January 9, 2025 Planning Commission - City of Rancho Mirage

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:00:03] hello and good afternoon everyone I want
[00:00:05] to go ahead and call
[00:00:07] today's uh planning Mission uh Planning
[00:00:09] Commission meeting um to order it's
[00:00:13] Thursday January 9th and I have
[00:00:17] um 2011 on the clock so welcome everyone
[00:00:21] first off I want to
[00:00:23] um start with the flag
[00:00:27] salute if I can have commissioner Kieran
[00:00:30] lead us in the
[00:00:31] flag
[00:00:33] yes I Al to the flag of the United
[00:00:38] States
[00:00:40] ofer stand
[00:00:43] na
[00:00:45] indivisible and justice for
[00:00:52] all thank you everyone again welcome I
[00:00:55] want to welcome all the council mayor
[00:00:59] and staff appreciate your time I'm going
[00:01:01] to go ahead and um open up the roll call
[00:01:06] here commissioner Bryant present
[00:01:09] commissioner qan present commissioner
[00:01:12] gray present Vice chair chanter present
[00:01:16] and chair augustini present all
[00:01:19] present thank you so first uh next on
[00:01:23] the agenda is our I'm going to open up
[00:01:24] the commissioner comments and um
[00:01:27] graciously commissioner gray opted to go
[00:01:29] first so I'm going to turn it to my
[00:01:32] right thank you
[00:01:35] chair uh welcome everybody I see we have
[00:01:37] a large crowd today um I wanted to put
[00:01:40] some of what we're going to consider in
[00:01:42] perspective and comment on two recent
[00:01:44] events first I hope everybody noticed as
[00:01:48] they walked or drove up to our
[00:01:52] beautiful uh City headquarters here that
[00:01:55] all the flags are at half mast and that
[00:01:59] is
[00:02:00] honor uh one of our former presidents
[00:02:03] who uh today is the last day of six days
[00:02:08] of uh funeral ceremonies honoring Jimmy
[00:02:11] Carter now whether you were a supporter
[00:02:15] of his candidacy of his party or of his
[00:02:19] presidency I think the record has shown
[00:02:22] undeniably regardless of whether you
[00:02:25] thought any of that was successful or
[00:02:26] not that he was a man of deep faith and
[00:02:28] commitment that tried to make this world
[00:02:31] a better place and in the world full of
[00:02:34] contention and unhappiness it's nice
[00:02:37] that a public servant in particular is
[00:02:40] so devoted to trying to improve the
[00:02:42] lives of his fellow citizens and other
[00:02:45] citizens around the world and I just
[00:02:48] wanted to note his passing because I
[00:02:49] think that's a it's a momentous day and
[00:02:53] something that should be um that should
[00:02:55] be both celebrated and mourned by all of
[00:02:57] us um on a second note notice on a more
[00:03:01] immediate and local issue I'm sure all
[00:03:04] of you are aware of the terrible fires
[00:03:08] that have uh decimated much of Los
[00:03:11] Angeles
[00:03:13] County I have a a a man who's one of my
[00:03:16] best friends he works for me as a
[00:03:18] paralal and he's done so for quite a few
[00:03:21] years now and he actually lives in
[00:03:25] Altadena and uh he evacuated his home
[00:03:28] the other night in the midst of the
[00:03:29] flames went back once after he got his
[00:03:31] wife settled to get some personal items
[00:03:34] out of the house and thank goodness he
[00:03:36] did because he kind of lied and cheated
[00:03:38] his way back up to the house even while
[00:03:40] the Flames were still burning and
[00:03:42] there's nothing left and he he's just
[00:03:45] one of many thousands of individuals and
[00:03:48] families whose lives have been turned
[00:03:50] upside down I saw another post on the
[00:03:53] internet
[00:03:54] Yesterday by somebody who said we it's
[00:03:56] hard to believe that we were sitting in
[00:03:58] our backyard enjoying dinner in the
[00:04:01] beautiful Southern California climate
[00:04:05] and the next day our lives was changed
[00:04:07] and everything were go was gone so we're
[00:04:09] going to have some contentious issues
[00:04:11] here and people are going to express
[00:04:12] some heartfelt opinions today but keep
[00:04:15] in mind the incredible tragedies that
[00:04:17] have befront that have that have uh
[00:04:20] confronted so many of the people that we
[00:04:22] know I'm sure many of us in this room
[00:04:24] know somebody that suffered in the fires
[00:04:26] so I think to that that to me puts in
[00:04:28] perspective a lot of the other things
[00:04:30] that we end up disputing and fighting
[00:04:32] over and I hope again that this can help
[00:04:34] us maintain a an attitude of Civility
[00:04:38] and fairness towards everybody else
[00:04:40] who's present thanks very much thank you
[00:04:43] commissioner I'll turn to my left
[00:04:48] Kieran well first of all well said
[00:04:50] commissioner gray I agree with all of
[00:04:52] that um and second of all just happy New
[00:04:55] Year I'm looking forward to the new uh
[00:04:56] 2025 and we've got some exciting things
[00:04:59] on the books and um again I'm happy to
[00:05:02] be here so that's all thank you
[00:05:06] commission or vice chair Cher well first
[00:05:09] of all I'd like to wish a happy birthday
[00:05:11] to city councilman Steve
[00:05:13] DS happy
[00:05:17] birthday and I I too I agree with
[00:05:20] commissioner gray having lived through
[00:05:22] and experienced the tubs fire in 2017 in
[00:05:26] Northern California where I had just so
[00:05:29] many friends lose their homes in fact we
[00:05:31] lost 5,000 homes in Santa Rosa area
[00:05:34] alone where I lived so I appreciate the
[00:05:37] great grief and and consternation and
[00:05:40] and challenges that everyone will face
[00:05:42] moving forward and it's important for
[00:05:44] Community to come together during these
[00:05:46] times these very drastic times um the
[00:05:50] only other thing I'd like to do is thank
[00:05:52] the city city staff again because they
[00:05:55] spent so much time with each of us
[00:05:57] individually uh to go over all this
[00:05:59] agenda uh item and several items
[00:06:02] actually and uh we took at least an hour
[00:06:05] each to do this and uh I understand
[00:06:08] there were 41,000 Pages printed for us
[00:06:13] and uh we even ran out of paper and
[00:06:15] binders in the general area uh because
[00:06:18] there was so much paperwork so thank you
[00:06:21] to the city staff for all their hard
[00:06:22] work and preparing us for
[00:06:25] today thank you Vice chair and I Echo
[00:06:28] those same remarks staff is amazing um
[00:06:31] just putting the presentation together
[00:06:33] going through what we need to do and and
[00:06:34] have a successful meeting I I thank all
[00:06:37] of you for your time um and again I
[00:06:39] welcome everyone to 2025 and my heart
[00:06:42] goes out to all the families and victims
[00:06:44] of of the wildfires uh so I'll go ahead
[00:06:46] and turn it over to
[00:06:48] commissioner Murray Briant thank you
[00:06:51] Jason and again David well said well
[00:06:55] said um two comments one at the December
[00:07:00] 19th uh
[00:07:02] 24 uh city
[00:07:04] council meeting um they adopted
[00:07:08] something I'm going to call it
[00:07:10] abbreviated minutes uh because up until
[00:07:13] now the minutes have been they're not uh
[00:07:18] they're kind of paraphrased takes a lot
[00:07:20] of time for the staff and so on uh and
[00:07:24] obviously there was some public uh
[00:07:26] comment against doing that versus
[00:07:29] continuing the minutes like they are uh
[00:07:31] councilman DS asked the key question in
[00:07:34] my mind and that was will the meeting uh
[00:07:37] meetings have full videos uh posted on
[00:07:41] the website and YouTube and will they be
[00:07:43] available uh
[00:07:45] 247 uh that answer was yes uh I agree
[00:07:49] with that decision in fact this Planning
[00:07:51] Commission I think we're starting today
[00:07:53] or soon uh videoing uh the Planning
[00:07:57] Commission hearing so I think that's
[00:07:59] definitely
[00:08:00] Improvement uh it's certainly a better
[00:08:02] use of the staff time to devote the
[00:08:05] their hours to our customers the city
[00:08:08] customers which are our residents our
[00:08:10] businesses and um
[00:08:12] developers um the second thing I just a
[00:08:15] little background on the uh Planning
[00:08:18] Commission
[00:08:19] itself um planning Commissioners are not
[00:08:22] compensated we donate our uh our time
[00:08:26] and talents to serve the city of uh
[00:08:29] Rancho Mirage and you know as to time
[00:08:33] the hearings time is like the tip of the
[00:08:36] iceberg it's it's only
[00:08:38] minuscule uh compared to the outsid of
[00:08:42] time it takes to prepare it uh just like
[00:08:44] the city council uh I don't know what
[00:08:47] the ratio is but it's uh many times more
[00:08:52] hours on the outside than it is on the
[00:08:55] inside um I think he pointed out today's
[00:08:59] there's 4,000 or 4500 pages in today's
[00:09:03] deck and so it does take a lot of time
[00:09:06] and again uh thanks to the staff um
[00:09:10] actually I spent an hour and 45 minutes
[00:09:12] with Mina and Ben and uh
[00:09:15] perar uh it's just so complex and
[00:09:18] there's so much so uh they're always
[00:09:20] available uh no matter how many hours it
[00:09:23] takes uh to help us get through
[00:09:26] especially some of the technical aspects
[00:09:28] of these
[00:09:30] uh as to the u talent uh we are we're a
[00:09:34] diverse group of people and in terms of
[00:09:37] our professional backgrounds our
[00:09:40] experiences and our
[00:09:42] perspectives uh Francis Pamela uh owned
[00:09:45] and operated a large Insurance Brokerage
[00:09:48] uh David is an attorney uh Mark comes
[00:09:51] from the shopping center commercial
[00:09:53] space and Jason is in the uh Mortgage
[00:09:57] business um so while
[00:10:00] we're different in our backgrounds and
[00:10:02] so on we're United in uh one thing and
[00:10:06] that is to enhance the quality of life
[00:10:09] for our residents and create a uh
[00:10:11] vibrant business
[00:10:13] Community that's it thank you you forgot
[00:10:16] to share your background
[00:10:20] Marine just moving on all right so uh
[00:10:24] next on the agenda is our non-agenda
[00:10:26] public comments this is an opportunity
[00:10:28] to speak on issues is not on the agenda
[00:10:30] for a maximum of 3 minutes um I want to
[00:10:32] remind everyone please come up to the
[00:10:34] podium when you come up you have a
[00:10:36] maximum of three minutes please state
[00:10:38] your name and address for the record so
[00:10:41] I'll turn it over I have one speaker
[00:10:43] card for nonp public agenda comments and
[00:10:46] that's Brad Anderson thank
[00:10:49] you thank you my name is Brad Anderson I
[00:10:51] currently live within the city R Mirage
[00:10:54] and you stole my thunder I wanted to
[00:10:56] just briefly not remind uh this
[00:10:58] commission but maybe the people that are
[00:11:00] listening or the residents of the city
[00:11:02] that the minutes have been changed by
[00:11:04] the city council the recent uh city
[00:11:06] council meeting meaning that um all the
[00:11:10] commentary well the summerly minutes
[00:11:13] it's more as minutes meaning I guess the
[00:11:16] public my aspect is the public myself
[00:11:19] and people that may speak today uh won't
[00:11:22] be recorded uh maybe at all I think on a
[00:11:26] public hearing you will have your
[00:11:28] opinion either your oppose it or you or
[00:11:30] you support whatever the resolution or
[00:11:32] whatever the ordinance would be or
[00:11:33] whatever the the topic would be other
[00:11:36] than that any comments that this heard
[00:11:38] and would never be recorded again the
[00:11:42] commissioner did state that the uh the
[00:11:44] meetings will be recorded this meeting
[00:11:46] and the city council but all the other
[00:11:48] subcommittees of the city will have this
[00:11:51] audio recordings and those audio
[00:11:52] recordings as far as I know will be
[00:11:55] destroyed after the minutes are approved
[00:11:57] so it's very this city was constructed
[00:12:00] with summary meetings minutes meaning
[00:12:02] that uh I can look back and see what was
[00:12:04] talked about and I think that's a really
[00:12:07] big aspect of not everybody has time to
[00:12:10] watch a 2hour three hour 4 hour meeting
[00:12:13] to get topics that they want to discuss
[00:12:16] and I'm going to leave at that but I got
[00:12:18] one more little question or uh city of
[00:12:21] Cathedral City recently adopted uh food
[00:12:23] for less gas station on on Palm Drive I
[00:12:27] believe and the city the residents
[00:12:29] around there opposed that and they went
[00:12:31] to the Planning Commission and the
[00:12:33] Planning Commission sided with the
[00:12:34] residents but city council came in and
[00:12:37] reverse that decision and my as my my
[00:12:40] point of saying that whole story is if
[00:12:43] they didn't have the type of Summer
[00:12:44] meetings minutes that may be forgotten
[00:12:47] or easily forgotten and that's all I
[00:12:49] have thank you thank
[00:12:53] you is there anybody else who would like
[00:12:55] to make a public comment that is not on
[00:12:57] the agenda today
[00:13:02] seeing none um moving on to our action
[00:13:05] item and before we move into that action
[00:13:07] item and we ask uh for public comments I
[00:13:09] want to remind everyone to come that
[00:13:11] we'd be limited to three
[00:13:14] minutes oh oh I'm sorry I've skipped one
[00:13:17] item I apologize back up I need a um
[00:13:20] approval of the minutes from the
[00:13:21] December 12th 2024 regular meeting thank
[00:13:24] you I'll make a motion that we approve
[00:13:27] those minutes
[00:13:32] second please
[00:13:35] vote can we please have a
[00:13:40] second second
[00:13:57] again motion passes 5
[00:14:00] Z thank you now before asking for the
[00:14:03] staff report again I want to remind
[00:14:04] everyone when coming up you will be
[00:14:06] limited three
[00:14:08] minutes um so if if you go long I will
[00:14:11] ask you to wrap it up um so I'll turn it
[00:14:14] over to our first agenda item and have
[00:14:17] lesle provide us with the staff
[00:14:22] report oh I'm sorry and I believe our
[00:14:24] City attorney would like first make
[00:14:27] a thank you chair
[00:14:29] uh since the first item before you is
[00:14:31] the periodic review of the development
[00:14:32] agreements I just thought it might be
[00:14:34] useful to remind the Planning Commission
[00:14:36] as well as maybe the public uh
[00:14:38] essentially a brief summary of sort of
[00:14:40] what a development agreement is uh
[00:14:43] generally speaking development
[00:14:44] Agreements are contracts between the
[00:14:45] city and project proponents and that
[00:14:49] govern land uses that may be allowed in
[00:14:51] a particular project both parties to the
[00:14:52] agreement receive benefits giving cities
[00:14:55] greater flexibility and imposing
[00:14:56] conditions and requirements on projects
[00:14:58] that may not otherwise through the more
[00:15:00] traditional land use entitlement process
[00:15:01] be able to while developers are afforded
[00:15:04] greater assurance that once the project
[00:15:05] is approved it can be built when an
[00:15:08] applicant in the city desire to enter
[00:15:09] into a DA or development agreement the
[00:15:11] allowable land uses and other terms and
[00:15:13] conditions of approval may be negotiated
[00:15:15] between the parties subject to the
[00:15:16] city's ultimate approval while
[00:15:19] development agreement must Advance the
[00:15:20] agency's local planning policies it may
[00:15:22] also contain Provisions that vary from
[00:15:24] otherwise applicable zoning standards
[00:15:25] and land use
[00:15:27] requirements a da is essentially a
[00:15:29] planning tool that allows the city
[00:15:30] greater latitude to advance local
[00:15:32] planning policies sometimes in new and
[00:15:34] creative ways while a DA may not while a
[00:15:37] DA may be viewed as an alternative to
[00:15:39] traditional development approval process
[00:15:41] in practice it's commonly used in
[00:15:43] conjunction with it it's not uncommon
[00:15:45] for example to see a project proponent
[00:15:46] apply for approval of a conditional use
[00:15:48] permit a zone change and a development
[00:15:50] agreement for the same project further
[00:15:53] it's worth noting that one of the
[00:15:54] assurances often included in the da is
[00:15:56] an agreement to freeze the applicable
[00:15:58] rules regulation and policies that are
[00:16:00] in place at execution of the agreement
[00:16:02] this gives developers more certainty in
[00:16:03] their implementation of a project
[00:16:05] especially where the project may take
[00:16:07] many years to complete it's also worth
[00:16:09] noting Das often provide developers the
[00:16:11] right to develop their project subject
[00:16:13] to certain terms and conditions but not
[00:16:15] the obligation to construct and complete
[00:16:17] the project uh I just want to give a
[00:16:19] brief um summary of what they are if
[00:16:22] anyone has any questions I'd be happy to
[00:16:23] answer it otherwise I'd turn it over to
[00:16:25] staff to present the summary of the
[00:16:26] review
[00:16:29] thank you good afternoon members of the
[00:16:31] Planning Commission the city's Municipal
[00:16:33] Code requires periodic review of active
[00:16:35] development agreements to determine if
[00:16:38] the subject property owner or developer
[00:16:40] is performing in good faith with the
[00:16:41] terms and conditions of their respective
[00:16:44] development
[00:16:46] agreement the review period is for the
[00:16:48] year of 2024 there are currently 13
[00:16:52] active development agreements that are
[00:16:53] subject to this periodic review which
[00:16:55] include Ranch Mirage Self Storage Weston
[00:16:58] vacation Club McKenna Del Web Ferrari
[00:17:01] the residences at the ranchel Mirage
[00:17:03] Country Club section 31 specific plan in
[00:17:06] an alberger tentative track map 3
[00:17:09] 6620 Porcupine Creek Wellness Center
[00:17:12] ranchel Mirage Auto Center Eisenhower
[00:17:14] memory care administration and Desert
[00:17:16] Island
[00:17:19] Hotel this table summarizes the status
[00:17:22] of each agreement's current standing all
[00:17:24] 13 development Agreements are considered
[00:17:26] to be in good standing and in compliance
[00:17:29] with the existing terms and Provisions
[00:17:30] of their respective agreements as a
[00:17:33] courtesy staff mail notices and send
[00:17:34] emails to all affected property owners
[00:17:36] and or developers informing them of the
[00:17:39] meeting and periodic review staff has
[00:17:41] received five public comments for this
[00:17:43] item which were distributed to the
[00:17:44] planning Commissioners prior to the
[00:17:47] meeting staff recommends that the
[00:17:49] Planning Commission recommend that the
[00:17:50] city council find the subject developers
[00:17:53] Andor property owners are currently in
[00:17:55] compliance with the terms and conditions
[00:17:57] of the 13 development agreement ments
[00:18:00] this concludes staff's presentation I'd
[00:18:01] be happy to answer any questions and
[00:18:03] chair and commission if I may real quick
[00:18:05] I I just wanted to take a quick second
[00:18:07] to address some of the public comments
[00:18:09] uh with respect to the Ranch Mirage
[00:18:11] Country Club development agreement uh
[00:18:13] the city did receive comments regarding
[00:18:15] the landscape conditions on the property
[00:18:18] uh referencing the development agreement
[00:18:19] entitlement package and related
[00:18:21] conditions of approval that had to do
[00:18:23] with the landscape maintenance upon
[00:18:25] review of The Da and the conditions of
[00:18:26] approval the city attorney's office
[00:18:28] staff are recommending uh the city find
[00:18:32] the developers in compliance with the
[00:18:33] development agreement and related
[00:18:35] conditions of approval because the
[00:18:36] conditions of approval that specifically
[00:18:38] relate to landscape maintenance only app
[00:18:41] apply to Landscaping installed pursuant
[00:18:43] to those entitlements currently no
[00:18:45] Landscaping has been installed by the
[00:18:47] developer under the da or the related
[00:18:50] entitlements uh additionally as as staff
[00:18:52] um summarized uh staff further
[00:18:54] recommends that the developer in this
[00:18:56] case the the ranch Marsh Country Club is
[00:18:58] also otherwise in compliance with the
[00:18:59] terms and conditions of the development
[00:19:01] agreement and if you have any questions
[00:19:02] on that point or any others I'm happy to
[00:19:05] help thank you so at this time I'll go
[00:19:09] Ahad and ask uh for public
[00:19:13] comment um I have Mike
[00:19:16] Coons M Mark Coons I apologize I had
[00:19:21] sorry three minutes I was set for five
[00:19:23] so oh gu please St your name and address
[00:19:26] I'll go my name is uh marun I'm with I
[00:19:29] live at ranchel Mirage Country
[00:19:30] Club uh what I'm trying to accomplish is
[00:19:32] to clarify which documents are legal and
[00:19:34] enforcable I have a settlement agreement
[00:19:36] and then there is the development
[00:19:38] agreement that affects ranchel Mirage
[00:19:40] Country Club I'm trying to understand
[00:19:42] why the homeowners are responsible for
[00:19:45] the maintenance obligations on a piece
[00:19:46] of property we don't own the settlement
[00:19:49] agreement is referenced repeatedly in
[00:19:51] the C City development agreement which
[00:19:54] is not recorded or amended to our
[00:19:56] governing documents or with the county
[00:19:59] when Oasis Ranch came to the city and
[00:20:01] the city entered into a development
[00:20:03] agreement what
[00:20:05] documentation did Ranch Mirage Country
[00:20:07] Club present to the city to move forward
[00:20:10] because not only is the settlement
[00:20:12] agreement not attached to the ranchel
[00:20:14] Mirage Country Club governing documents
[00:20:17] neither is any financial obligation to
[00:20:19] fund the property we don't own what
[00:20:22] documentation did the city receive to
[00:20:24] make such an agreement the only thing I
[00:20:26] have so far that I was shown was that I
[00:20:28] have a letter from Steve DS in 217 that
[00:20:31] would sit to the city manager and
[00:20:32] basically talks about we passed the vote
[00:20:34] well in our CCN RS it takes more than a
[00:20:38] vote just like it does when you guys
[00:20:39] want to implement the maintenance on the
[00:20:42] uh on the project you have to record it
[00:20:44] and that's the same thing with us we
[00:20:45] have to record it with the county and it
[00:20:48] has not been done also at that same time
[00:20:51] that is the same time the judge released
[00:20:54] judge made it clear that there was not
[00:20:55] ready to dismiss the completion of the
[00:20:57] settlement agreement and and he
[00:20:58] dismissed the case there's from Steve DS
[00:21:01] city of the attorney and the priv of the
[00:21:03] of the uh tentative agreement okay so
[00:21:05] now we're talking about the maintenance
[00:21:07] and we talk about how that's not
[00:21:10] obligated so if the City attorney in
[00:21:11] Black bold letters right here it says
[00:21:14] prior to the city council approval of
[00:21:16] the final map the following conditions
[00:21:18] shall be satisfied that's the final map
[00:21:21] that's before construction that's
[00:21:22] permits so that doesn't mean anything's
[00:21:24] in the ground there's nothing to
[00:21:25] maintain at that point and if you read
[00:21:27] under the uh landscape and Architectural
[00:21:29] features and maintenance it says the
[00:21:32] applicant shall be responsible for
[00:21:34] maintaining in compliance with all City
[00:21:36] standards for the same the onsite the
[00:21:40] and the offsite and and integrated
[00:21:45] architectural features required by the
[00:21:47] entitlement so if you read that closely
[00:21:50] and it does it twice from the attorney
[00:21:53] it does it again where it says that the
[00:21:56] um before any permits are handed out
[00:21:59] it's the same thing and it says the
[00:22:02] applicant Oasis Ranch ranchel Mirage
[00:22:04] Country Club Oasis Ranch is responsible
[00:22:08] and I don't see how you can tell me that
[00:22:10] it's not by that language prior in big
[00:22:13] black bold letter City attorney prior to
[00:22:15] issuance of a building permit the
[00:22:17] following conditions shall be
[00:22:20] satisfied okay what is that satisfied
[00:22:23] again we come again the applicant shall
[00:22:25] be responsible for maintaining
[00:22:27] incompliance with with all City
[00:22:29] standards for the same the on-site and
[00:22:32] offsite landscaping and integrated
[00:22:34] agricultural I mean architectural excuse
[00:22:37] me features required by the entitlements
[00:22:40] I see my three minutes are up I had got
[00:22:41] cut short I just want to recap real
[00:22:43] quick so recap no recorded settlement
[00:22:47] agreement not not your development
[00:22:50] agreement that you have recorded
[00:22:51] settlement agreement Oasis is
[00:22:53] responsible for existing maintenance
[00:22:55] Oasis never applied for an extension
[00:22:57] regarding the ative track map so they
[00:23:00] were the applicant the minute that you
[00:23:03] guys approved it in uh there the city
[00:23:05] council voted for it in what was that uh
[00:23:08] May of 29 and then Oasis hasn't paid
[00:23:12] property tax also since December 29 I'm
[00:23:15] just throwing it out there hoping that
[00:23:17] something sticks and then so maybe on
[00:23:19] later on maybe I can talk to somebody
[00:23:21] and maybe work something out because we
[00:23:23] got a community community that's falling
[00:23:25] apart thank you yep
[00:23:32] Rob
[00:23:41] Kovac good afternoon uh dear planning
[00:23:43] Commissioners uh members and other city
[00:23:46] employees my name is Rob Kovac and I'm
[00:23:48] the vice president of the Ranch Mirage
[00:23:50] homeowners association I realize that
[00:23:53] the Planning Commission does not have an
[00:23:55] expressed interest in the lack of how
[00:23:57] Oasis trench maintains their property of
[00:24:00] which our community encompasses it in
[00:24:03] fact today I know you're interested in
[00:24:06] hearing if the city if Oasis rench has
[00:24:08] complied with the uh development plan
[00:24:12] which the City attorney already said
[00:24:14] they have um but let me tell you that
[00:24:17] the owners of ranch Mar Country Club are
[00:24:19] really frustrated that the past several
[00:24:23] years Ranch and Mirage Country Club has
[00:24:26] had to maintain the land
[00:24:29] that's owned by a Oasis Ranch to keep
[00:24:31] our home values from plummeting we spend
[00:24:33] some
[00:24:34] $800,000 a year to maintain this and the
[00:24:38] homeowners are getting pretty tired of
[00:24:40] it what I would like to do today though
[00:24:43] is really is to thank the commission and
[00:24:45] the city officials for their support of
[00:24:47] Rancho Mirage Country Club over the past
[00:24:50] many years a special thanks for the Code
[00:24:53] Compliance
[00:24:54] review on the conditions of the
[00:24:57] clubhouse and the LA of Maintenance by
[00:24:59] Oasis Ranch landscaping around the
[00:25:01] clubhouse and the exterior trees a huge
[00:25:05] thanks for the city spending some
[00:25:07] $70,000 to clean up that Landscaping
[00:25:10] after Oasis Ranch failed to respond to a
[00:25:13] cleanup notice issued by the city thank
[00:25:16] you for your efforts on our
[00:25:18] behalf thank
[00:25:23] you I'm going to mispronounce this
[00:25:26] Michael's mil life must
[00:25:30] sorry about that can you please state
[00:25:32] your name and address for the
[00:25:34] record uh good evening Mike
[00:25:37] Mass I'm living in k
[00:25:41] um um 84 kavish I just I want to just
[00:25:45] bring a few points about this one-sided
[00:25:47] agreement that the will per comes and
[00:25:49] sabotages the country club very much
[00:25:52] sells everything valuable inside and
[00:25:54] leaves us a isore for the last few years
[00:25:56] that we have to look at they have been
[00:25:58] maintaining it and on top of that they
[00:26:01] throw all the maintenance as the other
[00:26:03] guys mentioned of the golf course in R
[00:26:07] which the
[00:26:09] dollar um lease that was very attractive
[00:26:13] to everyone I think end up being 800,000
[00:26:16] a year in maintenance cost right now and
[00:26:20] all the false statements about or H is
[00:26:23] going to go down our value is going to
[00:26:25] go up they're going to build a new gate
[00:26:27] new trans as a matter of fact I think
[00:26:30] our has spent close to $200,000
[00:26:32] upgrading the gates so if these guys
[00:26:34] were going to build a new gate why are
[00:26:36] we doing that so everything they said
[00:26:38] was all to me was false and as a matter
[00:26:40] of fact they came up after this
[00:26:43] agreement was done and was approved they
[00:26:45] came up with a whole new project massive
[00:26:48] development project encroaching into the
[00:26:50] open space areas and also making every
[00:26:54] single building two story that we have
[00:26:56] to block everybody's view very much
[00:26:59] and things that obviously it didn't get
[00:27:01] approved through our but they are
[00:27:03] obviously going to change this and we
[00:27:06] are just want to make sure that no
[00:27:08] changes um to be done to the existing
[00:27:11] approved plans because there's over 85
[00:27:13] homes were sold after that approval and
[00:27:17] including myself I bought that house
[00:27:19] after that approval was in place and any
[00:27:21] changes to that plan will will be
[00:27:23] obviously against it and that's all I
[00:27:25] wanted to mention thank you thank you
[00:27:28] [Applause]
[00:27:32] is there anybody else in the public who
[00:27:33] would like to make a comment who did not
[00:27:35] fill out a
[00:27:38] card please come up and state your name
[00:27:40] and address for the record please
[00:28:02] so I we've been talking about oh sorry
[00:28:07] my name's Tim Adams I'm in rench and
[00:28:09] Mirage Country
[00:28:11] Club
[00:28:12] um I bought the property in
[00:28:16] 2021 and at that time when we were
[00:28:18] getting ready to sign the papers Steve
[00:28:20] DS called to give us a
[00:28:23] whole insight into what was going on
[00:28:26] with the country club which was not
[00:28:29] given prior to uh making a
[00:28:31] purchase uh at that time I found out
[00:28:35] that um there was more emphasis on the
[00:28:39] golf course than anything else on the
[00:28:42] property and we we moved in we got it
[00:28:45] all but a lot of times I'm feeling like
[00:28:49] there are pieces of information that are
[00:28:51] left out deliberately now in that regard
[00:28:55] uh Craig trout our current president
[00:29:00] went ahead and put together an email
[00:29:03] saying that uh the city basically will
[00:29:08] let Ranch a mirage will let the Oasis
[00:29:11] development company whatever uh do
[00:29:15] whatever they want in the sense of they
[00:29:18] have no obligation uh I'm a little
[00:29:21] confused by some of the terminology and
[00:29:24] some of the stuff uh 2021 2022
[00:29:28] Steve and the other people on the HOA
[00:29:31] had a whole set of meetings to talk
[00:29:34] about what we're going to do with oas's
[00:29:37] ranch and the things were very
[00:29:40] convoluted the things are
[00:29:43] continuously and here I am in 2025 not
[00:29:47] knowing when this thing started with why
[00:29:50] the developer didn't finish it why the
[00:29:52] city didn't take any action against the
[00:29:55] developer for basically saying uh okay
[00:29:58] you sign papers you don't have to do
[00:30:01] anything uh with the property that's
[00:30:04] kind of the message that you're sending
[00:30:06] that the developer is free to do
[00:30:08] whatever they want and not be
[00:30:10] responsible for everything so I just
[00:30:13] wanted to uh put that in there uh and he
[00:30:16] copied a uh a a letter from the uh City
[00:30:22] basically saying what the uh
[00:30:24] responsibility was for the developer
[00:30:27] they're inp clients do nothing we pay a
[00:30:31] dollar to let them uh to rent the the
[00:30:34] golf course and then we spent
[00:30:37] 800,000 just trying to get things
[00:30:40] looking good and I I I I don't golf but
[00:30:45] it's a a mess and I don't know what's
[00:30:47] going to happen uh basically some of the
[00:30:50] things that are said to me uh we can't
[00:30:53] talk to you about it because lawyer
[00:30:56] confidentiality h
[00:30:58] I'm putting money into a property that
[00:31:00] I'm not going to be able to to enjoy
[00:31:04] thank you thank
[00:31:10] you is there anybody else in the public
[00:31:12] who would like to make a comment at this
[00:31:17] time public comments will be closed at
[00:31:20] this
[00:31:22] time chair and commissioner if I may
[00:31:24] make one additional comment um
[00:31:26] especially with respect to the the first
[00:31:28] speaker
[00:31:30] um he is correct that the um conditions
[00:31:33] of approval in some of the language he
[00:31:35] cited did say that prior to certain
[00:31:37] occurrences uh like a final map or
[00:31:40] issuance of building permits certain
[00:31:41] things had to take place uh to date no
[00:31:44] formal action has been taken by the
[00:31:45] developer to pursue the entitlements um
[00:31:49] uh including a final map or any building
[00:31:52] permits so therefore uh that's why our
[00:31:54] office's determination or recommendation
[00:31:56] is that those um maintenance obligations
[00:31:58] have not been triggered uh I'd note too
[00:32:01] that the conditions of approval also
[00:32:02] contemplated sort of a phased project
[00:32:04] with certain improvements and conditions
[00:32:06] being triggered upon phase one as it was
[00:32:09] referred to uh and to date again no
[00:32:11] action has been taken which is why our
[00:32:13] recommendation is that those conditions
[00:32:15] have not been triggered yet can I make a
[00:32:17] response to that please
[00:32:30] uh if I may the the public comment
[00:32:31] period has uh passed and as we'll go
[00:32:34] back to the chair for further um
[00:32:36] processing the uh
[00:32:42] review thank you thank you for your
[00:32:45] comments um thank you everyone I
[00:32:47] appreciate that so now at this time I'm
[00:32:49] going to go ahead and open it up to
[00:32:50] commissioner comments chair Austin may I
[00:32:52] make just one more additional
[00:32:54] clarification um in reference to the
[00:32:56] maintenance obligations cited in the
[00:32:57] development agreement those are directly
[00:32:59] tied to the entitlements that are part
[00:33:01] of the development agreement not
[00:33:03] existing
[00:33:05] conditions thank
[00:33:09] you so I'll go ahead and open it up to
[00:33:12] commissioner comments and I'll start to
[00:33:15] my right here with commissioner
[00:33:20] gray thank you
[00:33:22] chair I guess if I go first at the
[00:33:24] beginning i' go first the rest of the
[00:33:26] time too
[00:33:28] um it appears that for agenda item one
[00:33:31] the only uh only matter in controversy
[00:33:35] is regarding the development agreement
[00:33:38] with Oasis um I have to defer to our my
[00:33:42] review and to our very competent
[00:33:45] planning staff who put a lot of effort
[00:33:47] into uh along with our City attorney
[00:33:50] that there is no current violation or
[00:33:54] dereliction between the uh between the
[00:33:58] developer and the city regarding the
[00:33:59] developer agreement and those are the
[00:34:01] only two parties to that agreement I
[00:34:04] understand that the residents of a ranch
[00:34:07] of Mirage Country Club may feel that
[00:34:08] they are to some degree thirdparty
[00:34:10] beneficiaries of whatever deal was
[00:34:12] reached and I feel a little bit
[00:34:16] um not adequately informed not about the
[00:34:20] decision that the Planning Commission
[00:34:22] has to make today I feel we've been
[00:34:24] given the information we need but I
[00:34:26] would really love to see the settlement
[00:34:29] agreement that was reached between the
[00:34:31] homeowners who found themselves in a
[00:34:33] terrible condition with a deteriorating
[00:34:35] property and Oasis who is the owner of
[00:34:38] that property I understand that may be
[00:34:40] subject to some forms of confidentiality
[00:34:43] agreement and so may not have been
[00:34:45] provided I also understand there was a
[00:34:48] statement made uh at the time the city
[00:34:51] council approved the development
[00:34:54] agreement that there had been no review
[00:34:58] of the settlement agreement again
[00:34:59] perhaps because of the reasons I
[00:35:01] indicated but I think that settlement
[00:35:03] agreement is key um although I'm
[00:35:06] concerned it might not have been
[00:35:07] sufficiently comprehensive on behalf of
[00:35:10] the homeowners um I'm also concerned
[00:35:12] that this matter is uh A continuing
[00:35:17] large and ongoing expense and burden on
[00:35:19] the property of all of the homeowners I
[00:35:22] just did some quick math here on my
[00:35:24] phone and I believe somewhere it says
[00:35:27] there are 2 66 homeowners and I heard
[00:35:29] the sum of 800,000 annual maintenance on
[00:35:32] the on the Oasis property mentioned
[00:35:35] that's about $3,000 per homeowner that
[00:35:39] may be money well spent to improve your
[00:35:41] quality of life and maintain the value
[00:35:44] of your properties but it's a lot of
[00:35:45] money on top of property taxes and other
[00:35:47] dues for the for the association that
[00:35:50] you have to spend
[00:35:52] already um there may be remedies in for
[00:35:56] the homeowners one in going back perhaps
[00:35:59] to the attorneys who represented you and
[00:36:01] seeing if the settlement agreement has
[00:36:03] been in fact complied with and secondly
[00:36:07] a remedy that I know everybody has
[00:36:09] exercised which is to complain to the
[00:36:10] city that the existing property doesn't
[00:36:13] meet the standards uh of the ranch and
[00:36:17] Mirage Municipal Code that complaint was
[00:36:19] effectively made the city investigated
[00:36:21] went out cited the property owners and
[00:36:23] then when the property owners didn't
[00:36:25] respond made the Imp uh made the
[00:36:28] corrections that were needed and I hope
[00:36:30] we will eventually collect that from the
[00:36:32] property owners so I see this as a
[00:36:34] terrible problem but on the specific
[00:36:37] issue of the agenda item before us I see
[00:36:40] the development agreement in compliance
[00:36:42] although I feel everybody's pain
[00:36:45] thanks thank you commissioner gray and
[00:36:48] I'll move to my left commissioner
[00:36:52] Kieran thank thank you and I agree with
[00:36:55] commissioner gray as well I mean I spent
[00:36:58] 30 years in commercial real estate
[00:36:59] development and I know how important it
[00:37:01] is to maintain a property at a Class A
[00:37:03] level to maintain the the um the value
[00:37:07] if not increasing the value so I I do
[00:37:11] this is a lot that I'm hearing today but
[00:37:14] it does sound bad but again you know we
[00:37:17] have this to move forward with and
[00:37:18] that's what we'll do but hopefully uh
[00:37:20] this will improve at some
[00:37:23] point Thank You commissioner or vice
[00:37:27] chair CH chanter it is a conundrum uh
[00:37:30] but I do support our two legal Minds
[00:37:32] here today our um city legal staff and
[00:37:36] our councilman gray uh I I have to lean
[00:37:39] in their
[00:37:40] direction thank
[00:37:43] you um and yeah I agree and I appreciate
[00:37:46] again staff's time in in in preparing us
[00:37:49] for this controversial topic today and I
[00:37:52] agree with commissioner gray and his
[00:37:54] stance in that uh and staff present the
[00:37:57] way they had presented that um there was
[00:38:01] it was determined that the da is in
[00:38:04] compliance and in good standing and um
[00:38:08] so I I don't see anything that would
[00:38:10] would prevent us from making moving
[00:38:13] forward so
[00:38:15] um I that I don't have any other
[00:38:23] comments oh I'm sorry commissioner
[00:38:24] Bryant
[00:38:27] thank you Jason um I think enough has
[00:38:30] been said uh in terms of the uh
[00:38:34] development agreement Visa the Property
[00:38:37] Owners
[00:38:38] Association um uh yes this has been a
[00:38:42] long contentious battle that you've had
[00:38:45] uh maybe your issues are litigation with
[00:38:48] the uh owner or whatever uh but that's
[00:38:51] up to you uh even prior to the meeting
[00:38:55] uh M and team did spend time with me
[00:38:58] explaining uh uh the development
[00:39:00] agreement and the uh legal standing of
[00:39:03] it so I'm I'm satisfied with the
[00:39:06] decisions of the city and the City
[00:39:08] attorney so I want to turn to something
[00:39:11] different and that is uh the Planning
[00:39:14] Commission uh also of course we make
[00:39:16] recommendations the city council and
[00:39:19] both uh sometimes things come before us
[00:39:22] that are very
[00:39:23] contentious uh and I want to highlight a
[00:39:26] couple of them in the past that was the
[00:39:27] In-N-Out
[00:39:29] Burger uh the most in my 6 and a half
[00:39:32] years on the Planning Commission it's
[00:39:34] it's the most contentious that we've had
[00:39:37] uh the you know many of the residents
[00:39:38] were against it for a whole litany I
[00:39:40] won't list the 12 things or 13 things
[00:39:43] they were but the city and the uh the
[00:39:47] Planning Commission the the city council
[00:39:51] work tirelessly with the company to
[00:39:54] address all those issues uh and again I
[00:39:58] won't go through them but uh you know
[00:40:00] traffic noise on and on and on I spent a
[00:40:03] lot of time driving through timing how
[00:40:06] long it takes to go through the
[00:40:07] neighborhood and so on uh but there were
[00:40:10] many things that were done and that the
[00:40:13] uh the company did to make sure that
[00:40:15] those
[00:40:16] issues uh it opened uh it's been open
[00:40:20] three years now I guess 34 January 22 34
[00:40:24] and three years um and none of those
[00:40:26] issues have have come about and a lot of
[00:40:29] that was again the work of the city uh
[00:40:32] and working with the In-N-Out Burger uh
[00:40:35] and in fact uh I believe we've had some
[00:40:37] of the residents come to the city and
[00:40:39] say the ones who
[00:40:41] complain
[00:40:43] uh very V
[00:40:46] voraciously vociferously excuse me
[00:40:50] uh uh and that none of those things came
[00:40:53] to pass so uh again uh uh
[00:40:57] you know every decision that's made
[00:41:00] everybody doesn't agree with it but the
[00:41:02] city does the the staff the Planning
[00:41:05] Commission the city council tries to do
[00:41:09] everything to satisfy everybody along
[00:41:13] with uh you know we do have to have
[00:41:15] businesses we have to have a vibrant
[00:41:17] business Community here uh because we
[00:41:19] have to generate revenues uh to support
[00:41:22] the city and all the services uh the
[00:41:25] other one another example was
[00:41:28] uh uh the Porcupine Creek uh not as
[00:41:32] contentious but a lot of people uh the
[00:41:35] residents had concerns about the
[00:41:37] traffic uh during construction on and on
[00:41:41] and on um and again many things were
[00:41:44] done to uh make sure those didn't happen
[00:41:48] uh the side entrance for the trucks the
[00:41:50] employees and in the first four or five
[00:41:53] months of that was going on I went over
[00:41:55] there every week and drove drove up and
[00:41:57] down every street and drove up down
[00:41:59] where the trucks were going to
[00:42:01] construction to see if there was
[00:42:03] anything going on and Mina have we have
[00:42:06] we had any complaints about the in the
[00:42:09] construction of
[00:42:11] porcupine no founded complaints okay um
[00:42:15] so I never saw anything but again uh a
[00:42:18] lot of work on the part of the staff the
[00:42:20] city uh to make sure that the concerns
[00:42:24] of the residents and you know it's a
[00:42:26] great development and it's needed for
[00:42:28] the city uh it enhances the status of
[00:42:31] the city and obviously it generates U
[00:42:34] tax revenues that are very important for
[00:42:35] the
[00:42:39] city that's it thank you chair chair if
[00:42:42] I if I may just make a few comments yes
[00:42:45] um so one of the
[00:42:49] things that the city's in a position to
[00:42:51] do is with the development agreement uh
[00:42:55] just because we're finding it in good
[00:42:57] standing doesn't translate to everything
[00:43:01] is fine at Ranch Mirage Country Club
[00:43:05] obviously we've had abatement issues
[00:43:08] there and uh we can hear the frustration
[00:43:11] from the homeowners uh but just as
[00:43:14] originally when we were going through
[00:43:16] this process the city doesn't enforce a
[00:43:18] private agreement so the settlement
[00:43:20] agreement and the lease uh that they
[00:43:23] have currently that gives homeowners
[00:43:26] access to the golf course course that
[00:43:27] they don't own in their Community those
[00:43:29] are private agreements those the city is
[00:43:31] not a party to that and so it's not the
[00:43:34] city's role to
[00:43:35] enforce those private agreements that's
[00:43:38] a civil issue the reason that plainly
[00:43:41] you're seeing the development agreement
[00:43:44] that we're concluding it's in good
[00:43:45] standing because it dealt with a project
[00:43:48] that they never built so if they would
[00:43:50] have built the project that was approved
[00:43:53] then there would be many more applicable
[00:43:55] Provisions in this development agreement
[00:43:58] so uh we are fully aware as a staff of
[00:44:01] the issues going on out there we are
[00:44:04] also in a position where uh the property
[00:44:08] owner has rights so the property owner
[00:44:10] of the golf course has rights as do the
[00:44:13] residents that live there and so when we
[00:44:15] get into these situations of maybe a
[00:44:18] property isn't being maintained we have
[00:44:20] to defer back to our municipal code and
[00:44:24] it is an objective review and even
[00:44:27] though we understand the tough situation
[00:44:30] that the residents are in uh where they
[00:44:33] have a private agreement that said hey
[00:44:35] uh we're going to split maintenance cost
[00:44:37] this way and now some one of the parties
[00:44:40] in that agreement is not upholding their
[00:44:42] end and all the burden has shifted to
[00:44:44] the homeowners that's not something that
[00:44:45] we the city can enforce and it's not
[00:44:47] something that our development agreement
[00:44:49] was designed to enforce so as we
[00:44:52] continue to move forward with this
[00:44:54] process we will continue to utilize the
[00:44:56] tools uh that the city has available to
[00:44:58] us so as if conditions deteriorate then
[00:45:01] we can get into the realm of our code
[00:45:04] department and using the abatement
[00:45:06] process that is available to us now I
[00:45:08] will tell you having been here during
[00:45:10] the time not always as city manager but
[00:45:12] I was employed here it was very tough to
[00:45:14] go through uh this uh process initially
[00:45:18] and there were a lot of moving pieces
[00:45:21] and so you know you had a person come in
[00:45:24] and buy a golf course in the middle of a
[00:45:26] community and then they just stopped
[00:45:28] watering and everything died and then
[00:45:31] they erected an illegal chain link
[00:45:34] fence basically chaining in the
[00:45:37] residents so that they could not access
[00:45:39] the golf course in their community that
[00:45:41] chain link fence was outright illegal
[00:45:43] right so the city had to go through and
[00:45:45] we used our abatement process and said
[00:45:49] remove it remove it remove it they
[00:45:51] didn't remove it we went to court and
[00:45:54] the court said it's an illegal fence
[00:45:56] remove it they still didn't do it even
[00:45:59] with a court order and so the city had
[00:46:01] to go in through our abatement process
[00:46:03] and we remove the fence and then uh tack
[00:46:07] those charges onto the property owner
[00:46:09] and so you know when we get into
[00:46:11] situations like this there's multiple
[00:46:13] moving pieces here but I don't want
[00:46:16] anyone to be confused that the city
[00:46:17] thinks that everything is fine out there
[00:46:20] I just think you're expressing your
[00:46:21] concern on a document that doesn't
[00:46:23] address the issues uh that you're facing
[00:46:26] today if they would have built the
[00:46:28] project then there would have been many
[00:46:30] Provisions within this development
[00:46:31] agreement that we could have utilized
[00:46:33] against that property in or to hold them
[00:46:35] accountable for what the development
[00:46:37] agreement says so I don't want there to
[00:46:39] be any confusion it is an important
[00:46:41] issue to the staff uh we will use codes
[00:46:45] and rules uh in enforcing uh violations
[00:46:49] like we have been uh since really this
[00:46:52] process started
[00:46:57] thank you I appreciate those
[00:47:00] comments um so any further comments from
[00:47:05] commissioners before we
[00:47:07] move ask for a motion for uh ask for a
[00:47:11] motion in a second on the agenda
[00:47:15] item I like to make a motion that the
[00:47:18] Planning Commission finds the subject
[00:47:19] developers Andor property owners are
[00:47:21] currently in compliance with the terms
[00:47:23] and conditions of the following 13
[00:47:26] development agreement
[00:47:27] Rancher Mirage Self Storage Weston
[00:47:30] Vacation Club mcka AKA Stonebridge Del
[00:47:35] Web Ferrari the residences at Rancho
[00:47:38] Mirage Country Club section 31 specific
[00:47:42] plan in an outb tentative trap tra map
[00:47:49] 3662 porcupine Wellness Center Rancher
[00:47:52] Mirage Auto Center Eisenhower MCA and
[00:47:55] Desert Island Hotel
[00:48:01] I'd welcome a second second I'll second
[00:48:03] that please
[00:48:22] vote motion passes 5 Z
[00:48:28] thank
[00:48:29] you um so moving on to
[00:48:32] P public hearing item number
[00:48:38] two oh I'm
[00:49:12] I did
[00:49:14] B all righty so uh moving moving right
[00:49:17] along on to public hearing item number
[00:49:20] two prier Villas environmental
[00:49:23] assessment case number EA 24-
[00:49:28] 001 and I'm going to turn it over
[00:49:31] to CL
[00:49:33] for thank you thank you chair augustini
[00:49:36] give us a moment as a there's the
[00:49:38] presentation and good afternoon planning
[00:49:40] Commissioners I have for your
[00:49:41] consideration prar Villas a proposed 3D
[00:49:45] printed residential development the
[00:49:47] applicant is Palm Coast
[00:49:50] modular the perar project is located at
[00:49:53] the southwest corner of via Josina and
[00:49:55] Ginger Rogers Road
[00:49:57] the project spans two existing parcels
[00:49:59] and is approximately 10 acres the site
[00:50:01] was previously used as an equestrian
[00:50:03] training and boarding
[00:50:07] facility the project involves a general
[00:50:09] plan zoning map amendment to rezone
[00:50:11] approximately 10 acres from very low
[00:50:13] density residential rl2 and medium
[00:50:18] RM to low density residential rl3 which
[00:50:22] allows up to three dwelling units per
[00:50:24] acre the proposed zoning change will
[00:50:26] facilitate the development of 20 of a 28
[00:50:29] lot single story residential Community
[00:50:31] maintaining consistency with the Ranch
[00:50:33] Mirage General plan by preserving the
[00:50:36] surrounding low density residential
[00:50:38] character the project will comply with
[00:50:40] all development standards under the
[00:50:41] municipal code including lot size
[00:50:43] setbacks and Building height the project
[00:50:46] complies with California's no net loss
[00:50:48] law by preserving the same residential
[00:50:50] capacity through the proposed zoning
[00:50:53] Amendment though 28 single family homes
[00:50:55] are planned the the addition of
[00:50:57] accessory dwelling units adus increases
[00:51:00] the total housing capacity to 56 units
[00:51:03] this approach aligns with the city's
[00:51:04] housing element by ensuring diverse
[00:51:06] housing options and promoting
[00:51:08] sustainable
[00:51:10] growth tentative track map
[00:51:13] 38868 proposes the subdivision of two
[00:51:15] existing Parcels into 28 residential
[00:51:18] lots and four common Lots the proposed
[00:51:21] subdivision complies with the city's
[00:51:22] development standards for the rl3 zoning
[00:51:25] District including minimum lot size
[00:51:27] width depth and maximum density lot
[00:51:31] sizes will range from 12,000 ft to 14
[00:51:35] 14542 ft with a density of 2.8 units per
[00:51:39] acre meeting the maximum allowable
[00:51:42] density of three units per acre the
[00:51:45] proposed subdivision conforms to the
[00:51:46] general plan municipal code and the
[00:51:48] subdivision map
[00:51:51] act the project site includes a gated
[00:51:54] entry with a 37 ft Private Road roadway
[00:51:56] with the culdesac for internal vehic
[00:51:59] circulation and designated retention
[00:52:01] basins for storm water management each
[00:52:04] lot is designed to accommodate a 3D
[00:52:06] printed modular single family home and a
[00:52:09] detached garage with an
[00:52:10] Adu each lot will have a private vehicle
[00:52:13] gate the project includes a secondary
[00:52:16] emergency access off of via
[00:52:20] Florencia on screen is a rendering of
[00:52:23] the development the homes are defined by
[00:52:25] their clean lines geometric patterns and
[00:52:27] large minimalist Windows creating a
[00:52:29] seamless integration of indoor and
[00:52:31] outdoor
[00:52:33] living floor plan a emphasizes space
[00:52:36] optimization and open concept living
[00:52:39] creating seamless flow between kitchen
[00:52:41] living and dining areas large windows
[00:52:44] and well-placed access points enhance
[00:52:46] natural light and create open and AA eni
[00:52:49] atmosphere floor plan B follows a
[00:52:52] similar design but offers an alternative
[00:52:54] layout with a greater focus on outdoor
[00:52:56] connectiv ity featuring sliding doors
[00:52:58] that open directly to patios and outdoor
[00:53:00] spaces both plans balance private and
[00:53:03] communal areas promoting comfortable and
[00:53:05] flexible
[00:53:07] living this rendering shows the proposed
[00:53:10] textures one and textures
[00:53:13] two texture one proposes architectural
[00:53:16] details for a d d dyamic sorry Dynamic
[00:53:21] fast facade vertical elements such as
[00:53:23] accent panels create visual interest
[00:53:25] adding a layer depth to the structure
[00:53:28] large windows are a focal point
[00:53:30] strategically placed to frame views of
[00:53:32] the surrounding landscape while
[00:53:33] providing ample natural
[00:53:36] light texture 2 is a different variation
[00:53:39] that plays with shadows to provide more
[00:53:41] architectural
[00:53:44] interest now we have a rendering showing
[00:53:46] texture
[00:53:48] 5 texture 5's overall design creates a
[00:53:51] dramatic statement with the vertical
[00:53:53] diamond pattern while staying true to
[00:53:55] the modern look of the development
[00:53:58] the Adu is designed to provide a fully
[00:54:00] functional living space while remaining
[00:54:02] an accessory to the main home the layout
[00:54:05] includes a small kitchen a living area a
[00:54:07] bedroom and a bathroom a two-car garage
[00:54:10] is attached to the Adu
[00:54:13] building the Adu is minimalist with
[00:54:15] smooth surfaces and clean lines that
[00:54:17] blend seamlessly with the rest of the
[00:54:19] development windows are sized for
[00:54:21] efficiency while maintaining a bright
[00:54:23] interior the facade of the Adu is des
[00:54:26] designed to complement the surrounding
[00:54:27] structures using the same
[00:54:32] materials the materials board outlines
[00:54:34] the chosen palette for the exteriors
[00:54:36] featuring a selection of materials
[00:54:37] designed to withstand the local climate
[00:54:40] while providing aesthetic appeal colors
[00:54:42] are neutral and earthy ensuring that the
[00:54:44] buildings blend seamlessly into the
[00:54:46] desert
[00:54:48] landscape the community entry and
[00:54:50] Parkway landscape design establishes a
[00:54:52] welcoming and Visually appealing entry
[00:54:55] featuring drought tolerant plants
[00:54:56] including native shrubs succulents for
[00:54:59] low maintenance and desert plant desert
[00:55:01] friendly
[00:55:03] Landscaping a Treeline Parkway provides
[00:55:05] Shades and complies with the section 30
[00:55:07] landscape design guidelines as shown per
[00:55:10] condition of approval number 23
[00:55:12] additional palm trees will be added
[00:55:14] between the canopy trees in the final
[00:55:16] development plan enhancing the parkway's
[00:55:20] Aesthetics front yard typicals provide a
[00:55:22] template for the individual home's front
[00:55:24] yard blending a modern aesthetic with
[00:55:26] the practi practicality of Desert
[00:55:27] Landscaping gravel and decomposed
[00:55:29] Granite pathways are used instead of
[00:55:31] traditional Lawns reducing water
[00:55:33] consumption and ensuring a low
[00:55:35] maintenance yard these pathways are
[00:55:37] interspersed with clusters of succulents
[00:55:39] Agave plants and cacti all chosen for
[00:55:42] their ability to thrive in the desert
[00:55:45] climate an initial study was conducted
[00:55:48] was conducted for the project resulting
[00:55:50] in a recommendation to adopt a mitigated
[00:55:53] negative declaration mitigation measures
[00:55:55] were POS for biological resources
[00:55:58] geological resources and cultural and
[00:56:00] tribal cultural
[00:56:03] resources on September 30th 2024 the
[00:56:06] proposed project was presented to the
[00:56:07] Architectural Review working group the
[00:56:10] group raised questions related to solar
[00:56:12] control final materials and design
[00:56:14] features conditions of approval 21 22
[00:56:17] and 23 require that these issues be
[00:56:20] resolved as part of the final
[00:56:21] development plan
[00:56:23] submitt public hearing notices were sent
[00:56:25] out on December mber 20th 2024 to date
[00:56:28] no public comments have been received
[00:56:31] staff recommends that the Planning
[00:56:32] Commission make the action as shown on
[00:56:36] screen this concludes staff's
[00:56:38] presentation I would now like to invite
[00:56:40] the applicant to the podium staff is
[00:56:42] available for any questions thank you
[00:56:43] for the
[00:56:45] consideration thank
[00:56:49] you you right
[00:56:52] now okay
[00:56:55] [Music]
[00:57:00] good sorry I think it's a a little bit
[00:57:02] the just got in there from the from the
[00:57:04] ones on there but uh good afternoon Mr
[00:57:05] chairman and members of the Planning
[00:57:07] Commission chrisopher here with MSA
[00:57:09] Consulting I just want to say thanks to
[00:57:10] staff for the presentation I thought par
[00:57:12] did a pretty good job at uh giving an
[00:57:14] overview of the project I'm available
[00:57:16] here to answer any questions uh the
[00:57:17] applicant is here today as well and we
[00:57:20] prepared um a short presentation that
[00:57:22] goes a bit more into the detail of the
[00:57:23] product that's uh being proposed here
[00:57:25] today
[00:57:30] yeah so if there's no any further
[00:57:31] questions I guess we jump right into it
[00:57:33] so uh we have a Adam Nester here with a
[00:57:35] pal modular and he'll be uh running us
[00:57:38] through this presentation I'll let him
[00:57:39] take it from
[00:57:46] here thanks Chris hello everybody uh my
[00:57:49] name is Adam Nester CEO and co-founder
[00:57:51] of Palm Coast modular um first I want to
[00:57:54] thank the Planning Commission and all
[00:57:55] the members of the community for hearing
[00:57:57] us today and allowing us to present also
[00:57:59] a big thanks to Mina and her staff for
[00:58:02] all the guidance and getting us here
[00:58:03] today we couldn't have done it without
[00:58:05] them um so uh real quick um Palm Coast
[00:58:09] modular uh we specialize in modular and
[00:58:13] pre pre-fabricated Factory Built Homes
[00:58:16] um we try to bring technology into
[00:58:18] everything we do and that's where we're
[00:58:20] going to do at this
[00:58:21] development so I see I think this is how
[00:58:24] I move on here um um a lot of this polar
[00:58:28] already covered uh we have 28 Lots uh
[00:58:31] situated just north of cotino um
[00:58:33] beautiful area out there uh the houses
[00:58:37] are again 3D printed a little different
[00:58:40] uh we've already built several of these
[00:58:41] in Desert Hot Springs we've proven them
[00:58:44] uh proven out the the technology uh they
[00:58:47] work people like them um one thing kind
[00:58:50] of relevant right now is they're uh fire
[00:58:52] resistant actually so the walls
[00:58:55] themselves are print from a material
[00:58:56] that's kind of like concrete it's
[00:58:58] actually a geopolymer so it's not
[00:59:00] concrete it lasts a lot longer um but I
[00:59:03] actually live in the Eaten Canyon fire
[00:59:05] zone and just came out here and uh
[00:59:08] luckily my house is not threatened but
[00:59:10] these houses were going to build would
[00:59:12] have no problem out there and I know
[00:59:14] fires probably aren't a concern as much
[00:59:16] here but uh seismic they are way up to
[00:59:19] the standard and they're also made to
[00:59:22] withstand hurricane force winds so we
[00:59:24] could build these in Florida I believe
[00:59:26] the the wind rating is over 200
[00:59:28] mph um so they are Rock Solid they'll
[00:59:31] last a long time uh they're highly
[00:59:34] sustainable there's virtually no wood in
[00:59:37] the whole building a couple little
[00:59:39] places um the 3D printed aspect so
[00:59:43] they're actually printed in a factory in
[00:59:45] Mexico and shipped up here on a truck uh
[00:59:48] they're large monolithic panels um you
[00:59:51] may have seen 3D printing but it's
[00:59:53] actually a a robot on sort of an arm
[00:59:56] that goes and just goes back and forth
[00:59:58] and prints the panels and that allows us
[01:00:00] to do those different textures and
[01:00:02] colors you saw so uh if we were building
[01:00:05] these in coo we could print Mickey Mouse
[01:00:07] on on the the side of the building
[01:00:08] literally if we wanted to um the other
[01:00:12] aspect of of 3D construction is that
[01:00:14] it's virtually zero waste so we're not
[01:00:17] cutting anything there's a little bit of
[01:00:19] milling and polishing of the panels but
[01:00:22] uh you're not taking a bunch of lumber
[01:00:24] to a site and and cutting it into pieces
[01:00:26] and throwing throwing away 20% of it um
[01:00:30] also a key aspect of factory built is
[01:00:33] that it's a little better on the
[01:00:35] environment we don't have a bunch of
[01:00:37] people coming to the job site uh we try
[01:00:39] to do as much as we can in the factory
[01:00:41] and centralize production uh that
[01:00:43] minimizes traffic um people driving cars
[01:00:45] to the site uh lots of benefits to be
[01:00:48] had um as far as the location as I said
[01:00:53] it's close to cotino uh very accessible
[01:00:56] to a lot of commercial space close to
[01:00:58] the 10 and there's sort of a a wide
[01:01:01] swath of dare I say a a sand dune out
[01:01:05] there between where we are and and a lot
[01:01:07] of the shopping so we're starting to
[01:01:08] build into that area several
[01:01:11] developments are going up around us um
[01:01:13] our architecture matches theirs very
[01:01:15] closely and we're actually talking to
[01:01:17] some of the developers to see if we can
[01:01:19] kind of have the same look and feel or
[01:01:21] uh make it as similar as possible blend
[01:01:24] in um um so Rancho Mirage is going to
[01:01:29] gain a lot here um these are highquality
[01:01:32] luxury homes modern uh high-tech and um
[01:01:37] they're going to last forever so
[01:01:38] hopefully nobody wants to tear them down
[01:01:40] because they're they're very well built
[01:01:42] but uh um that we have the desert themed
[01:01:45] architecture hopefully that was uh
[01:01:47] evident in the renderings um we want to
[01:01:49] kind of just blend in but also have the
[01:01:51] sort of contemporary mid-century modern
[01:01:53] look that a lot of the houses around
[01:01:55] here
[01:01:56] uh show um green construction
[01:02:00] so once we basically once we stand the
[01:02:03] walls up on the foundation a lot of it
[01:02:05] is traditional construction after that
[01:02:07] but all throughout the process there are
[01:02:10] uh design features um that have where
[01:02:12] we've tried to make it Net Zero um the
[01:02:16] uh bu the manufacturer Mighty buildings
[01:02:18] um that was one of their uh core
[01:02:20] emphasis all along the way um we even
[01:02:23] use Basalt rebar in the foundation
[01:02:26] that's a little more environmentally
[01:02:27] friendly uh but this project and this
[01:02:30] product was um from the outset was done
[01:02:34] with sustainability in mind
[01:02:38] so keep
[01:02:40] going so again just getting into the
[01:02:42] architecture here did I go did I go to
[01:02:45] there there we go um you can see the
[01:02:49] mid-century modern look the tall floor
[01:02:51] to ceiling
[01:02:53] glass and again just trying to blend in
[01:02:55] we have uh you know desert friendly
[01:02:58] plants of
[01:02:59] course um yeah hopefully you guys get
[01:03:02] the the sense of what we're trying to
[01:03:04] build
[01:03:06] there okay again the 3D panels so those
[01:03:10] textures you see um there are literally
[01:03:13] a catalog available to us we picked the
[01:03:15] ones that we thought best Blended in um
[01:03:18] the picture on the left is our Desert
[01:03:20] Hot Springs development uh that's the
[01:03:22] model home in construction so you can
[01:03:24] see uh the panel there um basically you
[01:03:27] just pour a standard slab on grade and
[01:03:29] then get the panels out there and and
[01:03:31] drop them in with the crane and bolt
[01:03:32] them down um we connect them all
[01:03:35] together to give them sheer strength uh
[01:03:37] and then we we Crane in a roof cassette
[01:03:40] we call it which is a a prefab roof
[01:03:42] piece and once that shell is built then
[01:03:45] the rest of it is very much traditional
[01:03:47] construction after
[01:03:48] that um the Interiors are Ultra Modern
[01:03:53] uh sort of a European look um and of
[01:03:56] this is basically a kit so uh it's sort
[01:03:59] of a unique thing um uh the manufacturer
[01:04:02] gives you the wall panels but they also
[01:04:05] give you everything that goes inside the
[01:04:06] building so uh that also centralizes
[01:04:09] procurement um we're not going out you
[01:04:12] know getting a bunch of stuff just in
[01:04:13] time we actually have a warehouse that
[01:04:15] delivers things to the site as we need
[01:04:18] them so we call a truck and say I need
[01:04:20] four dishwashers I need you know sealant
[01:04:22] get it out here um so uh that helps
[01:04:26] centralize um keep cost
[01:04:29] down um let see
[01:04:33] here so I talked about Mighty buildings
[01:04:36] uh robotic 3D
[01:04:38] printers um the material itself is
[01:04:40] actually also sustainable uh it's a
[01:04:43] proprietary geopolymer that is uh the
[01:04:46] main product in it is actually a waste
[01:04:49] product of the aluminum smelting process
[01:04:51] so this is uh stuff they just throw away
[01:04:54] basically put in a landfill so we're
[01:04:56] actually mixing that with the geopolymer
[01:04:58] that the 3D printer spits
[01:05:00] out um we can the factory can actually
[01:05:03] do one of these houses in one day print
[01:05:06] all the panels uh and spit out you know
[01:05:10] you could actually do 365 houses a year
[01:05:12] if you're running
[01:05:14] 24/7 um and that's very scalable um
[01:05:17] they've ramped up from a small facility
[01:05:19] in Oakland and now they have a a much
[01:05:21] bigger factory in
[01:05:23] Mexico um after the panels are printed
[01:05:26] there are some cavities in the middle so
[01:05:28] the whole thing isn't solid 3D panel
[01:05:30] it's actually got panels where a robotic
[01:05:33] arm will come down and inject spray foam
[01:05:35] insulation so the r values are very high
[01:05:39] um they're very inefficient or not
[01:05:41] inefficient energy efficient buildings
[01:05:44] um and one thing I love the most is that
[01:05:46] they are soundproof um you can go in
[01:05:48] there during a windstorm in desert hot
[01:05:50] springs and you won't hear a thing um we
[01:05:53] also joke that they're probably
[01:05:54] bulletproof because they're they're like
[01:05:56] a an an 8 in thick wall when it's all
[01:05:58] done uh rock solid uh let's see so um
[01:06:03] the exterior polished and sealed you can
[01:06:05] actually paint them any color you want
[01:06:08] um they pack it in a crate after that
[01:06:11] ship it to the site we get it to the
[01:06:13] site and like I said we just stand it up
[01:06:15] on the foundation just kind of like a
[01:06:16] structurally insulated panel or a
[01:06:19] pre-cast concrete panel like you see a
[01:06:21] giant Warehouse they just stand up those
[01:06:22] panels with a crane same kind of process
[01:06:26] um we fasten it all together and then uh
[01:06:29] traditional construction takes over
[01:06:31] basically a insulation and drywall is
[01:06:33] where the traditional trays will come in
[01:06:35] and finish the
[01:06:38] house
[01:06:40] okay so prier um PR that's yeah we
[01:06:46] wondering about the pronunciation if
[01:06:48] people would uh get that but
[01:06:51] um uh again we're we're using
[01:06:53] sustainable materials and methods from
[01:06:55] end to end i' I've touched on this a lot
[01:06:57] already uh but um we're trying to make a
[01:07:00] dent uh in the what's going on around us
[01:07:05] maybe with the environment uh and it's
[01:07:07] slow and it's on the bleeding edge a
[01:07:09] little bit uh but we're we're making
[01:07:12] some progress here and this will be
[01:07:13] another big step in that
[01:07:15] direction um yeah I think oh I also want
[01:07:18] to mention all the homes will have a
[01:07:20] gray water system so we're going to
[01:07:22] recycle water um use it for irrigation
[01:07:24] probably uh we can't quite use it in the
[01:07:27] pools yet but that would be our next uh
[01:07:29] our next feature um of course they're
[01:07:31] going to have solar as required but we
[01:07:33] intend to completely power the houses so
[01:07:35] they they could be off- grid if they if
[01:07:38] they wanted to be um we'll put battery
[01:07:40] backups so uh like I've been out without
[01:07:43] power for two days um I wish I had a
[01:07:46] house like this because i' I'd be
[01:07:48] working at home instead of going to
[01:07:49] Starbucks to charge my laptop and all
[01:07:52] that uh so yeah um here again is our
[01:07:56] Desert Hot Springs development uh we
[01:07:59] have 13 Lots built out uh seven more to
[01:08:03] go uh sales are happening now um and
[01:08:08] we'd love to invite you out there if
[01:08:09] you'd like to see it um all the the
[01:08:12] structures are all up to California
[01:08:13] building code of course um we've
[01:08:16] actually uh we I don't know a year ago
[01:08:19] we got in front of the Rancher Mirage
[01:08:21] building official and he reviewed the
[01:08:23] plans they send it off to a third party
[01:08:25] engineer here and they were fine with it
[01:08:27] it's uh ICC rated um so all the
[01:08:31] approvals are
[01:08:34] there and if you'd like to reach out to
[01:08:37] us there you
[01:08:39] go thank you so at this time I want to
[01:08:43] turn it to staff to open it up for
[01:08:44] public
[01:08:46] comments I did not receive any public
[01:08:49] speaker cards so if you would like to
[01:08:50] make a comment please come up to the
[01:08:52] podium
[01:08:55] I see no one so we can close the public
[01:08:57] hearing okay so moving on to
[01:09:00] commissioner comments I just had a
[01:09:01] couple quick questions and I'll pass it
[01:09:03] along my first question is um uh your
[01:09:06] buildout time what is so what is that in
[01:09:09] comparison or relation to a normal uh
[01:09:12] normal it's much faster okay so um you
[01:09:16] know assuming the panels are printed and
[01:09:18] in rout once the slab is cured you can
[01:09:21] have uh the building standing in days
[01:09:24] literally it depends on the size of
[01:09:25] course the the desert hot springs uh
[01:09:28] buildings we can put up in about 3 days
[01:09:31] um with a trained crew who's proficient
[01:09:33] but um you know then you're in the Shell
[01:09:35] uh and after that um traditional
[01:09:37] construction takes over so uh another I
[01:09:40] don't know four months after that
[01:09:42] probably to get it all done okay thank
[01:09:44] you and then um and I also maybe um
[01:09:48] people can answer this question I
[01:09:50] noticed there's an entry gate the entry
[01:09:52] or to each residence there's a from the
[01:09:54] driveway those are all uniform height
[01:09:57] and style design aesthetic too they're
[01:10:00] they're not different per home no so
[01:10:02] they all file follow the same design
[01:10:04] they're six feet in height okay thank
[01:10:07] you so I'll go to my left commissioner
[01:10:11] Kieran okay well I really don't have a
[01:10:13] lot of questions but I was very excited
[01:10:15] about this project I've been watching
[01:10:17] this process over the last year and the
[01:10:20] fact that you know it has very little
[01:10:21] impact to our environment and then all
[01:10:23] the things you just stated the fire
[01:10:25] approv uh is amazing and so I I'm very
[01:10:28] excited this is U possibly going to
[01:10:30] happen hopefully um but I did want to
[01:10:34] say also that the design of the of the
[01:10:37] the neighborhood looks great um and and
[01:10:40] I like the Contemporary look of the
[01:10:41] units and um and I would love to come
[01:10:44] out and see them once everything gets
[01:10:46] started because I I just everything
[01:10:48] sounds really good about this please
[01:10:50] come
[01:10:52] out Vice chair okay first of all I'm
[01:10:55] very fascinated by 3D printing homes
[01:10:58] that's something new and we don't have
[01:10:59] it here in Rancher Mirage so that's
[01:11:01] really exciting um and I'm glad that
[01:11:04] you've completed a project before in
[01:11:07] Desert Hot Springs so that we can look
[01:11:09] at that and and and understand it a
[01:11:11] little bit better I understand also that
[01:11:14] you um you had a plan submitted in 2020
[01:11:17] and it was rejected but you
[01:11:18] re-engineered and here you are again so
[01:11:20] we appreciate we don't give up
[01:11:23] easily okay um I
[01:11:26] and and I you mentioned all these
[01:11:27] fabulous um you know aspects to it uh
[01:11:30] such as energy efficient and fire
[01:11:33] resistant sustainable Net Zero aspect
[01:11:37] gray water and so on those are all
[01:11:38] fantastic in fact this could be very
[01:11:40] applicable um in Los Angeles area after
[01:11:43] the fires to help rebuild and you know
[01:11:46] be able to uh provide homes for all
[01:11:47] these people who've lost homes but my
[01:11:49] question is um you've mentioned these
[01:11:52] positive things has there been anything
[01:11:54] that's been a challenge because it's
[01:11:55] such new technology can you share that
[01:11:58] with us sure um because it's new
[01:12:01] technology that is the challenge
[01:12:03] literally um you know we nobody knew how
[01:12:06] to build them except for the
[01:12:07] manufacturer and then us at least just
[01:12:10] standing the walls up part it's not
[01:12:12] rocket science by any means anyone who's
[01:12:14] done a tilt up building before uh could
[01:12:16] go and do one of these after you do your
[01:12:18] first one you should be fine you know
[01:12:20] there are assembly manuals and all that
[01:12:22] good stuff provided um but that's that's
[01:12:25] the key thing and even even buyers I
[01:12:27] think uh scratch their heads a little
[01:12:29] and go oh this is different um so you
[01:12:31] you've got to talk them through that um
[01:12:35] and then I would say maybe also the
[01:12:36] building inspectors don't know what
[01:12:39] they're dealing with at first um but
[01:12:41] after they've been there a few times
[01:12:42] they're fine with it the buildings uh
[01:12:44] they're actually hcd approved so
[01:12:47] California Housing Community Development
[01:12:49] I think um they put their their stamp on
[01:12:51] that and uh so they're getting inspected
[01:12:54] before they even come to the site um I
[01:12:57] think those are the key things just
[01:12:59] unfamiliarity is is yeah a big one thank
[01:13:03] you thank you moving along to
[01:13:05] commissioner
[01:13:08] gray thank you
[01:13:10] chair um I actually have a number of
[01:13:12] questions about this as well let me
[01:13:14] start with the first one which is do you
[01:13:17] have any idea of what the market price
[01:13:19] of these units are going to be yeah we
[01:13:21] think they'll list in in Rancho Mirage
[01:13:24] the lot for one .9 million and that
[01:13:27] includes the back Adu as well and have
[01:13:30] you done any analysis or comparison with
[01:13:32] conventional Construction in terms of
[01:13:34] cost seems like this is not any much of
[01:13:36] a cost savings maybe more expensive you
[01:13:40] are correct it's not a savings yet um it
[01:13:43] does cost more to print these uh and
[01:13:46] ship them and and do what we're doing um
[01:13:49] as the the technology has scaled up it's
[01:13:52] gotten cheaper of course so before when
[01:13:54] they just had a little printer in
[01:13:56] Oakland it was very expensive but now
[01:13:58] that they've uh scaled up their
[01:14:00] production it's come down a lot um it's
[01:14:03] still yeah of course it's cheaper to do
[01:14:05] stick built but that's not what we do so
[01:14:08] uh
[01:14:10] yeah enjoy the fact that you're blazing
[01:14:12] the trail here I hope it becomes less
[01:14:14] expensive when I first saw this I was
[01:14:16] initially more excited because I thought
[01:14:18] it was a another potential answer for
[01:14:21] California's housing crisis part of
[01:14:24] which is the cost of everything
[01:14:25] everything and this doesn't seem to be
[01:14:27] there yet it also seems as I look at
[01:14:29] this that you're there are two
[01:14:31] relatively modern technologies that
[01:14:33] you're using here one is 3D printing but
[01:14:36] the other is modular construction is
[01:14:38] that an accurate saving because I looked
[01:14:40] at your the desert the picture of the
[01:14:42] desert hot springs development and it
[01:14:44] looks like you're dropping an entire
[01:14:45] module onto the panel walls that are
[01:14:48] constructed because can you tell me a
[01:14:49] little bit about the difference or
[01:14:51] similarities yes these two things of
[01:14:53] course so uh it is it's all modular to
[01:14:57] us um modular is made up of components
[01:15:01] so the walls are one component the other
[01:15:04] major component are bathroom pods so
[01:15:07] actually the the two bathrooms in that
[01:15:09] unit you saw are manufactured in
[01:15:11] Pennsyvania and and shipped out here
[01:15:13] we're trying to get it more local but um
[01:15:15] with what we're going to do in ranchel
[01:15:16] Mirage we're going to definitely I'm not
[01:15:19] sure if all the bathrooms will be made
[01:15:20] in a factory but we're looking at
[01:15:22] different ways to componentize anything
[01:15:25] we can basically and and get it done off
[01:15:28] site so that it comes here we just drop
[01:15:30] it in and hook it
[01:15:32] up big concern in the in the uh in this
[01:15:36] area is energy consumption and the
[01:15:37] efficiency of insulation on a house how
[01:15:41] does how does this sort of construction
[01:15:43] compare with conventional Construction
[01:15:45] in terms of use of energy yeah
[01:15:48] so the manufacturer will tell you their
[01:15:51] Net Zero I mean I I probably shouldn't
[01:15:53] say that here but um they they they do
[01:15:55] use you know power of course when you
[01:15:57] slap solar on it um you're not you're
[01:16:00] literally could be off grid and and not
[01:16:03] pay an electric bill at all um the
[01:16:05] insulation is above standard I believe
[01:16:07] the walls come out to r31 somewhere
[01:16:10] around there um but they they designed
[01:16:14] it to be energy efficient from the
[01:16:16] get-go okay and I was also just curious
[01:16:19] how how is the HVAC ducted because seems
[01:16:23] like you have closed walls and a flat
[01:16:25] closed roof so how does that all work
[01:16:27] sure so um actually the current HVAC
[01:16:31] goes through a mechanical room and that
[01:16:34] room has ducts that go out through the
[01:16:37] ceiling um we're messing around with Min
[01:16:40] splits maybe um we don't like the
[01:16:43] ducting uh great question um and it's a
[01:16:45] challenge with what we're doing for sure
[01:16:48] okay
[01:16:50] um some of the my questions you answer
[01:16:53] when you put the the
[01:16:55] 3D printed slabs up are they
[01:16:57] self-supporting and just bolted to the
[01:16:59] foundation or is there some other
[01:17:01] support like a steel gerder or something
[01:17:04] sure so uh this particular iteration of
[01:17:08] the technology is going to have a a
[01:17:10] steel moment frame construction and the
[01:17:13] the walls actually sort of snap into it
[01:17:16] so it's it's called a curtain wall the
[01:17:17] wall itself doesn't provide any
[01:17:19] structural support um it's just the 3D
[01:17:22] printed material so the steel is doing
[01:17:24] everything
[01:17:27] and and it's that's bolted to the
[01:17:29] foundation obviously well like I said
[01:17:32] I'm very uh I'm very very curious about
[01:17:34] this technology and I am uh really
[01:17:38] looking forward to the cost coming down
[01:17:41] for it beyond that the rest of the
[01:17:43] project seems entirely suited for its
[01:17:45] location and um compliant with all of
[01:17:49] the considerations as a Planning
[01:17:51] Commission that we need to do I was
[01:17:52] interested in the uh zoning change that
[01:17:55] we're asked to make and that does not
[01:17:57] change the overall utilization of the
[01:17:59] two existing Parcels so that's in
[01:18:01] compliance so I'm very encouraged by the
[01:18:04] fact that you are taking this leap into
[01:18:06] the future and strongly encourage you to
[01:18:08] bring the price down and build some
[01:18:10] affordable housing
[01:18:11] too that's my goal price down and cost
[01:18:16] thank you commissioner so I'll move to
[01:18:22] Bryant these are going to be by the way
[01:18:25] you asked a lot of the questions I
[01:18:27] wanted and then your presentation
[01:18:28] answered many of the questions so I'm
[01:18:30] not going to rehash those so these are
[01:18:33] just sort of random um you're certainly
[01:18:36] aware at Rancho Mirage there are no
[01:18:38] short-term rental yeah um so since these
[01:18:41] are homes and
[01:18:43] adus who is your intended market for
[01:18:47] these homes sure uh I was thinking about
[01:18:51] that on the way here it's it's really a
[01:18:53] somebody who wants sustainability and
[01:18:55] luxury and Hightech so um it could serve
[01:19:00] as a a vacation home but not not a
[01:19:03] rental home that's that's probably not
[01:19:04] the right market for that um yeah I mean
[01:19:09] I would just I would live in this house
[01:19:10] if it were me
[01:19:12] uh so uh do you perceive that there will
[01:19:16] be whether they're full-time or
[01:19:19] part-time residents will be living in
[01:19:20] the house and that they'll rent the Adu
[01:19:24] uh do you think you investors will buy
[01:19:27] these and then rent the house and the
[01:19:28] Adu to separate
[01:19:30] people um I'm not sure you can rent the
[01:19:33] Adu separately is that I don't even know
[01:19:36] if that's possible California law is
[01:19:38] that a new law that just passed by
[01:19:40] chance or adus are allowed to be rented
[01:19:44] okay that wasn't our Target buyer I
[01:19:47] don't think uh I don't somebody who's
[01:19:49] going to buy this place probably doesn't
[01:19:51] want a separate renter in their backyard
[01:19:53] um
[01:19:55] uh but the Adu is I think isolated
[01:19:59] enough that you could do that um there's
[01:20:00] a nice long driveway plenty of
[01:20:03] parking um but I think our our buyer is
[01:20:06] probably somebody who's going to want to
[01:20:07] live here full-time because it's going
[01:20:09] to be an awesome awesome product and
[01:20:11] property U and then um nothing wrong
[01:20:14] with I'm just curious why each entrance
[01:20:17] is gated each home has a gated entry
[01:20:20] sure so that's mainly because they're
[01:20:22] all meant to have a pool and we need to
[01:20:25] enclose uh all around the pool and we
[01:20:28] don't want to put a a pool fence right
[01:20:30] there like a black fence we're going to
[01:20:31] do automatic covers and make it nice and
[01:20:33] clean and sorry microphone uh okay clean
[01:20:37] lines um and then each of the units have
[01:20:40] a two-car garage correct yes um and if
[01:20:44] you have a house and Adu presumably you
[01:20:47] might have three or four cars does that
[01:20:49] mean that people will be parking on the
[01:20:51] street uh only during the day our HOA is
[01:20:55] not going to allow overnight parking but
[01:20:56] we think the the driveway is it's very
[01:21:00] long um we're going to make little
[01:21:03] little pa spots off to the side of the
[01:21:05] driveway where you could park and
[01:21:06] somebody could get out of the the garage
[01:21:08] but we don't want people in the
[01:21:10] street okay all right
[01:21:17] uh so a lot of questions you answered um
[01:21:22] and I I did watch the U desert Hot
[01:21:24] Springs Planning Commission hearing on
[01:21:27] video it was I'm not sure when it
[01:21:30] occurred um and then one of the
[01:21:32] questions uh they had was uh is the Adu
[01:21:37] conventional construction or partial
[01:21:39] convention or is it all conventional
[01:21:41] construction the Adu itself the Adu is
[01:21:44] the same construction it's the same 3D
[01:21:46] printed panels just smaller okay yeah
[01:21:49] Desert Hot Springs has a slightly
[01:21:50] different Adu that was an earlier
[01:21:53] iteration of the technology
[01:21:55] um yeah it's all panels now all right
[01:22:02] um um great you answered all the
[01:22:05] questions I do have some questions for
[01:22:07] the staff if it's appropriate to um if
[01:22:10] could you pull up the uh site plan the
[01:22:12] Landscaping please
[01:22:14] P um the landscaping or the site plan uh
[01:22:18] I have this land the Landscaping plan
[01:22:22] let me go that ler
[01:22:27] so this one is for the
[01:22:29] Parkways okay um so the main entrance is
[01:22:33] on uh via Josina right correct okay
[01:22:38] um so the I think there was a new
[01:22:43] condition added in between the canopy
[01:22:45] trees they have to plant date palms they
[01:22:48] yes and and this um slide shows the
[01:22:51] updated ones the packet doesn't have
[01:22:53] them but the applicant provided them
[01:22:54] this morning so I updated the
[01:22:56] presentation you can see let me see if
[01:22:58] my pointer works there's some palm trees
[01:23:01] here and here and then on the Via
[01:23:03] Florencia one there's some palm trees
[01:23:05] shown the final development plan will be
[01:23:08] reviewed and we'll take a closer look at
[01:23:10] these but per the condition of approval
[01:23:13] will um staff will will determine if the
[01:23:15] location of the palm trees is AC um
[01:23:18] accurate for for what we're we're asking
[01:23:21] and if the type of palm trees is what we
[01:23:23] would would like to see so date pal or
[01:23:26] the other um Washington roosta
[01:23:30] washingtonia fifra fifra which is what's
[01:23:33] what's shown here okay you're showing
[01:23:36] here the washingtonia yes okay please
[01:23:39] not the
[01:23:40] Robusta uh okay and so that is on uh via
[01:23:45] Josina and Florencia correct and will
[01:23:49] they be required to put the Venia put
[01:23:52] the road in can yes so their half with
[01:23:55] Improvement and then the other track
[01:23:57] that we're currently reviewing will be
[01:23:59] required to do their half with all right
[01:24:01] and then on the other side on the North
[01:24:05] side I guess it's another development
[01:24:07] there's no Road there on the North side
[01:24:09] is there let me bring up that site plan
[01:24:11] so so we can have it there's no Road
[01:24:13] currently um and they're they're not
[01:24:15] required to oops here we are they're not
[01:24:18] required to do any any improvements on
[01:24:21] this North Side all
[01:24:23] right um
[01:24:29] and of course M I know you're waiting
[01:24:30] for this hopefully they will not use uh
[01:24:33] for ground cover Jagged Rock no there
[01:24:36] there there will not be Jag Jagged rocks
[01:24:38] and uh Cactus and pointed stuff uh close
[01:24:42] to a pedestrian walkway anywhere nope
[01:24:45] and that is also a condition of approval
[01:24:48] okay um in this project if a if the
[01:24:53] house and the
[01:24:55] Adu are rented separately or whatever
[01:24:59] over over a certain amount of time
[01:25:01] obviously can't be under U the
[01:25:04] short-term rental do do we get to on
[01:25:08] things like that not for regular rentals
[01:25:10] they would just be treated as regular
[01:25:12] rentals and per state law they're
[01:25:13] allowed okay okay those are my
[01:25:18] questions thank you
[01:25:20] commissioner any other commissioner
[01:25:22] comments
[01:25:25] I see
[01:25:26] none
[01:25:30] um uh so I want to go and open it up to
[01:25:35] a um motion for a
[01:25:38] first okay I move that the Planning
[01:25:41] Commission adopt resolution 2025 PC next
[01:25:45] in order recommending that the city
[01:25:47] council take the following actions a
[01:25:49] adopt resolution 2025 approving and
[01:25:52] adopting the mitigation
[01:25:54] uh excuse me mitigation monitoring and
[01:25:56] Reporting program and mitigated negative
[01:25:59] declaration SC
[01:26:02] 20241
[01:26:03] 11279 for the proposed Project based on
[01:26:06] environmental assessment case EA
[01:26:10] 24001 and B adopt resolution 2025 next
[01:26:14] in order approving General plan zoning
[01:26:17] map Amendment GPZ ma24
[01:26:21] d001 to change the underlying zoning
[01:26:25] designation of the subjected prop
[01:26:28] property from very low
[01:26:30] density uh rl2 and medium density
[01:26:33] residents RM designations to low density
[01:26:37] residential 3 du AC Max rl3 tenative
[01:26:42] Track Pack map number TTM
[01:26:47] 24-1 TTM
[01:26:50] 38868 and preliminary development plan
[01:26:52] case number PD P
[01:26:56] 24-1 I'll second that motion thank you
[01:26:59] we have a motion on a second please
[01:27:17] vote motion passes 5
[01:27:20] Z thank you that brings us to item
[01:27:22] number three
[01:27:24] Ritz Carlton ran Mirage environmental
[01:27:27] assessment case number EA
[01:27:31] 21-2 and I'll turn it over to my right
[01:27:34] here Ben thank you chair augustini and
[01:27:37] uh good afternoon members of the
[01:27:39] Planning
[01:27:43] Commission uh the project site is
[01:27:45] located next to the existing Ritz
[01:27:46] Carlton Resort along Frankston outra
[01:27:49] Drive uh the project is broken up into
[01:27:51] two main areas uh the resident's portion
[01:27:54] and the sky Mesa recreational area uh
[01:27:57] the image to the right shows these areas
[01:27:59] uh and then the image to the left shows
[01:28:01] the overall property owned by the Ritz
[01:28:04] Carlton uh to provide some background on
[01:28:07] this request uh the current um major
[01:28:10] modification request is a modification
[01:28:13] to a prior project approved by the city
[01:28:15] council on August 3rd 2006 for a hotel
[01:28:19] expansion with multiple components uh
[01:28:21] that included tennis Villas on the other
[01:28:22] side of Frank and atra
[01:28:25] uh no changes to the tennis Villas are
[01:28:27] proposed as part of the subject request
[01:28:29] the area shown in red is included in the
[01:28:32] development included the development of
[01:28:33] a twing building and various Hotel
[01:28:35] Villas the hotel Villas are similar in
[01:28:38] nature and concept to the proposed B
[01:28:40] buildings of the current project uh they
[01:28:43] were also set back a minimum of 50 ft
[01:28:45] from the exterior property lines uh they
[01:28:47] were two stories and contained a total
[01:28:49] of 111 units um which accounted for the
[01:28:53] T building as well uh the current
[01:28:55] project is proposing 106 units for
[01:28:57] reference within this
[01:29:00] area um this is the proposed site plan
[01:29:03] for the current major modification
[01:29:04] request which again is modifying the
[01:29:07] prior entitlements um by adding
[01:29:10] 23,800 ft of event space adding a 381
[01:29:14] stall Subterranean parking structure
[01:29:16] it's reducing the units from 111 to 106
[01:29:20] U modifying the B buildings with updated
[01:29:23] architecture and incorporating garages
[01:29:25] and adding uh the 6,200 ft² to Sky Mesa
[01:29:29] Restaurant and recreational
[01:29:31] area uh building A1 will consist of 48
[01:29:35] condo hotel units uh the venue which
[01:29:38] will be the event space and the
[01:29:40] Subterranean parking uh buildings B1
[01:29:43] through B15 will have 58 condo hotel
[01:29:46] units and a 5,500 um squ foot Lounge
[01:29:49] area is also proposed as an amenity to
[01:29:52] this uh these buildings
[01:29:54] uh the ten parcel map that's proposed is
[01:29:56] for condominium purposes uh to establish
[01:29:59] three separate Parcels for a portion of
[01:30:01] the project site parcel 3 will contain
[01:30:04] the 106 condo hotel
[01:30:06] units uh colors and materials for the
[01:30:09] venue a building A1 and buildings B1
[01:30:13] through B15 will consist of a main
[01:30:14] stuckle color of Benjamin Moore in
[01:30:17] Bleaker beggy and a smooth finish with
[01:30:19] an accent color of Sherman Williams
[01:30:21] backdrop integral also and a smooth
[01:30:24] finish masoner veneer and a timberwolf
[01:30:27] color will add interest to the
[01:30:29] architecture Roofing will consist of
[01:30:31] concrete tile in a California missioned
[01:30:33] Blen color color a variety of other
[01:30:36] trims and finishes um will complement
[01:30:38] the primary materials are proposed for
[01:30:40] the fases and metal elements of the
[01:30:42] building the architectural style is best
[01:30:44] described as contemporary desert
[01:30:46] architecture uh compatible with the
[01:30:48] existing
[01:30:49] Hotel uh these are the venue elevations
[01:30:52] the venue will be a one-story build
[01:30:53] building in the background is the
[01:30:56] residential units of the A1 building
[01:30:58] that's connected uh from this vantage
[01:31:00] point the residential portion of the
[01:31:02] project site ranges from 35 ft to 47 ft
[01:31:05] tall but please be aware that the venue
[01:31:07] is at a lower elevation than the
[01:31:09] residential in the background and this
[01:31:10] will be um further screened uh by the
[01:31:14] existing U three-story britz Carlton um
[01:31:17] Hotel uh the venue plan contains a large
[01:31:21] 11,000 ft main event space with
[01:31:23] additional areas for kitchen and pre
[01:31:24] function space uh the west elevation
[01:31:27] shows a good perspective of the changes
[01:31:29] in elevation from the venue to the
[01:31:30] residential units of a building A1 uh
[01:31:34] the venue will have a maximum height of
[01:31:35] 39 ft 3 in and then the units for
[01:31:39] reference on the west elevation will
[01:31:41] have a maximum height of 25' 5 in from
[01:31:44] the higher grade
[01:31:46] portion a majority of the um units of
[01:31:50] building A1 um will have um again that
[01:31:54] height of 25' 5 in uh from the north
[01:31:57] elevation uh you can see the entrance to
[01:31:59] the Subterranean garage uh the building
[01:32:02] A1 um units consist of three plant types
[01:32:05] which range in size from 1,63 Square fet
[01:32:09] to92 squ ft² uh they will consist of 26
[01:32:13] one bedroom one bath units 12
[01:32:15] two-bedroom two bath units and 10 two
[01:32:18] bedroom three bath
[01:32:20] units um these are South elevations
[01:32:23] which will primarily have a height of
[01:32:24] around 25 ft um this rendering shows the
[01:32:28] one-story venue building as um you
[01:32:31] approach it from um the Ritz Carlton
[01:32:34] property uh the renderings um for
[01:32:37] building A1 um shows the various
[01:32:40] walkways landscape and buildings um
[01:32:43] looking
[01:32:44] South and then this is a site section
[01:32:47] showing how the parking venue and uh
[01:32:49] units of building A1 will be situated on
[01:32:52] the property
[01:32:55] this line of sight study shows how the
[01:32:57] tallest portion of uh building A1 and
[01:32:59] the closer um Building B um units a look
[01:33:05] when viewing from a residence to the
[01:33:08] South
[01:33:09] here and you can see kind of the
[01:33:11] difference in um the great elevations
[01:33:13] there's about a 34t difference from this
[01:33:15] Vantage Point um with grades um kind of
[01:33:20] getting closer as you go down franksen
[01:33:21] atra from both properties
[01:33:24] uh the residential buildings B1 through
[01:33:27] B15 uh consist of various sizes uh these
[01:33:30] elevations show a fiveplex version with
[01:33:32] a maximum height of 32 feet 4 in uh the
[01:33:36] tallest B building is just 3 in taller
[01:33:39] um this is a rendering of the Project's
[01:33:42] main entrance showing um one of the be
[01:33:44] buildings in the
[01:33:46] background and then this is a rendering
[01:33:48] of the lounge which will provide
[01:33:50] recreational amenities and space to the
[01:33:53] new development
[01:33:55] uh the sky Mesa Recreation Area was not
[01:33:58] a part of the 2006 entitlements um but
[01:34:00] is included as part of this major
[01:34:02] modification and includes a restaurant
[01:34:05] in addition to recreational amenities uh
[01:34:07] 50ft setbacks are also proposed for this
[01:34:11] area the sky Mesa recreational area is
[01:34:14] located on 3.88 Acres of U Mountain
[01:34:17] Reserve Zone um land of the project site
[01:34:21] uh uses in the mountain Reserve zone are
[01:34:23] are limited to recreational activities
[01:34:25] such as hiking or equestrian rails or
[01:34:28] non-motorized bike trails as part of the
[01:34:30] proposed project the applicant is
[01:34:32] proposing an amendment to the city's
[01:34:33] General plan zoning map that would
[01:34:35] expand the resort hotel designation and
[01:34:38] Zoning to Encompass the skym of portion
[01:34:40] of the site which has been privately
[01:34:42] owned property and um hasn't been um
[01:34:46] owned by the as public
[01:34:48] land um in addition it's been um
[01:34:50] partially graded in the past as well and
[01:34:53] addition uh development with Sky Mesa
[01:34:55] recreational areas uh just limited to uh
[01:34:59] a total of
[01:35:00] 6,966 square feet which includes the
[01:35:04] 6,273 foot restaurant built into the um
[01:35:08] Mountain Area to minimize visual impacts
[01:35:10] and a 693 ft restroom building in total
[01:35:14] buildings within Sky Mesa um make up
[01:35:17] less than 4% of the 3.88 Acres allocated
[01:35:21] um to this recreational area uh the
[01:35:23] major majority of um the area um about
[01:35:27] 96% will be dedicated to Recreation uses
[01:35:30] an open space which is compatible with
[01:35:32] the mountain Reserve Zone uh materials
[01:35:34] and colors within Sky Mesa will consist
[01:35:36] of a main material of smooth stucco in a
[01:35:39] Benjamin more Bleaker baggy color with
[01:35:42] accent um color of backdrop integral
[01:35:46] accents uh will include a concrete wall
[01:35:48] and smooth finish with metal trims
[01:35:50] painted in a two can black and then uh
[01:35:53] doors and and window frames will be
[01:35:54] painted in a dark Bronze
[01:35:56] finish uh these are the north and east
[01:35:58] elevations of the sky Mesa Restaurant uh
[01:36:02] which provide a good Viewpoint of the
[01:36:03] restaurant and it's designed to minimize
[01:36:06] um visual impacts and show how it is
[01:36:08] incorporated within the natural
[01:36:10] Landscaping uh restaurant elevations
[01:36:13] utilize a good amount of floor to
[01:36:14] sealing glass to take advantage of the
[01:36:16] spectacular uh views of the surrounding
[01:36:20] uh you can also see a site section to
[01:36:22] understand how the restaurant will be
[01:36:23] situated within the natural
[01:36:25] environment the project site will be
[01:36:27] lushly landscaped with a variety of
[01:36:28] trees shrubs um trees proposed include
[01:36:32] mulga sweet Acacia Desert Willow blue
[01:36:35] poo Verity and a variety of others in 36
[01:36:37] in box sizes a variety of date palms and
[01:36:40] California fan Palms in various sizes
[01:36:42] are also proposed and then shrubs like
[01:36:45] desert milk weed brittle Bush and Autumn
[01:36:48] stage will provide color and
[01:36:50] interest uh the sky Mesa area um
[01:36:53] incorporate many of the same Landscaping
[01:36:55] choices like Pao verde in various State
[01:36:57] and California fan Palms a variety of
[01:37:00] shrubs are also proposed to line the
[01:37:02] walking paths in addition to uh
[01:37:04] freestanding small Pathway lights that
[01:37:06] will light the
[01:37:08] pathways uh this project also includes a
[01:37:10] development agreement Amendment uh the
[01:37:12] 10th Amendment to the um development
[01:37:14] agreement updates terms for the project
[01:37:16] site and incorporates the proposed
[01:37:18] modifications to previously approved
[01:37:20] entitlements uh that are part of the
[01:37:22] subject request it also allows owner
[01:37:24] occupancy for a period of 6 months
[01:37:26] whether consecutive or
[01:37:28] non-consecutive and allows terms for
[01:37:30] personal occupancy Provisions uh for
[01:37:32] additional personal occupancy Provisions
[01:37:34] are included uh the Ritz Carlton will
[01:37:36] manage um the condo hotel rentals and um
[01:37:40] sets uh and this development agreement
[01:37:42] sets a 10-year term for the product
[01:37:44] site a mitiga negative declaration based
[01:37:48] on environmental assessment case number
[01:37:49] EA um 21-
[01:37:52] 00002 um was prepared mitigation
[01:37:55] measures were recommended for air
[01:37:56] quality biological resources cultural
[01:37:59] resources noise Transportation SLT
[01:38:01] trffic and tribal cultural resources a
[01:38:04] notice of intent to adopt a mitigated
[01:38:06] negative Declaration was first
[01:38:08] distributed for a 30-day um public
[01:38:10] comment period which began on March 11th
[01:38:13] um to April 9th
[01:38:16] 2024 uh based on comments received uh
[01:38:19] revisions were made to um the
[01:38:21] environmental document which was resarch
[01:38:23] circulated for a subsequent 30-day
[01:38:25] review period from July 22nd 2024 to
[01:38:29] August 20th
[01:38:30] 2024 responses to the comments were
[01:38:33] incorporated into the environmental
[01:38:37] document uh the Architectural Review
[01:38:40] Board conducted public meetings on
[01:38:42] February 27th 2023 and March 27 2023 and
[01:38:47] recommended the product to the Planning
[01:38:48] Commission as detailed in the staff
[01:38:50] report at this time staff recommends
[01:38:53] that the plan in commission adopt
[01:38:54] resolution number 2025 next in order
[01:38:57] recommending that the city council take
[01:38:59] the following actions a adopt resolution
[01:39:01] number 2025 next in order approving the
[01:39:04] mitigation monitoring and Reporting
[01:39:06] program and mitigated negative
[01:39:08] declaration for the proposed Project
[01:39:10] based on environmental assessment case
[01:39:12] number EA 2021
[01:39:15] d002 B adopt resolution number 2025 next
[01:39:20] in order approving General plan zoning
[01:39:22] map Amendment um GPZ 2000 21-
[01:39:27] 00001 tenative parcel map case number
[01:39:29] TPM
[01:39:32] 23-2 and major modification case number
[01:39:36] mod mod
[01:39:39] 21-4 and C introduced and adopt
[01:39:41] ordinance next an order approving
[01:39:43] development agreement Amendment at da
[01:39:47] 21-2 uh staff did receive four public
[01:39:50] comment um comments uh prior to the cut
[01:39:53] off date for um cut off time for public
[01:39:55] comments on this item which were
[01:39:57] distributed to the Planning Commission U
[01:39:59] prior um to the meeting um that
[01:40:01] concludes staff's presentation and staff
[01:40:04] um the applicants uh project manager
[01:40:06] owner and environmental consultant are
[01:40:08] also in the audience thank you thank you
[01:40:11] Ben so I'll turn it over to open it up
[01:40:13] for public
[01:40:15] comment we will open up the public
[01:40:17] hearing and we will begin with Louie
[01:40:20] Lopez are you still here
[01:40:26] please not you will have a three minute
[01:40:27] time limit please state your name and
[01:40:29] address for the record thank
[01:40:32] you I guess they get lucky on first huh
[01:40:36] uh Louis Lopez I'm a business agent for
[01:40:37] the Iron Workers Local
[01:40:39] 433 um I always like to take advantage
[01:40:41] of these forums here to kind of educate
[01:40:44] it's what a lot of us Community back
[01:40:45] here and even the elected or appointees
[01:40:49] um I want to go over uh skilled and
[01:40:51] trained and the reason why the iron
[01:40:53] workor ERS are pushing against this
[01:40:55] project um it's basically developer uh
[01:40:58] may choose uh and we see this time in
[01:41:01] time again may use a tactic of choosing
[01:41:03] one or two um uh Union uh trades so they
[01:41:08] can say hey we're building this Union
[01:41:10] when in its entirety that's not a true
[01:41:13] statement um kind of short changing the
[01:41:17] city in this case uh ranal Mirage um
[01:41:21] again going back to trained and skill bu
[01:41:24] It's s sort of like um you know sitting
[01:41:26] back there looking at this beautiful
[01:41:27] structure if an earthquake were to
[01:41:29] happen right now I think most people
[01:41:31] would probably look at for an Escape
[01:41:33] Route or at least have that indication
[01:41:35] that I hope this building doesn't fail
[01:41:37] right doesn't collapse right um that's
[01:41:39] the whole thing about skilled and
[01:41:40] trained when it's built right the first
[01:41:42] time yeah most of us trade uh men and
[01:41:45] women um we do cost um that's because we
[01:41:49] go through an apprenticeship program
[01:41:50] that's anywhere from 3 to 5 years for
[01:41:52] the iron workers it's a 5-year program
[01:41:55] that's stayed accredited that means we
[01:41:57] get an accreditation that kind of brings
[01:42:00] me to the example I like to give is if I
[01:42:03] myself were going to look for a surgeon
[01:42:05] to perform a surgery on me or my spouse
[01:42:07] or my children I want to get a highly
[01:42:10] recommended one right one that's gone
[01:42:11] through the proper schooling one that's
[01:42:13] recommended one that has the right
[01:42:16] credentials and and is able to perform
[01:42:18] that surgery um that's kind of like what
[01:42:21] skilled and trained is so when all our
[01:42:23] members uh men and women uh are being
[01:42:26] trained for these specific tasks of
[01:42:29] course there's a dollar value behind it
[01:42:30] because we do have great wages benefits
[01:42:33] uh retirement packages but we also go
[01:42:36] through the proper training um so when
[01:42:39] we get developers or people that come
[01:42:42] into certain cities and want to do
[01:42:45] businesses and say hey this is the value
[01:42:46] that we bring but yet it's not a true
[01:42:49] statement that's something that um that
[01:42:52] I'd like to present towards uh the
[01:42:54] Planning Commission to really look into
[01:42:56] that and maybe even ask you know that
[01:42:58] the the applicant you know uh what
[01:43:01] their what their course of action is or
[01:43:04] what their answer to that is um because
[01:43:06] at this point uh we got three trades
[01:43:09] back here that aren't um aren't included
[01:43:11] in this project and I don't want to
[01:43:13] sound like uh you know one of those
[01:43:15] spoiled kids or anything I don't get my
[01:43:17] piece of candy but in reality we have
[01:43:19] members that live here uh that want to
[01:43:21] work here um that also take pride in our
[01:43:24] work go to school get the education get
[01:43:26] the accreditations and want to and want
[01:43:29] to and want to participate in building
[01:43:32] things right the first time um including
[01:43:35] uh this Ritz Carlton uh project um so
[01:43:39] yeah we are here uh to push against this
[01:43:42] um hopefully the developer will see the
[01:43:45] value and including um the other trades
[01:43:49] in this in this in this project so that
[01:43:51] it can get performed right the first
[01:43:54] time and come with true transparency to
[01:43:57] deliver a project uh to the city of
[01:44:00] Ranchi marage uh adequately the other
[01:44:04] thing is me being a Marine Corps veteran
[01:44:07] all of our trades even the ones that are
[01:44:09] included also have a and I always like
[01:44:12] to highlight this a relationship with
[01:44:14] helmet to hard hats so our men and women
[01:44:15] that are coming back from the serving
[01:44:17] their country proudly get a direct entry
[01:44:20] into our program so I believe they
[01:44:22] should have the right to work on these
[01:44:24] projects plus the local community thank
[01:44:25] you very much thank
[01:44:27] you thank you our next uh speaker will
[01:44:30] be John
[01:44:41] Sisley hi my name is John cisley I
[01:44:44] represent the union plumbers Pipe
[01:44:46] Fitters and Refrigeration for sanino and
[01:44:48] Riverside counties I'm also a delegate
[01:44:50] to the Building Trades Commission State
[01:44:52] of California and an ex United States
[01:44:54] Army Airborne
[01:44:55] Ranger I was at a uh a legislative
[01:44:58] breakfast this morning with Sheriff
[01:45:00] Bianco and a district attorney for
[01:45:03] Riverside a lot of healthy conversation
[01:45:06] about Community um a lot of healthy
[01:45:09] conversation about
[01:45:10] homelessness and substance
[01:45:13] abuse and it strikes me all these issues
[01:45:16] begin with sustainable wages and
[01:45:18] benefits for your local community
[01:45:20] members not just one un that they'll
[01:45:23] partner with to make it look like that
[01:45:25] it's a legit job they're they're not
[01:45:28] concerned about your community they're
[01:45:30] concerned about their bottom line um all
[01:45:34] the crafts here like like my brother Lou
[01:45:37] stated everybody has a speciality and
[01:45:40] everybody does their part and all the
[01:45:42] unions work together to build something
[01:45:44] not just one Union and if you get just
[01:45:47] one Union you're not getting an adequate
[01:45:50] build my I'm I represent plumbers and
[01:45:52] pip ERS okay I don't put up high iron
[01:45:55] you wouldn't want me putting up your
[01:45:56] high iron and you wouldn't want the guys
[01:45:58] that put up high iron putting in your
[01:46:01] plumbing okay
[01:46:04] so when you see that tactic that's a
[01:46:07] developer that's trying to divide unions
[01:46:11] and help their bottom line and get
[01:46:12] something built to the lowest standard
[01:46:15] possible don't let them rape your
[01:46:18] community don't approve this project
[01:46:20] without a proper labor agreement thank
[01:46:22] you thank
[01:46:27] you the next speaker will be Rob RIS
[01:46:40] Ramo good evening my name is Robert raml
[01:46:43] and I'm with the Iron Workers Local for
[01:46:48] 416 well my brother said it ex they took
[01:46:52] my thunder but they they're right on it
[01:46:57] every i' like to say is every community
[01:47:01] experiences homelessness and poverty
[01:47:04] right but we we're here as a union as a
[01:47:08] whole to make better wages make
[01:47:11] communities better that that and employ
[01:47:16] your sons and daughters in times when if
[01:47:19] they don't want to go to college guess
[01:47:20] what they got a trade they could pick up
[01:47:22] on
[01:47:23] they got somewhere to go but not just
[01:47:26] the iron workers but the plumbers and
[01:47:27] pipe
[01:47:28] fitters Carpenters
[01:47:31] right that's what the crafts are all
[01:47:34] about having a livable wage skilled and
[01:47:37] trained labor right My Brother Louie
[01:47:40] talked about skilled and train labor we
[01:47:42] are a four a three to four year fiveyear
[01:47:46] apprenticeship program guess what we
[01:47:48] also get college credit so we do get
[01:47:50] that Higher Learning not in books but
[01:47:52] with our crafts these are these are our
[01:47:53] paintbrushes this is what we build
[01:47:55] America on right so I'm here tonight to
[01:47:59] ask to not approve this project until we
[01:48:02] get a labor agreement thank you very
[01:48:06] much thank
[01:48:09] you the next speaker will be Jack cahon
[01:48:24] good afternoon I appreciate you for
[01:48:26] having me thank you honorable commission
[01:48:27] board thank you uh my name is Zach kahun
[01:48:30] I'm here to speak in opposition of the
[01:48:32] Ritz Carlton project I used to be an
[01:48:35] addict until I met Jesus and he changed
[01:48:37] my
[01:48:37] life once a man gets saved and starts
[01:48:40] thinking he's straight he needs to start
[01:48:41] looking for a
[01:48:43] job the Project's design is all right
[01:48:46] but it's also a big a big missed
[01:48:48] opportunity if we don't consider our
[01:48:50] non- reti population who lives local
[01:48:52] wants to take care of their family by
[01:48:54] working on this
[01:48:56] project so until this project includes
[01:48:58] local Hy Community benefit I ask that
[01:49:01] you hold off on approval until the de
[01:49:03] the developer has sat down with some of
[01:49:06] the local guys here to hear what can be
[01:49:08] done to help the local working age
[01:49:10] families thank you very much God bless
[01:49:12] you we appreciate you thank you thank
[01:49:17] you the next speaker will be Joseph
[01:49:19] Barrera
[01:49:30] good evening my name is Joseph
[01:49:32] Barrera um I'm here on the behalf of the
[01:49:34] thousands of hardworking men and women
[01:49:36] at the iron workers
[01:49:37] 433 um we're here today to oppose this
[01:49:40] project and ask that you oppose it as
[01:49:42] well um we had hoped that this developer
[01:49:45] would choose to hire responsible
[01:49:47] contractors who will hire locally
[01:49:49] provide living wages ensure benefits for
[01:49:51] the workforce and provide the chance for
[01:49:53] apprentices to learn the trade on a real
[01:49:55] job site Unfortunately they have not
[01:49:57] done so this overall is a failure to our
[01:49:59] community and we deserve better support
[01:50:01] the local Workforce support you um us
[01:50:04] but do not support this project do not
[01:50:07] vote Yes tonight for this project um on
[01:50:09] a side note I'm a I'm a local resident I
[01:50:11] live five five miles
[01:50:14] away um but it would be a great privileg
[01:50:16] to work on this project and uh to get
[01:50:18] this work um for our iron workers
[01:50:20] brothers so thank you
[01:50:25] you the next speaker will be Josh Gast
[01:50:42] Blum hello and good evening uh honorable
[01:50:46] planning Commissioners I'd like to thank
[01:50:48] you for your time first and foremost uh
[01:50:50] my name is uh Joshua Gastelum
[01:50:53] and I am here this evening to speak in
[01:50:55] opposition of the Ritz Carlton
[01:50:57] project uh I would like to present some
[01:51:00] statistics that I
[01:51:02] believe uh best help to frame my
[01:51:06] concerns this is from data USA in 2022
[01:51:11] Rancho Mirage had a population of 17.3
[01:51:14] th000 people with the median age of
[01:51:18] 64.9 and a median household income of
[01:51:21] 105,000
[01:51:23] between 2021 and 2022 the population of
[01:51:26] Rancher Mirage Grew From
[01:51:29] 17,120 to
[01:51:33] 17,25 that's a 74% increase and its
[01:51:37] median household income Grew From 95,000
[01:51:41] to 105,000 that's a 10.9%
[01:51:45] increase ranal Mirage has to have
[01:51:48] something to offer its community members
[01:51:50] who are not in retirement
[01:51:53] this can be done by including Community
[01:51:54] benefits agreements and projects that
[01:51:58] require local
[01:51:59] hire this ensures that working age
[01:52:02] members of the community are able to
[01:52:04] participate in the building of this
[01:52:06] project since otherwise they would be
[01:52:09] excluded from nearly every other aspect
[01:52:11] of it this is a land use issue because
[01:52:15] we can include local hire as a community
[01:52:18] benefit that is written into the
[01:52:20] conditions of approval until local hire
[01:52:23] is included as a condition of approval I
[01:52:26] ask that you deny this project before
[01:52:29] you this evening thank you and God bless
[01:52:31] you God bless ranchel Mirage and God
[01:52:34] bless the hardworking men and women that
[01:52:35] build America thank you thank you the
[01:52:39] next speaker will be Omar
[01:52:49] Cain good evening uh staff Commissioners
[01:52:53] my name is Omar Kobe and I'm
[01:52:54] representing over 5,400 Carpenters that
[01:52:56] live right here in Riverside County and
[01:52:58] about 800 that live in the Coachella
[01:52:59] Valley um know my what more can I say
[01:53:03] than some of my other fellow Union
[01:53:05] Brothers um you know they made a comment
[01:53:07] about having possibly an agreement with
[01:53:09] the Union it ain't the Carpenters and we
[01:53:11] built 70% of all buildings including
[01:53:14] structural housing um I want to make a
[01:53:17] comment uh the Coachella Valley right
[01:53:19] now one of the biggest things that you
[01:53:21] know I just came from meeting with the
[01:53:24] uh city council member in the coella
[01:53:26] valley one of the things he said is like
[01:53:27] how are we what are what are we doing to
[01:53:30] help incentivize the youth to have
[01:53:33] options besides College we know that the
[01:53:35] pendulum swung so far you know No Child
[01:53:38] Left Behind and let's get you know 80%
[01:53:42] of our children into debt you know and
[01:53:44] 40% of them coming out with no jobs for
[01:53:46] them so College isn't for everybody we
[01:53:48] know that so what other options do we
[01:53:51] have the building trades are a great
[01:53:53] resource you know I've been a carpenter
[01:53:54] for 26 years it's been the best thing
[01:53:56] that ever happened to me now I do a
[01:53:59] variety of things um I too I'm a
[01:54:01] planning commissioner for the city uh
[01:54:03] nearby for the last three years I
[01:54:05] understand that you can't always deny
[01:54:08] certain projects you can't always give
[01:54:10] certain suggestions sometimes you feel
[01:54:11] like your hands are tied I I know that
[01:54:14] feeling but the one thing I want to make
[01:54:16] clear is that uh organizations like uh
[01:54:20] the Ritz Carlton are are known to be
[01:54:23] topof the line but when you go to their
[01:54:26] job sites you know outside of the
[01:54:27] metropolitan areas like Los Angeles or
[01:54:30] Orange County it's 100% Union they tend
[01:54:33] to want to use labor that's not adequate
[01:54:36] what happens is you bring outside out of
[01:54:38] state labor uh unfortunately you get
[01:54:41] exploited labor undocumented labor and
[01:54:44] that brings down the wages for all of us
[01:54:47] so with that being said we we ask how
[01:54:50] what options is the you to the Coachella
[01:54:53] Valley going to have if we don't as the
[01:54:55] adults in the room Commissioners City
[01:54:58] Council Members Mayors create those
[01:55:00] opportunities for the Youth of the of
[01:55:01] this Valley and it starts here projects
[01:55:04] like this one I'm sorry but if you think
[01:55:06] that RS Carlton doesn't have the
[01:55:09] opportunity to pay a good living wage
[01:55:10] you're wrong they do they absolutely do
[01:55:13] but they choose not to they choose to
[01:55:15] use contractors that can exploit workers
[01:55:17] so I'm not trying to dispar R Carlton
[01:55:19] but I'm telling you that until they come
[01:55:21] to the table and say hey we're going to
[01:55:23] use a responsible contractor we're going
[01:55:24] to make sure that it's got local hire
[01:55:26] requirement we're going to make sure
[01:55:27] that the the the graduates of the
[01:55:30] Coachella Valley are going to get an
[01:55:31] opportunity to actually get into the
[01:55:33] trades you know that that ain't going to
[01:55:35] show us anything so let's collectively
[01:55:37] say hey what what are you doing what are
[01:55:40] you doing real Carlton to make sure that
[01:55:41] you provide you give back to the
[01:55:43] community thank you for your
[01:55:45] time thank you the next speak will be
[01:55:47] Zach straters
[01:55:58] all right excuse me good afternoon
[01:56:01] planning Commissioners Zach sters care
[01:56:03] California first and foremost thank you
[01:56:05] for your time I recognize that you're
[01:56:07] unpaid I recognize that you put your
[01:56:10] life on the line coming out here there's
[01:56:12] a lot of fires there's a lot of winds so
[01:56:14] care California doesn't take your time
[01:56:16] lightly and the reason that we're here
[01:56:18] uh this afternoon is because we come to
[01:56:21] advocate for communities like yours
[01:56:23] excuse me our objective is to make sure
[01:56:27] that when anybody develops in a
[01:56:28] community that the development is right
[01:56:30] for that Community now on the surface
[01:56:32] I'm sure Ritz Carlton believes that
[01:56:34] because this is a community of a certain
[01:56:36] demographic as one of the previous
[01:56:38] speakers mentioned that their project is
[01:56:40] fine it meets some of the needs or some
[01:56:42] of the desires of the community but once
[01:56:43] you actually start to get down into the
[01:56:45] weeds of the conditions of approval and
[01:56:47] some of the exemptions that they're
[01:56:49] asking for and some of the environmental
[01:56:51] mitigation measures that they're asking
[01:56:52] asking for you realize that what a lot
[01:56:54] of these Union guys is saying is true
[01:56:56] not only with that project labor
[01:56:58] agreement stuff but with some of their
[01:56:59] environmental stuff and I want to touch
[01:57:00] on a few of those first of all
[01:57:02] construction noise the city assumes that
[01:57:05] construction noise impacts would be less
[01:57:06] than significant and requires no
[01:57:08] construction noise mitigation again
[01:57:11] you're talking about the difference
[01:57:12] between an MMD and an eir and although
[01:57:14] this project may not be a tilt up let me
[01:57:16] assure you we need to take the same
[01:57:18] level of scrutiny with this as anything
[01:57:20] el else that's built all right I want to
[01:57:22] talk a little bit as well about health
[01:57:23] risk uh we're not going to allow these
[01:57:26] guys cart blanch to do whatever they
[01:57:27] want to do because the name Ritz Carlton
[01:57:29] is attached in fact I think it makes
[01:57:30] sense that we hold them to a higher
[01:57:32] level of expectation just like the
[01:57:34] previous speaker talked about because
[01:57:35] they're running on name recognition so
[01:57:37] why should ranchel Mirage expect
[01:57:39] anything less than LA or Orange County
[01:57:41] why should ranchel Mirage get whatever
[01:57:43] the least amount of scrutiny is on their
[01:57:46] environmental impacts especially when
[01:57:47] you're looking at the excess cancer risk
[01:57:49] 49 And1 million over a 30-year
[01:57:51] residential life time which is four
[01:57:53] times greater than the one in 10 million
[01:57:54] significance threshold these are real
[01:57:56] numbers and real facts that are
[01:57:57] associated with the the exemptions that
[01:57:59] they're asking for today Transportation
[01:58:02] uh the city has also under estimated the
[01:58:04] vmts or the vehicle miles traveled for
[01:58:06] this particular project and so this is
[01:58:09] climate change again we're quick to tack
[01:58:10] it onto semis and and tilt ups but let's
[01:58:13] take a look at the amount of uh turnover
[01:58:16] that's going to be represented by this
[01:58:17] they want to portray it as long-term
[01:58:19] residential but we know that the reality
[01:58:21] is there's a lot lot of short-term stays
[01:58:23] okay maybe they're not semis but we
[01:58:25] still need to evaluate the vehicle miles
[01:58:26] traveled in a reasonable manner that's
[01:58:28] fair and just across the board and
[01:58:30] finally energy and this is the one for
[01:58:32] me that as I'm looking at the design I'm
[01:58:34] thinking what's missing from this all
[01:58:36] right we've already got a casino and
[01:58:38] we're already aware that the energy um
[01:58:41] uh mitigation measures could be
[01:58:43] different could be better and so we have
[01:58:44] this opportunity what about on-site
[01:58:46] solar facilities what about rooftop what
[01:58:49] about parking lot what about ground
[01:58:51] level Sol photov volic there are a lot
[01:58:54] of options that this developer had and
[01:58:56] they did not exercise because they
[01:58:58] assumed that you wouldn't be paying
[01:58:59] attention deny this project thank you
[01:59:01] and God bless
[01:59:02] you thank you the next speaker is Aiden
[01:59:20] Marshall uh good afternoon honorable
[01:59:22] planning Commissioners my name is aen
[01:59:24] Marshall also speaking on behalf of car
[01:59:27] California uh car California is an
[01:59:29] unincorporate association of Labor
[01:59:31] organizations and individuals who live
[01:59:34] and work in the city of Rancho Mirage uh
[01:59:36] we're requesting the commission continue
[01:59:38] this hearing to a later date in order to
[01:59:40] address this Project's potentially
[01:59:42] significant environmental and public
[01:59:44] health impacts uh you see this project
[01:59:46] relies on a mitigated negative
[01:59:48] declaration which is an abbreviated form
[01:59:51] of environmental review view that's
[01:59:53] really only appropriate when there's not
[01:59:55] even uh the fair argument that a project
[01:59:58] could result in potentially significant
[02:00:00] environmental impacts uh when a fair
[02:00:02] argument is made that a project could
[02:00:04] have potentially significant
[02:00:05] environmental impacts squa requires that
[02:00:08] the project uh rely on an environmental
[02:00:11] impact report which is a more extensive
[02:00:13] type of environmental review uh this
[02:00:15] project would have a significant health
[02:00:17] risk impact because people live just 21
[02:00:20] ft away from the product site and would
[02:00:23] be exposed to emissions from the
[02:00:24] construction activities and
[02:00:27] operations uh evidence in the record
[02:00:29] right now shows that health risk impacts
[02:00:32] uh would exceed the city's 10 And1
[02:00:34] million significance threshold uh even
[02:00:37] with mitigation proposed in the final M
[02:00:39] andd the city must consider feasible
[02:00:42] mitigation measures that we proposed in
[02:00:44] our comments in order to mitigate this
[02:00:46] risk also due to the proximity of uh
[02:00:49] residences just 21 ft away from the
[02:00:51] project site construction and
[02:00:53] operational long-term noise impacts
[02:00:55] would also be significant construction
[02:00:57] noise would increase ambient levels over
[02:00:59] 20 Deb which is the city's new
[02:01:02] significance threshold uh this impact
[02:01:04] could be readily uh mitigated with a
[02:01:07] temporary acoustic barriers which is a
[02:01:09] very common and effective measure to
[02:01:11] reduce noise this was not
[02:01:14] considered uh and regarding operations
[02:01:17] uh stationary equipment like uh HVAC
[02:01:19] systems would exceed the 45 DB nighttime
[02:01:22] significance threshold this would be a
[02:01:24] long-term impact uh the city is avoiding
[02:01:27] uh identifying this as a significant
[02:01:29] impact because they're refusing to
[02:01:31] consider the possibility that HVAC
[02:01:33] systems could run for 32 minutes per
[02:01:36] hour in a nighttime uh We've submitted
[02:01:38] substantial evidence demonstrating that
[02:01:40] this is very possible and therefore the
[02:01:42] 45 deel significance threshold could
[02:01:44] readily be
[02:01:45] exceeded uh due to these potentially
[02:01:48] significant impacts even though there
[02:01:50] there might be disagreements from staff
[02:01:52] or their applicants regarding this there
[02:01:54] is more than a fair argument that
[02:01:55] impacts are potentially significant this
[02:01:57] requires preparation of an e pursuant to
[02:02:00] squa uh as such we request the city
[02:02:03] continue this hearing to a later date
[02:02:05] thank you so much for your
[02:02:07] time thank you those are all the public
[02:02:09] speaker cards I received is there
[02:02:11] anybody in the audience who would like
[02:02:12] to make a public comment please come up
[02:02:14] state your name for the record thank
[02:02:18] you hi my name is Kristen Kramer I live
[02:02:21] at 45 Skyridge Road and um the last time
[02:02:26] I was in this building it was at a uh
[02:02:28] city council meeting and I talked about
[02:02:30] safety on the street right here and also
[02:02:32] at the 111 in Frank Sinatra since that
[02:02:36] time we've had at least one fatality
[02:02:38] that I'm aware of so I'm only asking
[02:02:40] that if you think about this project you
[02:02:43] try to incorporate the safety of the
[02:02:45] staff of the britz Carlton the safety of
[02:02:47] the people that live up there and the
[02:02:48] safety of the people that drive and live
[02:02:50] here um
[02:02:52] right now it's just sort of a cacophony
[02:02:55] it's a mess people are crossing the
[02:02:57] street I don't know why the Ritz Carlton
[02:02:59] can't get like a little trolley try to
[02:03:01] take people across to the um the parking
[02:03:03] lot which is a mess um people that stay
[02:03:06] at the redz Carlton are running all
[02:03:08] around trying to find Trails trying to
[02:03:10] go hiking they're wearing all black you
[02:03:12] can't see them sometimes you almost hit
[02:03:14] them we're all trying really hard to be
[02:03:16] as safe as we can around this area but
[02:03:18] if you could just consider that safety
[02:03:21] factor of the the associates and the
[02:03:23] residents of this area as well down at
[02:03:25] 111 in Frank Sinatra that's a real
[02:03:27] problem thank
[02:03:29] you thank you is there anybody else in
[02:03:31] the audience who would like to make a
[02:03:33] comment at this time we can go ahead and
[02:03:36] close the public hearing okay at this
[02:03:38] time we close the public comments and
[02:03:41] I'll open it up to commissioner comments
[02:03:44] so I will start to my right with
[02:03:46] commissioner
[02:03:49] gray back to First Position
[02:03:57] I'll direct my first question to staff
[02:04:00] um we first of all I'd like to say
[02:04:02] thanks again to the staff for providing
[02:04:05] such a thorough packet I think 3,500 or
[02:04:09] more of the pages deal with this
[02:04:11] particular item and then also spending
[02:04:13] as much time as they did with me
[02:04:15] personally with individually with each
[02:04:16] of the other Commissioners to answer our
[02:04:19] questions um one question that occurred
[02:04:21] Ur to me since we met earlier today um
[02:04:25] regarding Sky Mesa there's a percentage
[02:04:27] that says only 4% of the sky Mesa uh
[02:04:31] area which is requested to be
[02:04:33] reson will be uh covered by vertical
[02:04:37] structures what uh what Safeguard is
[02:04:40] there against any covering 94% of the uh
[02:04:45] available area once it's rezoned if
[02:04:49] any so if um any changes to Skyes are
[02:04:53] proposed um the um applicants going to
[02:04:55] have to um submit that request to staff
[02:04:58] and then staff's going to have to
[02:04:59] determine the appropriate review process
[02:05:01] for that but um the um conversations
[02:05:04] with the applicant uh they want to keep
[02:05:06] um enclosed buildings within Sky Mesa
[02:05:09] limited um because again they want to um
[02:05:11] you know uphold a recreation environment
[02:05:14] um and keep kind of the natural
[02:05:16] topography um for the Ritz Carlton res
[02:05:18] Ritz Carlton patrons up there okay I
[02:05:21] just wondered if there was any
[02:05:22] possibility of a specific condition that
[02:05:25] would uh
[02:05:27] prohibit uh further development of that
[02:05:29] area because once the zoning change is
[02:05:32] made it becomes I think significantly
[02:05:35] easier to build more of
[02:05:37] there if there were any changes in the
[02:05:39] future there would also need to be the
[02:05:40] appropriate environmental review so it
[02:05:42] would go through a similar process that
[02:05:43] we're going through now uh without
[02:05:45] knowing what those proposed changes
[02:05:47] might be um it's difficult to uh limit
[02:05:50] that it might just just be an addition
[02:05:52] of 25 Square ft at one point to expand a
[02:05:54] restroom so staff recommends that we uh
[02:05:57] would be able to do some additional
[02:05:59] review in the future if that requirement
[02:06:01] came in okay
[02:06:05] um I have a is it is a uh applicant
[02:06:09] representative
[02:06:12] present yes we have uh John hickon the
[02:06:14] audience
[02:06:15] here you're going to love this
[02:06:18] question we've heard numerous represent
[02:06:21] atives from labor unions come and say
[02:06:25] this project should be denied because
[02:06:27] they're either saying that you're
[02:06:29] playing fast and loose by saying there's
[02:06:31] an agreement with one Union or that
[02:06:33] you're going to use uh imported labor
[02:06:36] that's cheaper uh and better for the
[02:06:39] developer but not good for the community
[02:06:41] do you have a response to
[02:06:42] that uh yeah two parts of that uh one I
[02:06:46] can say is like first of all thank you
[02:06:48] very much Commissioners really
[02:06:50] appreciate the time that you're taking
[02:06:51] out for us to hear this project so I go
[02:06:54] back to when we actually came into the
[02:06:56] city of renal barage back in late
[02:06:59] 2011 uh acquired the property then and
[02:07:02] we actually were the developer that
[02:07:04] completed the uh Ritz Carlton Rancher
[02:07:06] Mirage in
[02:07:08] 2013 I had sat up there incomplete for
[02:07:11] quite a number of years so it was a
[02:07:15] tremendous opportunity to work with the
[02:07:17] city as a whole so one of the things
[02:07:20] that I can look at is one when we
[02:07:21] actually initiated that project uh the
[02:07:24] economics of actually trying to bring in
[02:07:27] labor from other countries or other
[02:07:29] sources just not practical for the
[02:07:31] desert environment I Look to one
[02:07:33] particular trade uh that we dealt with
[02:07:36] who is actually not only succeeded in
[02:07:41] his completion uh helping us complete
[02:07:44] the Ritz Carlton Ranch marage but
[02:07:46] actually is a business owner in the
[02:07:48] Coachella Valley uh where he actually
[02:07:50] successfully opened up a mechanical
[02:07:53] maintenance and operations building htl
[02:07:55] mechanical he was actually one of our
[02:07:57] laborers on the project and was a
[02:08:00] supervisor uh that uh looked at the
[02:08:03] completion of that mechanical so the
[02:08:05] nature of our development business and
[02:08:07] especially in the desert actually is
[02:08:09] open
[02:08:10] to uh being conducive for local
[02:08:14] labor uh so like I said there's nothing
[02:08:17] in our business model that looks to
[02:08:19] import any sort of Labor if it not
[02:08:22] possible what about a position on using
[02:08:24] Union versus non-union actually what we
[02:08:27] do is we focus on the approval of a
[02:08:29] project uh because that has certain
[02:08:31] impacts on construction types uh so once
[02:08:36] we have a project approval then we start
[02:08:37] looking at the budgeting of the project
[02:08:41] and and how and what labor is used uh or
[02:08:45] contractor groups uh this is a festar
[02:08:48] luxury resort as demonstrated which is
[02:08:51] an operation currently and once we know
[02:08:54] we have a project then we start looking
[02:08:55] at construction contracts and how to
[02:08:58] deviate those contracts out you created
[02:09:01] a tremendous business in the city and
[02:09:04] completed a project that many people
[02:09:07] never thought would be finished after it
[02:09:10] shut down and I commend you for that uh
[02:09:12] but I'm I'm want to avoid the union
[02:09:15] versus non-union polarization that
[02:09:17] exists would you accept some condition
[02:09:19] about uh attempting at least to hire
[02:09:22] percentage of your Workforce that lives
[02:09:25] in the Coachella
[02:09:26] Valley I don't know uh what we do is
[02:09:30] when we go to bid a project uh we it's
[02:09:33] not a closed bid so unlike some
[02:09:35] municipalities that have certain
[02:09:37] criteria that are set what we do is we
[02:09:39] establish based on the project we have a
[02:09:42] lot of experience with this type of
[02:09:43] product and luxury product and
[02:09:45] Hospitality so when we go to our trade
[02:09:47] groups we need a trade group that is one
[02:09:51] a ble to complete to the level of
[02:09:53] standards that the brand dictates in
[02:09:55] this case being the Ritz Carlton they
[02:09:57] have extremely high standards of
[02:09:59] materials to be used what those finished
[02:10:02] materials are and how the project is
[02:10:04] completed for
[02:10:06] sustainability so to dictate what that
[02:10:09] uh would be again the economics dictate
[02:10:14] the use of local labor to a percentage
[02:10:18] at least I couldn't dictate what that
[02:10:20] percentage would be be just based on
[02:10:23] until we go out to the bid
[02:10:25] process I I appreciate the thoughtful
[02:10:27] response but it's basically no to my
[02:10:29] question right we never say no to
[02:10:32] anything you're not politicians you're
[02:10:34] developers on all right well thank thank
[02:10:38] you I want to put someone else in the he
[02:10:40] in the hot seat for a moment but I
[02:10:42] appreciate your response thank you uh Mr
[02:10:44] Marshall I think is that was that one of
[02:10:47] the people who presented to us would you
[02:10:49] come up for a second
[02:11:05] how are you
[02:11:06] commissioner welcome back
[02:11:10] um I was provided this morning as if it
[02:11:13] wasn't enough to have received 3500 on
[02:11:17] this and 4,000 plus on everything else
[02:11:20] on the agenda with another
[02:11:22] I don't know 40 pages or so from you
[02:11:25] that seemed to been sent this morning
[02:11:27] rais some interesting issues I I only
[02:11:30] have one question for you about this
[02:11:32] really which is why so last
[02:11:35] minute so uh these are all issues that
[02:11:38] we raised back in uh April and August
[02:11:42] these are mostly just responding to
[02:11:44] responses by staff which which were
[02:11:46] released this same week uh if we could
[02:11:48] have provided these responses month ago
[02:11:51] oh we would uh but the responses were
[02:11:54] only provided this week
[02:12:02] okay there's some issues of concern to
[02:12:04] me in your letter what do you what is
[02:12:07] your most important concern if you had
[02:12:09] to if you had to choose one right now uh
[02:12:12] I guess my first preliminary statement
[02:12:14] would be I I wouldn't pick one because
[02:12:16] they're all important in different ways
[02:12:18] uh this project has a clear ific impacts
[02:12:21] in several areas uh one of which uh is
[02:12:25] health risk impact uh there's a very
[02:12:27] clear threshold in that uh type of
[02:12:29] impact which makes it very uh obvious
[02:12:31] when there is an exceedence or is not
[02:12:33] exceedence uh here our expert
[02:12:35] toxicologists in air quality modeling
[02:12:37] experts have prepared uh uh calculations
[02:12:42] supported by substantial evidence done
[02:12:44] in according to Industry standards
[02:12:46] demonstrating that the 101 million
[02:12:48] cancer risk threshold would be exceeded
[02:12:50] as the residen is just right across the
[02:12:53] fence from the project construction site
[02:12:55] uh the city has prepared their own
[02:12:57] analysis uh suggesting the impacts would
[02:13:00] be lower uh in our responses we've
[02:13:02] explained that the city's approach
[02:13:04] underestimates impacts uh and what I'd
[02:13:07] like you to focus on is the standard of
[02:13:09] review here uh this is the fair argument
[02:13:11] standard the city is relying on a
[02:13:13] mitigated negative declaration as
[02:13:14] opposed to an E if the city was relying
[02:13:17] on an eir which is a more rigorous form
[02:13:19] of environmental review uh we would be
[02:13:22] we'd have to defer to the city's
[02:13:23] analysis in this case uh you have to
[02:13:26] weigh both expert uh analyses equally
[02:13:30] unless one is plainly not supported by
[02:13:32] substantial evidence and the city has
[02:13:34] not introduced any evidence suggesting
[02:13:35] that our analysis is inadequate uh so so
[02:13:39] there's one significant impact and if I
[02:13:41] may like to discuss the uh the noise
[02:13:44] concerns here this project would be
[02:13:46] proposing hvc systems which if they
[02:13:49] would run for just 32 minutes in an hour
[02:13:51] a night they would exceed the city's 45
[02:13:54] d uh nighttime significance threshold uh
[02:13:58] the city's hinging on an argument that
[02:14:01] they wouldn't that hva wouldn't be
[02:14:03] running for more than 30 minutes in an
[02:14:04] hour they provided no proof that this is
[02:14:07] like a hard limit uh I think in a desert
[02:14:10] environment it's hot outside people are
[02:14:12] running their hvacs all the time
[02:14:14] sometimes uh and I think it's very
[02:14:16] possible that it could be 32 minutes in
[02:14:19] in an hour uh We've engaged
[02:14:21] noise experts who've substantiated this
[02:14:24] is a very feasible it's very common
[02:14:26] predictable use of an HVAC system and as
[02:14:29] a result this is a potentially
[02:14:30] significant long-term noise impact that
[02:14:33] would be a clear environmental impact
[02:14:35] requiring preparation of an thank you
[02:14:38] very much um staff would you like to
[02:14:41] respond I know it might be difficult
[02:14:43] because you just got this multi-page
[02:14:46] letter shortly before I received it from
[02:14:49] you but you have a respon to the issues
[02:14:52] that are raised in this letter because
[02:14:53] they do seem to raise some genuine
[02:14:55] concerns yeah I so m i can respond to
[02:14:59] some of the technicalities of it you can
[02:15:01] spit down thanks for the opportunity
[02:15:05] thank you you know to save everybody a
[02:15:07] lot of time here we can't be naive to
[02:15:10] how it works in
[02:15:12] California right so uh you could say hey
[02:15:16] Ritz you have to hire 100% local
[02:15:19] Workforce and the Union will not be
[02:15:21] happy with that right they want an
[02:15:23] apprentice shipped Workforce which is
[02:15:27] what they are so their goal is to get
[02:15:31] work for their members it's not so much
[02:15:34] a local concern and I would be willing
[02:15:37] to bet that most of these unions here
[02:15:39] probably have a pretty small Workforce
[02:15:41] here compared to their
[02:15:43] membership
[02:15:46] so you know we have 3,500 pages in this
[02:15:49] packet and even if uh eir was done you
[02:15:55] would still get the same comments
[02:15:57] because that's the process utilized in
[02:15:59] California to get work for their Union
[02:16:05] so I'm not trying to aine on the
[02:16:06] validity of that or whether that's right
[02:16:09] or wrong I'm just stating the fact that
[02:16:12] you know part of this process that we go
[02:16:15] through in California is squa
[02:16:18] does is sometimes utilized IED as an
[02:16:22] Avenue to get contracts so for a lot of
[02:16:24] projects if uh somebody agrees to 100%
[02:16:28] union
[02:16:29] labor I would imagine you wouldn't get
[02:16:31] any comments right so at the end of the
[02:16:35] day you know we go through a process and
[02:16:38] we talk about what are the impacts of
[02:16:40] course they're going to have their
[02:16:42] attorneys to utilize sqa to say well
[02:16:44] your analysis is wrong you need to do
[02:16:47] this you need to do that you know it is
[02:16:50] somewhat of
[02:16:52] a a dance that is played between
[02:16:55] developers and unions to say I can cause
[02:16:59] a lot of headaches for you or you can
[02:17:02] just use my labor and we won't be so
[02:17:06] concerned about the environmental
[02:17:08] impacts so you know some of what we're
[02:17:10] seeing play out today is probably
[02:17:13] something that the developer is going to
[02:17:15] have to address on a go forward right
[02:17:17] obviously uh I can't remember the last
[02:17:20] time we had I think at least four
[02:17:22] different May or five different unions
[02:17:25] uh speak on a project in Rancho Mirage
[02:17:28] uh being that it's the Ritz Carlton
[02:17:30] they're a very well-known brand uh so
[02:17:32] I'm not surprised at the fact that we
[02:17:34] have various unions here uh rightfully
[02:17:39] speaking at a public meeting to advocate
[02:17:41] for their position of using their
[02:17:43] apprenticeship Labor uh and yes that
[02:17:46] labor comes with a premium from the city
[02:17:49] standpoint and from the developer
[02:17:51] standpoint I doubt they're surprised
[02:17:52] either this isn't the first Rich Carlson
[02:17:54] that they've built or
[02:17:56] modified uh so again from a city
[02:17:59] perspective I would say what you're
[02:18:01] seeing uh here today is they're taking
[02:18:04] their public platform to send their
[02:18:06] message to the developer to say hey this
[02:18:09] is why you should use us you know when
[02:18:11] it gets into the analysis and what's in
[02:18:13] the report uh you know Mina will talk
[02:18:16] maybe a little bit about you know there
[02:18:17] were some comments uh received and there
[02:18:20] was the document that was recirculated
[02:18:22] with those responses and so that's kind
[02:18:25] of how this process works now they could
[02:18:28] get that and obviously one of the
[02:18:30] speakers today uh still thinks that the
[02:18:34] uh analysis is not complete you know uh
[02:18:37] I'm not shocked at that conclusion from
[02:18:40] their perspective because at the end of
[02:18:42] the day you know the goal is to get
[02:18:47] apprentices shipped
[02:18:49] labor out of the
[02:18:51] developer and so in California the way
[02:18:54] you do that is through this process so
[02:18:58] you know it is what it is I I think that
[02:19:01] you know from my perspective as a city
[02:19:04] that's the developer
[02:19:06] problem right MH so if there's a squet
[02:19:11] challenge then that's the developer
[02:19:13] problem all right I would like to hear
[02:19:16] mine as a response but I just want to
[02:19:17] say the last time anyone suggested that
[02:19:20] I might be naive I was a 17-year-old
[02:19:23] virgin
[02:19:25] and so that rarely happens thank you
[02:19:28] Isaiah I appreciate that I didn't mean
[02:19:30] any offense I I was just let's say let's
[02:19:33] call it what it is right just it's it's
[02:19:35] the goal is to get apprenticeship union
[02:19:37] labor out of the developer which is not
[02:19:40] necessarily a bad thing I'm yeah I'm not
[02:19:41] ainting on it right right I this is why
[02:19:44] we have this public forum right come
[02:19:46] take your shot utilize the um process to
[02:19:51] advocate for your positions uh you know
[02:19:54] no offense to anyone being here speaking
[02:19:56] today that's that's what it's for uh but
[02:19:58] for us you know again you you asked some
[02:20:02] pretty broad questions and a lot of
[02:20:03] things were brought up frankly you know
[02:20:06] this is to be expected on a project like
[02:20:08] this well since most people see me as a
[02:20:11] jaded cynic I really just was happy to
[02:20:13] hear that today um but on the other
[02:20:16] issues you know and and again without
[02:20:18] taking a a stand I'm trying to analyze
[02:20:21] all the issues that are important for a
[02:20:24] Planning Commission to consider in
[02:20:25] approving a project I see in the letter
[02:20:28] regardless of its motivation I see some
[02:20:31] very real concerns raised and my I'll
[02:20:35] and I'll say up front my concern isn't
[02:20:37] uh I'm very much in favor of this
[02:20:39] project in almost every way but I want
[02:20:41] to make sure that every possible
[02:20:43] consideration is giving and I would not
[02:20:45] consider voting against the project
[02:20:47] right now but I would consider asking
[02:20:50] that it be postponed for a later hearing
[02:20:53] to consider the issues raised in this
[02:20:55] letter I am uh I still think it was a
[02:20:57] little bit late but I accept the
[02:20:59] explanation as to why but Mina if you
[02:21:02] can respond absolutely so um this
[02:21:06] document was recirculated twice so this
[02:21:08] document has been around for quite some
[02:21:10] time as been mentioned for um twice
[02:21:14] within just this year so there was
[02:21:17] opportunity to provide comments during
[02:21:18] those circulations and comments were
[02:21:21] provided based on those comments
[02:21:23] received additional analysis and reports
[02:21:25] were uh prepared to address the comments
[02:21:27] that were raised today and the
[02:21:29] conclusion was less than significant
[02:21:31] impact with a recommendation of adopting
[02:21:33] the document that we have prepared uh
[02:21:35] staff feels confident in the document
[02:21:37] that we're recommending for
[02:21:40] approval all right and I'll just say
[02:21:42] this is my last comment for my fellow
[02:21:44] Commissioners um the volume of this
[02:21:48] material is so intensive and there's so
[02:21:49] much new material I my personal vote
[02:21:53] would be to postpone this to the next
[02:21:56] Planning Commission meeting to give us a
[02:21:58] chance to review and discuss this with
[02:21:59] staff I Have No Reservations about
[02:22:02] either the rec the E staff
[02:22:04] recommendations I'm just concerned about
[02:22:06] what appear to be somewhat new issues
[02:22:07] that were raised because there's
[02:22:09] additional letters dated yesterday from
[02:22:12] the experts that are being employed by
[02:22:14] this particular uh opponent and I don't
[02:22:17] know if there's some special uh hurry
[02:22:20] that would that would jeopardize the
[02:22:21] project in any way if we were to
[02:22:24] postpone our consideration of this
[02:22:25] commissioner gray would it be helpful to
[02:22:27] hear from the applicant squa
[02:22:29] representative
[02:22:30] sure why
[02:22:33] not other than I dragging this out to
[02:22:36] hours and hours
[02:22:39] more hi everyone um so we did a lot of
[02:22:42] these issues that were brought up um we
[02:22:44] didn't get a a long time to review them
[02:22:47] but they were actually she'll probably
[02:22:48] state your name just Sor um Aon lcet
[02:22:51] from DC um so we they were very similar
[02:22:55] to the comments that were previously
[02:22:57] brought up in the two different rounds
[02:22:58] of public review um still kind of
[02:23:02] claiming the same things that the
[02:23:04] analysis was not enough um Etc but we
[02:23:07] did bring in new um a new health risk
[02:23:11] assess assessment as well as a noise um
[02:23:14] memo to help clarify some of those same
[02:23:16] issues and again came to the same
[02:23:18] conclusion so
[02:23:21] was the what was the date of those of
[02:23:23] the new assessments that you just
[02:23:25] mentioned the health risk assessment was
[02:23:27] prepared and included in the um I'm
[02:23:31] sorry if the dates are wrong but I think
[02:23:33] July August um public review period and
[02:23:36] then the noise memo was included in the
[02:23:38] final um M andd that was presented okay
[02:23:42] and so what you're saying is the issues
[02:23:43] that are raised in this letter were all
[02:23:45] raised previously and addressed there
[02:23:47] wasn't anything new in the in Mr
[02:23:49] Marshall's letter um similar types of
[02:23:52] statements I'm not I haven't gone
[02:23:53] through the S you know the exact you
[02:23:56] know ones with the experts but they're
[02:23:59] similar uh issue areas the general the
[02:24:02] general concerns were similar yeah noise
[02:24:04] health risk Etc well I can understand
[02:24:06] the general it's always going to be
[02:24:07] noise and health risk the question here
[02:24:09] is like there's a there's a specific
[02:24:11] statements about uh an assumption relied
[02:24:15] upon by the city's experts that the air
[02:24:19] conditioning would only be used
[02:24:21] 32 minutes or 30 minutes out of an hour
[02:24:25] at night I I know my air conditioner
[02:24:27] runs 59 minutes out of 60 during the
[02:24:30] middle of the summer I realize you can't
[02:24:32] compare commercial with residential but
[02:24:35] I'm still a little concerned that that's
[02:24:37] arbitrary yeah and I don't know if we
[02:24:39] have our uh Urban Crossroads here at all
[02:24:41] but who prepare the noise
[02:24:44] um
[02:24:47] John with respect to anybody that's made
[02:24:49] a comment this evening regarding the
[02:24:51] noise uh everybody needs to remain
[02:24:53] cognizant that not that it's all that
[02:24:55] unique but this is a luxury resort and
[02:24:58] in that we take a a high consideration
[02:25:02] is taken to restrain noise at all costs
[02:25:05] so this will you're not disturbing the
[02:25:07] guests or any Resident that would be
[02:25:09] adjacent to the site so it just so
[02:25:12] happens that at one point I was on the
[02:25:14] other side of the table for an
[02:25:16] architectural firm and I can tell you
[02:25:18] that the architectural team that we've
[02:25:19] hired and the the engineering staff that
[02:25:21] is on board their first and foremost
[02:25:24] first and foremost goal is one to make
[02:25:28] sure that all code requirements are met
[02:25:31] it is mandatory by the building
[02:25:33] department and during our permitting
[02:25:34] process today the mechanical standards
[02:25:37] and electrical standards energy
[02:25:39] standards are significantly different
[02:25:42] than when we originally purchased this
[02:25:44] project in
[02:25:45] 2012 with this scope of work already
[02:25:49] included in our original entitlements
[02:25:51] that being tennis Villas we had a what
[02:25:54] was referred to as a twing building and
[02:25:57] we also had Villas we've actually
[02:25:59] reduced the scope of the project uh from
[02:26:02] our original entitlements that were
[02:26:05] considered several years ago now and
[02:26:07] we're looking and the reason why we made
[02:26:09] the modification if I could just
[02:26:10] elaborate is that one we wanted garages
[02:26:13] to be attached directly to the Villas as
[02:26:16] a means of convenience uh and uh not
[02:26:19] putting so of a burden on our parking
[02:26:21] garages this is a valet parked hotel and
[02:26:25] then uh the the second thing was to
[02:26:28] provide additional screening just in the
[02:26:30] way you see the uh public venues have
[02:26:32] been screened by residential buildings
[02:26:34] within the property so with today's
[02:26:36] standards our mechanical uh criteria
[02:26:40] there's obviously built into the new
[02:26:42] sear standards it's a mechanical term I
[02:26:44] apologize for that but with the new sear
[02:26:46] standards we automatically get a
[02:26:48] reduction in noise just for example my
[02:26:50] home uh it doesn't put out 45 DB or near
[02:26:54] 45 DB with the new mechanical systems
[02:26:57] and condensers that are used plus we've
[02:26:59] gone through some additional efforts in
[02:27:00] the design where our architect has
[02:27:02] actually provided screening at each
[02:27:05] location to mitigate the chance for
[02:27:08] something like 45 D which is pretty
[02:27:11] significant to radiate throughout the
[02:27:14] entire property so and that will be
[02:27:16] developed further as we get into the
[02:27:18] next phases of construction
[02:27:19] documentation
[02:27:21] thank
[02:27:23] you I don't think I have anything else
[02:27:25] at this point I'm sure everybody's
[02:27:27] relieved to hear
[02:27:28] that thank you commissioner so I'll move
[02:27:31] to my left commissioner
[02:27:34] Kieran okay uh I'm not going to take
[02:27:37] that much time but I've been in the
[02:27:38] commercial development business for 30
[02:27:41] years I stopped in January give me
[02:27:43] fulltime to work here with the city of
[02:27:45] ranchel Mirage but you know I reviewed
[02:27:48] everything and the staff spent a lot of
[02:27:49] time and we ask the questions and stuff
[02:27:51] and and I'm and I agree with um a lot of
[02:27:55] the things have been comments that have
[02:27:57] been said by Commissioners and and the
[02:27:59] staff but um I personally don't see any
[02:28:02] reason not to move more forward with
[02:28:04] this it's a a great plan um there are
[02:28:08] going to be people who want to push back
[02:28:09] because new development's not easy for
[02:28:11] anybody um the organization or the
[02:28:14] people who are around it or even people
[02:28:16] living in the city but I've been a part
[02:28:18] of these in urban areas as well as uh
[02:28:20] Regional areas and what you have to look
[02:28:22] at is what the end results going to be
[02:28:25] and I think what we're going to have is
[02:28:26] staying relevant in the rich Carlton
[02:28:28] being able to stay relevant in the
[02:28:30] marketplace uh the new event space will
[02:28:32] make them competitive with some of the
[02:28:34] other hotels in the region and so um I
[02:28:37] I'm I'm for I'm for this project and I
[02:28:40] don't see any reason not to move
[02:28:45] forward thank you commissioner Comm Vice
[02:28:47] chair okay uh sir certainly a lot of
[02:28:50] passion in this room today um and
[02:28:53] primarily not in favor of the Ritz
[02:28:55] Carlton but I will say the Ritz Carlton
[02:28:57] is a great asset to Rancho Mirage and
[02:29:01] building it out will continue to enhance
[02:29:05] our city and you know I'm very much in
[02:29:08] favor of the project in general however
[02:29:10] there were a lot of good comments made
[02:29:12] that bring questions to mind and and I
[02:29:16] for one while I read the material it's
[02:29:19] very comp Lex and there was a lot of
[02:29:21] material to absorb and there are some
[02:29:23] good questions that I would like to get
[02:29:25] a little bit further in depth in and get
[02:29:28] better answers
[02:29:30] for um so I agree with commissioner gray
[02:29:34] if he's still in that mode that I would
[02:29:36] like to have a little bit more time to
[02:29:38] review the material and get some
[02:29:40] responses to some of the questions thank
[02:29:44] you thank you Vice
[02:29:47] chair um I had a couple questions one
[02:29:50] being um most most residential
[02:29:53] development include an entry gate and I
[02:29:55] know there's commercial development
[02:29:56] there wouldn't be any uh security gate
[02:29:59] to that to this development
[02:30:02] correct so per the project plan there's
[02:30:04] not going to be a security gate okay and
[02:30:07] and there's and it's not required
[02:30:10] or um they just didn't propose any
[02:30:12] security gate because again this is
[02:30:13] going to be a a resort hotel um
[02:30:16] development um so they're going to want
[02:30:18] to provide a you know clean guest
[02:30:21] experience okay there is no requirement
[02:30:24] okay um let me
[02:30:38] see I and I I I hear a number of
[02:30:42] comments from both public and
[02:30:45] Commissioners and I thoroughly read
[02:30:47] through a majority of the material as
[02:30:48] well it is very complicated I agree with
[02:30:51] Vice chair in that sense um but it was
[02:30:55] very
[02:30:56] detailed I I don't see any reason to
[02:30:59] postpone in my opinion um it it is a
[02:31:02] project that really enhances the
[02:31:05] community really enhances I mean it
[02:31:08] really aligns with what what what's
[02:31:10] already existing among amongst the um
[02:31:14] what the r RZ Carlton offers currently
[02:31:17] um it's just enhancing and bringing more
[02:31:20] value to Rancher Mirage um with with new
[02:31:25] dwelling units creating more tot taxes
[02:31:27] with ownership having six months of um
[02:31:31] use and then putting that into a rental
[02:31:33] pool and getting additional uh Revenue
[02:31:35] to the city so a number of benefits both
[02:31:39] to the Ritz Carlton as a business and
[02:31:41] also a Ranch Mirage and our the
[02:31:44] residents of ranch Rage with with to
[02:31:46] taxes to keep and maintain and enhance
[02:31:49] our city so so um those are those are my
[02:31:52] comments and I'll move my move down to
[02:31:54] commissioner Bryant for
[02:31:58] his uh thank you Jason uh yes there was
[02:32:02] not only a lot to absorb in the uh
[02:32:05] documents but all the questions and
[02:32:07] comments here today uh from the audience
[02:32:10] uh most of my questions were covered um
[02:32:14] I do have two one for the developers sir
[02:32:17] if you'd mind coming up
[02:32:23] so these condo hotel units uh as I
[02:32:26] understand uh the owner can stay up to
[02:32:29] six months use them for six months and
[02:32:32] then after that they're in a rental
[02:32:34] program that is correct they go back to
[02:32:36] the hotel pool um explain the rental
[02:32:38] program uh how you do it um and then a
[02:32:43] specific
[02:32:45] question in the uh in your rental
[02:32:48] program can people will use Airbnb and
[02:32:51] all those type of things or does it have
[02:32:52] to specifically go through the Ritz
[02:32:54] Carlton the rentals or can people rent
[02:32:57] them
[02:32:58] themselves under our uh we currently
[02:33:00] have 16 uh dwelling units or Villa units
[02:33:03] uh as a part of the business model up at
[02:33:05] the Ritz Carlton currently uh it's our
[02:33:07] spa SS building what we refer to it as
[02:33:10] and currently what happens is the uh
[02:33:13] units that might be owned by an
[02:33:14] individual again limited stay up to that
[02:33:17] 6 months uh per per year
[02:33:20] and then what happens is those units are
[02:33:21] turned back over to the Ritz Carlton
[02:33:23] operations team and are you know based
[02:33:26] on the Open dates uh the Ritz Carlton
[02:33:28] actually manages and uh takes
[02:33:32] reservations on those guest rooms
[02:33:33] establishes rates and that type of uh
[02:33:36] business model
[02:33:38] um that I I think I understand fully but
[02:33:41] that's the answer I'm looking for uh I
[02:33:44] did work for Marriott number of years
[02:33:47] time share Division and ran the RIS
[02:33:48] Carlton Club so I know they do quality
[02:33:51] development and uh and I would hope that
[02:33:54] the rich Carlton would handle the
[02:33:58] rentals because you know you're going to
[02:34:00] get the right kind of people and so on
[02:34:02] and Etc uh as opposed to people going
[02:34:05] through the airbnbs and all these other
[02:34:07] things uh because you don't know what
[02:34:10] type of people you're going to get and
[02:34:12] so on uh and then just to add to your
[02:34:15] questions commissioner Bryant as part of
[02:34:18] the 10th Amendment to their development
[02:34:20] agreement as well too we have a
[02:34:21] provision in the development agreement
[02:34:23] that uh they would only be able to
[02:34:24] utilize the Ritz Carlton for the
[02:34:27] rentals okay
[02:34:30] um and then if uh any of the rentals
[02:34:35] other than when the people using the
[02:34:37] rentals there are subject to to is that
[02:34:41] correct yes that's correct after the
[02:34:43] six-month period um they'd be subject to
[02:34:45] dot unless an owner decides to uh rent
[02:34:48] their um unit for longer period of time
[02:34:50] as part of the hotel pool but in any
[02:34:53] case the rentals are subject to
[02:34:56] tot yes okay all right um and the other
[02:34:59] one um I think it's more for staff and
[02:35:02] also sir for you to I'm sure you're
[02:35:05] aware
[02:35:07] uh concerns are raised about during the
[02:35:10] construction you know the noise and so
[02:35:12] we hear this all the time it's very
[02:35:14] valid from the uh residents correct and
[02:35:17] so I would hope that say for instance
[02:35:19] like Porcupine Creek you know all the
[02:35:21] things that came up there about
[02:35:23] construction that as a city we would
[02:35:26] monitor very carefully you know the
[02:35:28] construction truck the hours you know we
[02:35:30] have set hours to make sure they're
[02:35:32] working within those hours uh that they
[02:35:35] are mitigating the dust control uh
[02:35:38] however you do all those things to
[02:35:40] prevent dust whether whether there's
[02:35:42] somebody 21 ft away or 100 ft away
[02:35:47] that's important during the construction
[02:35:48] time and and so I would hope that the
[02:35:50] city would uh be very carefully
[02:35:53] monitoring uh all of those things during
[02:35:56] the
[02:35:57] construction uh like we did for uh
[02:35:59] Porcupine Creek um that's correct
[02:36:03] commissioner Brian and we also uh
[02:36:05] recommend in this proposal adopting the
[02:36:06] mitigation and monitoring program which
[02:36:08] addresses some of those concerns okay
[02:36:10] all right thank you um all in all I
[02:36:14] think this is a fantastic development it
[02:36:16] will
[02:36:18] uh enhance
[02:36:20] the city bring more people in yes there
[02:36:23] if you have more cars coming in you're
[02:36:24] going to have pollution that's just part
[02:36:26] of you know
[02:36:28] development um but it's a highquality
[02:36:31] development and it'll bring the kind of
[02:36:33] people in and those uh uh the residences
[02:36:37] a lot of times they buy into that type
[02:36:39] of thing and then later on they move up
[02:36:41] to buying the more expensive houses like
[02:36:44] in marata that happens a lot uh so it
[02:36:47] should help the market value of the
[02:36:49] houses in
[02:36:50] marada um and uh and then just provide
[02:36:54] more services and this is important
[02:36:57] because the city uh when we make land
[02:37:00] use decisions recommendations and the
[02:37:03] council makes these decisions of what
[02:37:05] we're going to do uh over time the the
[02:37:09] costs of the running a city increase you
[02:37:13] know not only the Consumer Price but uh
[02:37:16] they just get more expensive and and
[02:37:19] this the city has to look at as we're
[02:37:23] building out our general plan our
[02:37:25] footprint are we generating the revenues
[02:37:28] that are going to maintain the city and
[02:37:30] maintain the quality of the services
[02:37:32] that we can provide in the city so
[02:37:34] developments like the Ritz Carlton are
[02:37:37] very important to uh that aspect
[02:37:40] also uh that's my comment
[02:37:43] Jason thank you Comm I add yep please I
[02:37:47] just want to add again just that my
[02:37:49] motivation is completely clear I 100%
[02:37:52] support the proposed design and the
[02:37:54] project that the richz Carlton is
[02:37:57] proposing and I think it's a terrific
[02:37:59] addition uh many of the issues and
[02:38:01] questions that were raised by by others
[02:38:04] here are ones that I share and many were
[02:38:07] satisfied but I still remain concerned
[02:38:11] that we have not fully addressed the
[02:38:13] issues raised in Mr Marshall's letter
[02:38:16] and in order that this project if
[02:38:19] approved be bulletproof I would make a
[02:38:22] motion that we table this matter until
[02:38:23] the next scheduled meeting of the
[02:38:25] Planning Commission to allow us time to
[02:38:28] fully absorb all of the material and
[02:38:30] specifically allow the staff to respond
[02:38:32] to the concerns in Mr Marshall's
[02:38:37] letter thank
[02:38:42] you I'll second
[02:38:47] that uh commissioner Gra okay uh tabling
[02:38:50] the item wouldn't set a date certain if
[02:38:52] we continue the item it would go to a
[02:38:54] date certain um just to clarify um I'm I
[02:38:58] meant to say continue but I didn't know
[02:39:00] what the appropriate language was but
[02:39:01] continue for for one month I think
[02:39:03] that's the the meeting the next meeting
[02:39:06] approximately 30 days from now so this
[02:39:08] project requires a 20-day noticing
[02:39:09] period it's a little bit different than
[02:39:11] some of our other projects uh so the
[02:39:12] next date that this could potentially go
[02:39:14] to would be the 227 Planning Commission
[02:39:16] meeting okay that would be good for me
[02:39:20] a question um from the developer
[02:39:23] standpoint did this does this
[02:39:24] disadvantage
[02:39:27] You by delaying
[02:39:30] it sure obviously time is important I
[02:39:34] understand that I'm not but well
[02:39:37] originally when we first came into the
[02:39:38] city of Ransom Mirage to complete the
[02:39:40] Ritz Carlton uh project when we acquired
[02:39:43] the project uh we had every expectation
[02:39:46] of moving through with the the uh
[02:39:50] development as a whole which included
[02:39:53] these Villas and and something very
[02:39:55] similar although we changed the shape of
[02:39:57] it from a t to what we refer to as a
[02:40:00] boomerang uh so I ideally you know any
[02:40:04] day that we wait you know there's
[02:40:06] impacts uh to the project as a whole one
[02:40:10] we are currently sitting on a site that
[02:40:12] was graded by previous development teams
[02:40:15] that were unable to complete the project
[02:40:17] so we still have the land
[02:40:19] that has already been uh rough graded
[02:40:22] that includes uh the tennis Villas the
[02:40:26] proposed Villa location as well as our
[02:40:29] uh Sky Mesa site what we refer to as a
[02:40:32] sky Mesa so if anybody were to go up
[02:40:34] there you would see basically raw land
[02:40:36] void of any type of well it's rock
[02:40:40] basically it's pretty hard rock up there
[02:40:43] so you know to the neighborhood as a
[02:40:44] whole uh you know when we came in we had
[02:40:48] number of disc discussions with those
[02:40:50] residences that were really interested
[02:40:52] took a lot of interest in addition to
[02:40:55] City staff as well as uh the various
[02:40:59] council members and and the mayor of the
[02:41:01] city at the time as to if we were
[02:41:03] serious about completing the pro
[02:41:05] completing the project and with us being
[02:41:08] a lold developer that answer was yes it
[02:41:11] is our intent to not only
[02:41:13] complete the existing Ritz Carlton as
[02:41:16] it's today but complete the entire
[02:41:18] project so now here we are in 2024 this
[02:41:21] would have occurred sooner if not for
[02:41:25] covid uh
[02:41:27] so you know now here we are looking to
[02:41:29] fulfill the agreement that we made with
[02:41:31] the city uh back in 2012 and that is to
[02:41:34] complete this
[02:41:35] project if that answered the question
[02:41:38] yes it does okay Jason um in due respect
[02:41:43] to uh David and uh Pamela uh I would I
[02:41:50] would not be in favor of delaying this I
[02:41:54] think that the the all the studies and
[02:41:57] so on uh and and we know sometimes you
[02:42:01] have to take things on faith but I've
[02:42:03] seen enough RIT Carlson
[02:42:05] developments and uh and they are first
[02:42:09] class and they're very careful about
[02:42:11] they're charging a lot of money for
[02:42:13] people to come up there and they have to
[02:42:16] be very sensitive to guests relations
[02:42:19] how people think about it their
[02:42:21] experiences and so on um and so I would
[02:42:26] not be in favor of delaying it that's my
[02:42:30] opinion thank you commissioner do do we
[02:42:34] formally Vote or how do we with the
[02:42:36] First's a motion second we should have a
[02:42:39] vote right yeah you the the
[02:42:40] commissioner's chair you run the meeting
[02:42:42] but the Commissioners could um comment
[02:42:45] on the uh motion made if you wanted to
[02:42:48] let the other commissioners comment or
[02:42:49] you could go straight to a vote okay um
[02:42:52] I'll open it up for additional
[02:42:53] commissioner comments if there are
[02:42:55] any yeah I I just want I I understand
[02:42:58] the confusion and stuff but again um I
[02:43:01] still I agree with commissioner Bryant
[02:43:03] not to postpone this um all the due
[02:43:06] diligence has been done and um I I know
[02:43:10] that you get letters but I'll go back to
[02:43:12] there's people out here with their own
[02:43:13] agenda and um I just think the project
[02:43:16] needs to move forward that's
[02:43:19] and Commissioners just to clarify there
[02:43:21] can be more than one motion uh and then
[02:43:22] you would just vote on each motion
[02:43:25] separately and I would just note just
[02:43:27] given the potential ambiguity uh
[02:43:30] assuming there was a motion granted
[02:43:32] there is a motion in a second for
[02:43:33] continuance if a vote was taken on that
[02:43:36] uh and succeeded the item would be and
[02:43:38] by a majority the item would be
[02:43:40] continued if that item failed due to
[02:43:42] lack of a majority vote um it would then
[02:43:44] be up to the commission to make uh
[02:43:47] another motion with respect to to the U
[02:43:49] merits of the project to whether approve
[02:43:51] it or deny
[02:43:54] it rather to to recommend it for
[02:43:56] approval the yeah item the item agenda
[02:43:59] item three okay
[02:44:01] correct so we have a a motion to vote
[02:44:05] we'll go aead and open up there's a
[02:44:06] motion in a second for uh commissioner
[02:44:08] gre's motion okay and to clarify this is
[02:44:11] a motion to continue the item to the
[02:44:14] second meeting of Jan January uh 227
[02:44:17] 227 please vote
[02:44:34] motion failed three opposed two pass
[02:44:47] approved so now the commission can
[02:44:49] entertain a new
[02:44:51] motion at this time I'll open it up to
[02:44:55] Commissioners to for a new
[02:45:01] motion okay I'd like to make a motion
[02:45:03] that the Planning Commission adopt
[02:45:04] resolution number 2025 next in order
[02:45:07] recommending that the city council take
[02:45:09] the following actions a adopt resolution
[02:45:12] number 2025 next in order approving the
[02:45:15] mitigation monitoring and Reporting
[02:45:16] program and mitigated negative
[02:45:18] declaration
[02:45:21] uh number 202
[02:45:24] 4327 for the proposed Project based on
[02:45:27] environmental assessment case number EA
[02:45:31] 21-2 B adopt resolution number 2025 next
[02:45:35] in order approving General plan zoning
[02:45:38] map Amendment GPZ ma
[02:45:43] 21-1 tenative parcel map case number TPM
[02:45:47] 23-00
[02:45:49] 2 and major modification case number mod
[02:45:54] 21-4 and C introduce and adopt ordinance
[02:45:58] next in order approving development
[02:46:00] agreement Amendment da 21-
[02:46:03] 00002 I'll
[02:46:05] second there's a motion and a second
[02:46:08] please vote
[02:46:21] motion passes four and four four voted
[02:46:25] yes one
[02:46:27] abstained thank you so uh it is 4:47 I
[02:46:32] would like to go ahead and conclude
[02:46:34] today's Planning Commission meeting and
[02:46:37] thank you for everyone's time