendum. And that includes um the use of tier 4 trucks um without exception in air quality um AQ 2 mitigation measure um a requirement for van pools and ride shares um being available for um a minimum of 80% of the employees in air quality 7 um and requirements ments for that all equipment such as forklifts be electric. Um that 350 trucks per day or 36% of the daily truck trips be electric and that EV chargers for those trucks be provided which is um pro which is included in air quality mitigation measure number one. Um, Miss Smith also asserts that the noise impacts are not um are not adequately addressed and are um could be potentially significant particularly as it relates to the conservation lands that are on the north side of the property that are indeed in a conservation area. This project went through the JPR process with the conservation commission as the city is required to do for all conservation areas. And the mitigation measure um regarding the preparation of a noise study which um Miss Smith challenges is um a mitigation measure that was requested by CVCC and included in their final determination. Um given that CVCC is the expert agency

in con consultation for conservation for the multiecies habitat conservation plan that mitigation measure regarding noise is more than sufficient to assure that noise impacts will be less than significant. Um, as it relates to transportation impacts, there are um, conditions of approval that require off-site and on-site improvements. Those are your condition of approval 82 and 83 as well as mitigation measures TRA1 and TRA2 um which address the payment of fair share and the offsite improvements for this project um which I will note are extensive and are go well beyond the project's boundaries all the way to Palm Drive. Um finally, Ms. Smith asserts that vehicle miles traveled should have been studied in this um in this EIR addendum. However, um the courts had found in multiple um cases and I'll cite one amongst others in Citizens for responsible equitable development versus the city of San Diego. The court found that items that were that were not studied in an EIR because they were not required but when where information was readily available do not require to be studied in an EIR addendum. Um on that basis in 2018 there was plenty of information on VMT requirements. They had not been enacted by SQUA until 2020, but that but VMT discussion was well underway and therefore a discussion of VMT was not necessary for this addendum.

And on that basis, we believe that this addendum is the appropriate SQA document for this project. And I have brought all of my technical appendices. If you would like to ask questions, I'm glad to answer them. Well, I do appreciate you and thank you for getting technical. It's unfortunate we have to most of the time because of our friends that seem to drop this at our dis on the 11th hour of every project and uh I've mentioned this many times. It chaps me very much so and we worked for many years with the CVCC and and this plan the multiecies habitat plan who they were at the table with for almost the whole time discussing this and they still challenge pieces of it after they agreed to it. So there's my two cents which doesn't really matter to most. Mr. Gardner. Um, I don't have any questions, but I uh I appreciate the thorough discussion in there and as the chair of CBCC, I can tell you we reviewed it. You we the conditions that were added or there we're we're satisfied on the CBCC end of things that this is a good project. I I will date myself a little bit by remembering that when we originally approved the Desert Land Ventures thing, Mr. Voss and I were on this planning commission together a while back and um your numbers add up and uh unfortunately Sierra Clubs don't and uh you know you're going to have to battle that out with them and I wish you luck with that. So, but uh this is a great project for the city um and I'm looking forward to you guys uh getting it getting it built. Cool.

Do you have specific Anybody have specific questions for the applicant? No. Okay. I'm going to close public hearing so you can sit down so you don't have to queue up there. So I'll close the public hearing at this time and then I'll go to council. Go ahead.

Yes. Um I do remember this when it came up and we knew when this came up I remember I was chairman of the planning commission when this came up through what was originally there. We knew that u the possibility of it actually being developed as a cannabis facility was was um questionable. We didn't know. We didn't know where the market was. We didn't know where the business market was. We didn't know where the industry was. And and so things change. You can't just keep something locked in in a specific plan forever and say, "Well, we'll hope that the industry changes and decides to to build, you know, this when in fact it's not going to happen." Um, you know, the I think the improvements I was impressed with some of the improvements. I do have a recommendation that I would like to see the applicant uh voluntarily say yes, I'll do so. Wink wink. um is the uh the wall along the 10 freeway and and this is just a a global thing is that if we could put more trees there and here's why is that in the 10 we're coming in it's it is the gateway to the Coachella Valley and and and Amazon did a great job by doing some setbacks on how they are they've lowered their their foundational building and where they're at and they did that and I noticed and their trucks are on the other side where there's that one wall that's on to 10. That's where all the trucks are at. And you know, 10ft wall with some trees that are there, um, I think is helpful, but if we could get more to just kind of keep that visual part of the of the trucks there. And I'm only talking what what runs along the tent, not anywhere else, I think you did a great job. But I'm just looking at if we're coming into the area. Um, you know, everyone else is kind of doing a nice low presence of a big building, making it attractive looking. It's kind of the theme that we'll have throughout there. And and as people come into the Coachella Valley, um, just, you know, friendly suggestion that I would like to see added to that is just some

additional trees just in that one area to kind of help block some of the trucks there. Otherwise, I'm I'm good with everything else. Miss Pi, Mr. Pittz, anything? No. All right. Uh, there is a motion to adopt the resolution based on the one, two, three, four, five. Six recommendations. Can we Is there any requirements? Not that don't take them or we can we take them as one one motion? I think it'll be taken as one. Thank you. You're you're star attorney today. So moved. Moved by Mr. gardener. Is there a second? Second.

Second by Miss Pie. Once a couple months on the screen, we'll your mouse working tonight. Awesome. Please vote. Motion passes unanimously. The action includes the first reading of an ordinance amending chapter 17.210 2110 desert land venture specific plan to title 17 zoning of the desert hot springs municipal code to establish zoning standards and renaming the specific plan as a DHS Varner road specific plan. The ordinance will return at the next meeting for a second reading and adoption. Thank you. Uh we'll move to administrative calendar item number two is the adoption of the city of Desert Hot Springs active transportation plan. Judith, are you ready?

Yes.

Awesome. Go for it. Good evening, mayor and city council. This is the adoption of the city of Desert Hot Springs active transportation plan. On March 8th, 2023, the city applied and was awarded the sustainable transportation planning grant funds for completion of the active transportation safety and connectivity plan. On September 17, 2024, city council approved the award for professional services agreement to CR Associates for public outreach and urban planning services for active transportation safety and connectivity plan. CR Associates has now completed the Desert Hot Springs active transportation plan. Today we have Andrew Prescott from CR Associates to present.

Welcome, Andrew. Andrew Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members, city staff, community members. My name is Andrew Prescott. I'm a senior transportation planner with CR Associates and served as the consultant project manager. Kind of just jump back a couple slides here. Uh, our agenda this evening will cover kind of the life cycle of the project. So starting with a little background uh step into existing conditions the state of active transportation desert hot springs today cover the community outreach activities that we uh achieved throughout the pro project and step through highle recommendations priorization and implementation and then conclude with questions. All right so a little project background what is an active transportation plan? Uh simply put it, it guides the development of the city's pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure as well as other investments. Uh some of the common elements that go into an active transportation plan include goals and policies, infrastructure recommendations, as well as programmatic recommendations, all with the intent of making bicycling and walking more safe, more accessible, and more convenient. So why is the city preparing the active transportation plan now? Well, the current bicycle and pedestrian master plan was adopted in 2016. So, this new update is intended to reflect changes that have occurred since then such as growth in terms of uh residential properties as well as employment where people live, where they work and where they visit as well as those travel patterns that are influenced by that growth. There's also been significant changes in terms of the legislation and the standards uh primarily at the state level such as the AB413 also known as the daylighting law. Uh Senate Bill 1216 which uh has new requirements for where you can implement

class 3 bicycle routes. And there's been other trends and patterns in the region. Um uh new city's general plan update uh as well as other regional investments such as the CV link going on. So stepping through uh existing conditions, the existing conditions assessment was really one of our first uh deliverables as part of this project and that involved data collection uh demographic data uh collisions, land uses, infrastructure as well as a document review of local and regional uh planning efforts and analyses to better understand uh the state of connectivity, demand, safety, and quality. for people that ride bikes and walk throughout the city. I'll step through just a couple uh graphic depictions of of some of those topics right now. So, for pedestrians, we conducted a sidewalk inventory identifying uh all the places where there are and are not sidewalks on public roadways today. We also documented the presence of bicycle facilities and their classification. In terms of demand, we use both demographic data, a uh active transportation propensity model that relies on uh land uses uh as well as uh transportation infrastructure. And we also looked at uh cell phone data uh such as what's shown on the screen here that gives us indications of where people are are walking and bicycling. Uh we looked at five years of recent collision data to understand not only the locations where collisions are occurring but also uh the causes of those collisions and to better understand the demographics of those users to inform our recommendations. We assess the quality of both the pedestrian and the bicycle networks using a pedestrian environmental score and a bicycle level of traffic stress

that takes into account the type of infrastructure, the posted uh speed limits along the roadway um as well as uh considerations for the number of travel lanes and other features. Our community outreach campaign consisted of uh multiple avenues for the public to get involved. I'd say our most successful effort was community popups. And this is where we go out to existing events, set up a booth, and uh solicit input on the various stages of the project that we were at. Uh we think that this is a very effective approach for engaging the public and that we're going to them. We're not making them come to us necessarily. uh we mirrored these pop-up activities also with uh virtual surveys or digital surveys that uh members of the public could also take and uh essentially participate in the the pop-ups and share their input that way. Uh these included little league opening day, uh AYSO uh opening day at the soccer park and desert nights on the boulevard. So glad to hear there's another uh event of that coming up soon. In addition to the community member outreach, we also comprise we also developed a stakeholder working group comprised of representatives from various public agencies including different city departments uh police department, school district, CALR, transit agency, county as well as CVAG uh with the intent of getting their perspectives on not only the needs uh of active transportation users from their perspective but also So to kind of vet our recommendations and get their input on those. Uh lastly, we concluded the uh outreach with the draft plan presentation at a community workshop here in city hall. Had a series of boards set up and engaged the members of the public to uh

invite them to comment on their recommendations, ask ask questions about the various stages of the project and and just share your share their input. Uh again I said we had a a digital presence that had a survey. We also hosted a a web page on the city's website and advertised different engagement opportunities uh via the city's social media channels. Quick summary of some of the things that we heard during the existing conditions phase. Uh people cited the need for more infrastructure. So more sidewalks uh marked crossings and lighting. uh as well as the additional bicycle facilities and some concern about drivers speeding uh on some of the main arterials. Uh during the second phase where we uh sought input on the draft recommendations, we had a prioritization activity which sought uh public input on the various prioritization metrics or categories that we would use to to help us better understand really what what we should consider when ranking or prioritizing the projects. And we also got input on a variety of uh supporting program categories. Uh and there was a lot of support for educational activities such as safe routes to school programs uh and additional support for uh community events such as uh organized bike rides or organized walks. In terms of recommendations, uh the ATP touches on goals and policies which really set the stage for the subsequent recommendations. uh bicycle and pedestrian networks, so citywide recommendations, as well as a a toolkit of intersection and access improvements and uh supporting programs. And for this presentation, we'll just step through those first three. So, in terms of goals and policies, uh the goals of the ATP really provide that long-term vision. Uh

they're the broad statements that really kind of signify the the desired end state. So, what do we want active transportation to be like in Desert Hot Springs once this plan's been fully implemented? And then the policies are developed to really signify the actions that the city will undertake to uh achieve those goals. Uh four goals were established. I'll just step through the titles or the categories of each. So, one related to integrated and connected networks, inclusive and accessible, safe, viable, and sustainable. And again, policies are developed to to support each of these goals. In terms of the network recommendations for pedestrians, we established what's called a pedestrian route type system. Uh this is intended to complement the city's uh mobility and infrastructure roadway network from the general plan. Uh and these different classifications or route types for pedestrians are uh based on the existing or the anticipated levels of pedestrian activity as well as the designated or the desired features that uh would would like to be seen along each of those. So at the left side of your screen, the district kind of the areas with the highest pedestrian activity. Uh and then going down to the corridor, the connector, uh finally your neighborhood route types. Uh and then ancillary, your uh kind of separated facilities away from the roadways like a a class one paths. Uh this map depicts the pedestrian route type distributed across the city. Uh you can see that district route type very concentrated in the downtown area. uh and and I think a lot of those uh features are really embodied well uh on on segments of both Pearson and Palm today. So uh intending to complement those and build off of those. Whereas the corridor route type is intended to

be in the areas with the more of the commercial fronting uh uses as well as some of the schools. Um connectors serve to connect uh residential neighborhoods to those uh corridors and to those districts uh neighborhoods within the the local areas. local residential areas. Stepping towards the bicycle facilities, there are four types of bicycle facility classifications currently recognized in California today. So, class one bike path, class 2 bike lanes, your class 3 bike route, which is a shared space in the travel lane, and a class 4 cycle track, similar to a bike lane, but with some sort of physical uh barrier, physical separation between the cyclist and the and the vehicles. And here's our proposed bicycle network. So again, building off of the recent standards and guidelines established by CALR to to provide more separated facilities on those higher speed roadways such as Palm leading into the city uh segments of Pearson as well, Mission Lakes and Indian Canyon. Uh class one bike paths uh a little bit more selectively. along some of those uh flood control channels as well as uh adjacent to Little Morango Road and Dylan Road. Uh class 2 bike lanes and buffered bike lanes as well as bike routes on some of your slower speed uh lower volume roadways. Uh this is just a sample of some of the recommended intersection and access improvements intended to really improve access and safety uh around schools at park locations and and generally at intersections. These touched on different uh pedestrian crossing and traffic calming enhancements, uh intersection enhancements for bicyclists such as bike boxes uh and green paint, and signal and signage improvements such

as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon and additional advisory signage. So stepping into prioritization, uh we developed a process to help rank uh and identify those projects that we anticipate to provide the greatest benefit to uh people biking and walking. And this is intended to really help inform the implementation approach. Um for the top 10 projects, high priority project sheets with cost estimates were established. Uh once we identified which different criteria we wanted to use, we went and vetted those to the public as I stated during the outreach uh description. And we heard from members of the public that they really wanted to emphasize projects that improved safety, those that connect to parks and recreational resources as well as uh more arts, culture, and civic facilities. Uh so when we conducted our prioritization exercise we ensured that the these inputs were weighted greater than the others to to really help reflect that public input that we received. Uh all these criteria though are generally aligned with grant criteria. So we wanted to, you know, further emphasize projects that we thought would score well in uh in various grant programs such as CALR active transportation uh program. Uh map depicting the prioritization results here with the higher scoring projects in that blue color going down to the uh lighter orange and uh kind of yellow color for the lower scoring. again identifying those segments that we anticipate to have the not only the the greatest need in terms of um what's surrounding the area like connections to schools and parks but also uh considerations for for safety. So where there's a higher collision higher history of collision frequency um or

higher posted speed limits. uh just a snapshot of the table identifying those segments, the various improvements and extents uh of the of the projects recommended. And then again for each of these top 10 projects, we developed priority project sheets comprised of a narrative describing what that project would be, what it connects to, how would it get implemented, what are the considerations for that, and then uh some supporting graphics, both a plan view on the right side of the screen and a and a cross-section on the left side of the screen to to help inform uh implementation. And these are really valuable in pursuing uh grant sources such as again that active transportation plan or active transportation program as well as a safe streets and roads for all grant cycles. Some additional uh components of the plan to help with implementation series of design resources. So some different uh different guidelines to to consider when designing projects when pursuing them. uh as well as a pretty comprehensive list of potential funding opportunities that the the city might consider pursuing. Uh some maintenance considerations. So identifying some of the the things that need to be uh evaluated and and looked into and when these new facility types such as the class one and class 4 cycle tracks are implemented as well as monitoring activities to really understand as these things do get built and implemented. uh evaluating them, monitoring them, understanding what's the benefit, what kind of use are we getting, uh how has safety changed as a result of these projects. Uh with that, I'll open it up for any questions and thank you for the opportunity to present.

Thank you, sir. We'll open up to public comments, but anybody like to make any public comments on this? All right, we'll move to city council. City council have any specific questions, comments? This is perfect timing because we got our streets and roads subcommittee that's going to be obviously using this as part of the guideline. Anyone else? Yes, sir.

I was going to I was going to mention that to the two of you as well. The one thing that really stood out for me in this and I I read through the whole thing and in in the priorities and what you're showing we need um as somebody who is u a pretty active walker walks all over the streets uh uh of the city uh with my dog every day. Uh the lack of sidewalks and and and I know in my particular neighborhood we don't have anywhere. I'm more on the older section of town. When I saw that map of the lack of sidewalks, it really really jumped out at me. Um, it's it's it's really in in in in the older parts of the city is really severely lacking. And uh would be nice to to do that. And I know the city did sometime back in the early 2000s started to do a sidewalk project in the named streets uh between Palm and and you kind of stopped west. Uh, and for somebody who lives west, it's like, oh, okay, there it goes. So, um, and somebody who street who has not been paid since, uh, since LW Coffee laid it out, you know, uh, I see a lot of a lot of things in here that will guide the council and guide our subcommittee and guide our staff as to what the needs are. So, I I really commend you for doing a great job on it.

Any other questions? All right. Entertain a motion. Second motion in a second. Wait for it to come up on the screen. Please vote. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, Andrew. All right, we have nothing pull from the consent calendar. We'll move to public comments. Anyone didn't get to speak at the beginning may speak now. Nobody coming forth. We'll close public comments and before we adjourn, just the announcements on next city council. City council will meet on May 5th, planning commission on May 12th, and public safety commission on May 14th. We are adjourned on May. Yeah.