Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

6 o'clock. All right, it is 6 pm. Everyone, welcome. This is the City of Desert Hot Springs adjourned regular meeting of the planning commission for Monday, April 14th, 2025. May we have a roll call, please? Commissioner Lombardo, present. Commissioner Parker, present. Commissioner Row, present. Vice Chair Wagstaff. Chair Nindell, present. All right. Will everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance and repeat after me? Place your hand on your heart. 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. Right. All right. Um, the minutes, planning commission regular meeting minutes from February 11th. Assuming everyone has had a chance to read the minutes, would someone make a motion to approve them? I motion to approve. I motion to approve. Second. Okay. Okay. Motion passes unanimously. All right. At this time, we'll have 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 planning commission that items that are not on subjects that are not listed in the agenda. Does anybody have any public comments that they want to

make? Okay, you have three minutes. Hi, my name is Kan Anderson from Hot Springs. My comments are very general in nature. I just wanted to welcome everybody. I hadn't had a chance to come do that and thank you all for your hard work for our city and I had to come and give a shout out to one of your own, Robert, who is our newest citizen on patrol. And so I want to thank him for joining us and helping us out. He's going to be a great asset to us. And I hopefully uh you guys approve some good quality projects for our city. We need all we can get. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, then we will move on to public hearings. Um, general plan amendment number 25-1, design review number 25-1, development permit number 25-1, and environmental number 25-3, an application to amend the general plan and zoning map to develop 64 affordable multifamily housing units. Can we have a staff report, please? Yes, sir. U thank you u Mr. Chairman members of the commission. I'll start off with a brief introduction and then Patricia Vil Gomez will present the case. Um you'll recall in January of 2023 the state department of housing and community development certified the city of Desert Hot Springs housing element. This was part of the six cycle regional housing needs uh assessment also known as arena. Uh within that element, Desert Hot Springs was given a target of,4 affordable housing units. That's actually over a 9-year span, and we're about halfway through that right now. Uh this project is one of the first affordable housing projects to come before you in the current sixth cycle.

Uh while there was 220 affordable housing units approved as part of the Green Day Village uh plan, uh that project still has some challenges getting water and sewer uh to the project. So in this case, utilities are readily available. Uh presently we uh have about 451 affordable housing units uh projects um either entitled or in the pipeline. That leaves a remaining 653. Uh, and you'll probably recall the vast majority of housing units assigned uh, to the city of Desert Hot Springs were market rate units and we continue to do pretty good in that regard. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Patricia. Thank you. The project before you tonight includes several applications. a journal plan amendment to change from residential high to residential medium. The certification of an EI addendum, a development permit and design review for the overall overall project which will be discussed further. The project crossings on Camino Companedo is for the development of 64 affordable housing units on a vacant 5acre site located approximately 600 ft east of Palm Drive. The project site proposes to change the general plan land use map and zoning designation from residential high density, which allows up to 30 dwelling units per acre, to residential medium density, which allows up to 20 dwelling units per acre. The project site is currently assigned 125 affordable housing units for the city of Desert Hot Springs certified housing element. The county of Riverside has submitted an affordable housing project which is currently under review with the city and is planned on Park Lane and is zoned mixeduse corridor with no assigned affordable housing units. The county's developer Abode

Communities is proposing to develop 167 affordable housing units. Therefore, the remaining 61 affordable housing units assigned to the project site crossing Zamino Companto will be reassigned to the Riverside County site abode communities as shown here with no net loss in affordable housing thereby thereby allowing the property to be reszoned to residential medium while complying with the housing element and state law. The cluster residential buildings contain mid-century elements, including an angled roof on the building's front facade with large overhangs, architectural popout elements, and stuckle finishes. The residential units will feature a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments designed to cater to diverse household needs. The project site also proposes a singlestory 3,986q ft community building that will feature a lounge area, management and leasing office, a central laundry room, maintenance space, and a patio overlooking the play area. Additional amenities include a pool, barbecue areas, community garden, a teen area, a designated smoking area, and a tot lot. Communal spaces will encourage social interaction within the community and residents. As part of the entitlement for the project crossings, a 64 unit affordable housing development that will be deed restricted. A request for a concession is allowed under the state density bonus law. Under California state law AB2501, housing density bonuses, concessions for affordable housing development are to be allowed. The project crossings on Camino Companedto will be 100% affordable with a mix of 30% to 60% of the area medium income. Three concessions are permissible, but only one concession is

requested at this time. The concession request is for the unit size. A request for a concession that allows the one-bedroom units to be a size of 614 ft² instead of the minimum city requirement of 700 ft², a difference of 86 ft. And the two-bedroom units to be at a size of 849 ft instead of the minimum requirement of 900 ft, a difference of 51 ft per table 17.08.02. Crossings on Camino Companto will include landscape at building entrances along building frontages and parking areas as shown here in the landscape perspectives. The landscape inspiration includes ocato, palos, veres, barrel cactuses, Texas rangers to name a few. The final landscape plan will need to be submitted to Mission Springs Water District for final review and approval. Pursuant to SQA, the city acting as lead agency reviewed and certified an addendum to the general plan environmental impact report for their approved project and determined that following the implementation of certain mitigation measures, all impacts were reduced to less than significant levels. The city has reviewed the proposed reduced project and has found that there are no substantial changes, impacts or change conditions that warrant additional review under SQA pursuant to section 15162A. And with that, this is a recommendation that the planning commission approve a resolution of the planning commission recommending that the city council of the city of Desert Hot Springs, California, certify the addendum to the 2020 environmental impact report. Approve a general plan amendment to change the zoning from residential high to residential medium. Approve a development permit. Adopt an

ordinance amending the zoning map. And approve a design review. That concludes my report. I'm available if you have any questions. And the applicant is also here. Thank you. All right. Do any planning commissioners have any questions for city staff? Any questions? Nope. Okay. And let's open the public hearing and take testimony from the applicant, please. Sure. Good evening. My name is Mark Gri, vice president with Blue Company as the applicant of today's project. And I appreciate Travis, Patricia, everything that you guys have done and getting this project to where it is. I know it's been a very long, long hall. So, thank you very much for working with us. I know we've annoyed them at times and your staff has been wonderful to work with. With that, our goal and I hope that that is fulfilled and you can see in the project today. Our mission as an affordable housing developer is to increase the standard of affordable housing. And that might sound a bit cheesy or maybe cliche, but we do take that mission very seriously. Part of the reason for selecting this particular site is, as you know, we have three schools that are in within about a 75 mile radius of the site. And so this site is directly catered to uh families that might have children that are going to be at those schools. So Patricia mentioned one thing I do want to highlight is that about 4,000t community center. Our goal is to use that community center as uh potential kind of secondary ch after school care for children and really maximize the impact of being so close to all these schools. And so um that's I think the biggest highlight that I wanted to show you today. I also wanted to say uh thank you for the time today and any questions you might have please feel free to direct them to me or uh we have our team here that can answer some technical questions as well. So does anyone have any questions? Ted, I I did have one question. Sure. So

when the project's ready and there's more more applicants than demand than units, how how are they selected? The lottery system or first come first serve? No. So, it's governed by equal opportunity housing law as well as state law and it's based on uh applicant timing. So, if somebody were to um it's first come first serve, I guess, is a shorter way of saying it. Yeah. Any other questions? I have one question. Um the planning commissions of Desert Hot Springs over the years have been uh very interested in trash. Mhm. because there's so much of it here blowing everywhere. And I noticed in your design, you have trash collection areas in there two of them. And in my mind, looking at the map, they're kind of far away from the residents. And so I'm just wondering do you in your experience is will the location of the trash enclosure areas will they be used or are people going to dump trash other places or and is is two enough? Um and also how enclosed are they and are they covered? Sure. Um I'm not sure, but we do have an elevation uh that was provided as part of the application showing it will be fully enclosed. Uh it'll also have a gate so that uh trash the trash bins can be collected by the uh company that will be servicing those facilities. Uh part of the reason for those placements is out near the drive aisles cuz often times individuals they might just bring it with them on their way out in the morning or uh on their way out for the evening. But that also does get to I think a management question that you're asking which is what happens if there is trash around. We will have on-site maintenance um at this facility. And so on top of that

that's also something we take very seriously is when we say we want to increase the standard affordable housing that also falls through to the operation side of the equation. And um having trash litter or something like that around is not something that's acceptable to us. And we do take a very strong stance on all of our properties, which you're welcome to visit here in the Coachella Valley. We're happy to take you around. Um, but we take that question very seriously. We anticipate they will be used. Uh, we can certainly look at whether or not it's appropriate to maybe add one more or maybe a half size. Um, but yes, we have seen those used and we feel that that's appropriate. And and just one other question, I I know there there's a discussion in materials we read about the number of parking spaces for residents. I think 137. Um do you anticipate there be situ there being situations where people will have to park on the street? No. So in our experience, I believe our ratio is above a two per unit which in our experience in the valley given um the lack of public transportation I should say in the area. While there is some on the corner with Palm Drive, we have tried to stay above a two per unit ratio which we have here and we anticipate that being plenty. So, not sure if that includes the parking that's also in the front by the community center for uh any visitors, social services providers or things like that. Um, but yes, we anticipate we have plenty of parking offerings. Mhm. Okay. Anyone else have questions? Okay. Um, then uh you can sit down. Thank you very much. Thank you. And um we can now take some testimony for from those who are in favor of this. We'll open the

public hearing and take testimony from the applicant which we've already done. And now testimony from any of those in favor, opposed or neutral. Everyone's okay. Huh? Okay. Everybody loves it. All right. Very good. Then we'll close public hearing. And this is now an opportunity for planning commission discussion. Anyone have a disc anything they want to discuss amongst ourselves? No. No. Okay. Well then, um I think we're ready to make a motion if someone wants to make a motion. I make a motion that we accept uh what we just discussed um amend the general plan. Amendment to the general plan 25-1. There were five things in here. Do we want to do one at a time or all at the same time? I think if you just name the five and say you're making a motion for all five. Uh general plan amendment 251, design review 251, development permit 251, environmental 253, and uh the general amend the general planning and zoning map to develop 64 affordable multif family housing units to from high density to medium density. All right. Do we have a second? I second that. All right, let's take a vote. Did you second it? Didn't go through. They'll figure it out. Who

seconded it? Yeah. Okay, there we go. Motion passes unanimously. All right. Um, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. So, now we are back to public comments. This is an opportunity for those members of the public who have not addressed the planning commission on an item which is not on the agenda. Comments are limited to three minutes per speaker. Does anyone want to make any comments? Okay. How many minutes do I have? Sorry. Three minutes. Three minutes. Okay. Hi. Hi. Hi, everyone. I know everyone here. Um so um um I have that that little house up on the hill and um I know the the last time every time I come and I talk to you about it, it's like um it's a little bit premature and I don't have the proper photos to show and I've come up and I've told you, oh, I want to plant a lot of trees. I'm, you know, I'm very, you know, I'm a very eco-friendly person and um but I finally did. I finally did. I I mean, I don't want to bring photos to compare what other houses have built, but I literally I planted like 10 times more trees of 10 times the width that the average new house has built. And um I have some new photos that show that's the other mistake I did last time I came over to talk to you is I didn't have photos. Um, so, um, basically my house is very visible and I don't have a garage yet, but my house is 300 ft from the street and it's the last house in town. and have some photos that show that if I park if I build a carport and I park it behind the house, that gives me an opportunity to

not only like plant more trees, but also to avoid putting another structure that's going to be very like pretty much very ugly. And and like I said, I have the proof that I am doing my best to beautify the city, to make the lot as beautiful as possible. and you know spend this all my resources on landscaping. So um that's just one thing that I wanted to say but I know that's uh that's a long shot. I also want to talk uh briefly about um um the so while the engineering was reviewing my uh you know the requirements um the engineer went on Google Earth and looked at the f a very old photo of the driveway um I couldn't recognize it myself and um and like I said the engineer never went to the lot never visited never inspected ed it and just said, "Oh, and and it's it's a 100 ft driveway and it's 6 in in thickness, so it's and the minimum is 4 in. So the driveway is beyond above you know the requirement the minimum requirements and um in this email chain that I have from 3 years ago the city engineer that I'm not going to name said that and I'm I'm literally saying this based upon the street views that I can see the driveway is not in an acceptable condition. So, I just want you to compare like this is what the drive this is what the driveway looks like on Google Earth. It's completely it's covered in sandunes. And this is it cleared up under. It looks completely different. And this is um this is also part of it. So, sorry I

was late. I I I had intended to print out like a little um like a few pages for everyone and I just sent it to UPS and I just realized that they're closed. But um so um so yeah. So yeah, this these emails are really bizarre. I mean she I mean going on Google Earth looking at a very old photo of like super dusty sandy. I mean, you can even see that they had built um they had put the previous owners had put um a little wooden um block to stop cars from driving up there because this is what they do um because it's very isolated and it's at the top of the hill. So, the cars go up there and they just, you know, so that's what brought all the sand up there. Sir, you're 3 minutes. Okay. So, um, so yeah, um, yeah, I'll be better prepared next time. And, um, but yeah, I just want to say it's, um, um, it's it's there's not very good environmentally friendly um um, you know, removing a 100 foot driveway for no reason. You know, I asked her like, can you give me a reason? She said, she couldn't give me a reason. And in the end, and she tried to blame it on the fire department and the fire department got involved and said, oh, nope. We don't have anything against it and I just want to leave with uh sorry I've over um stand for Yeah. I'm not sure there's anything that we can help you with right now that Yeah. Yeah. No, I just want to share I just want to share because you know Okay. Well, thank you. And can we get you to state your name for the record? Oh yeah. Uh Patrickian. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So yeah. Um yeah. Yeah. that project is really going to be um very easy to build because um building a little house is very difficult. So yeah, I'll be better prepared next time. Sorry about that. Thank you. Okay.

Um we're a chair and planning commission member reports. Does anyone have anything that they want to report? Okay, I guess not. and community development director report. Just a very brief one uh this evening chairman uh did want to let you guys know that uh we did submit our annual progress report to ACD and it was accepted and I would like to commend Kathleen for weeding through all of that data and pulling it together uh and submitting it. Um so uh very well appreciated. Uh we'll also just add that uh so far this year we have had 114 permits issued. So we're off to a very very good start. Uh of those 101 are single family homes. Rest are ADUs and multif family. So hopefully we can keep up the pace this year. So and that's that's it. That's my Can I ask you one question? Did you ever hear back from any of the builders developers about their reaction to the tariffs and all? Um I did and you know basically the response was um we're going to kind of wait and see how it goes. A lot of the suppliers have a anywhere from 30 to 90day supply on hand. Um kind of the comment that I heard uh routinely was well we like certainty you know certainty on the supply side uh where you know the cost and the prices of things and also certainty on the demand side with interest rates. So those are the two key things that that drive the their industry. So and no one's said we can't take this anymore. We're leaving. No I have not heard that. Okay. Thank you. Um, I think that's it. So, the

meeting is adjourned. 15 25 minutes. Yeah. Thanks, Jen, for your cameras off.