ON THE AGENDA: Planning Commission, October 7, 2025
Two study sessions on Temporary Event Permits and community gardens, both repeat topics from September's meeting.
Updated: We received an informative update from Mil-Tree about their community garden, which we run in full at the end of this report. We are grateful they took the time to correct our error.
This week’s Planning Commission meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 7, at 5 pm. The agenda this week is short—it lacks any items for the consent calendar, public hearings, or discussion sections. After general public comment and updates by Community Development Director Keith Gardner, the commission will host two study sessions, however. One on Temporary Use Permits and one on Cooperative (co-op) Gardens and Greenhouses. Both topics were already discussed by the Commission last month in study sessions without changes to the City Code. Study sessions are not usually live-streamed; the Desert Trumpet will be at the meeting and will report on the study session.
The agenda for this session is available here.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
After Planning Commission announcements, residents can comment on items not on the agenda. Public comments on agenda items will be requested when the item is discussed. Fill out a green comment sheet for public or agenda item comments and hand it to the staff, usually sitting at the desk at the front of the room on the right side. Residents have three minutes to make your comments.
You may also email comments to Planning Commission members and Keith Gardner, and Community Development Director Gardner, and request that comments be read at the meeting.
1. Study Session —Temporary Use Permits
According to the staff report, there have been an increase in permit requests for events that don’t currently fall into the categories outlined for Temporary Use Permits in the City’s Development Code, such as weddings and art events, and particularly for residentially zoned properties.
While the Commission allowed for leeway by City staff to issue Temporary Use Permits the last time this topic was brought in front of them in September, Community Development Director Keith Gardner now runs into another issue. Applicants who exceed the maximum number of events allowed, which is four, are required to apply for a Conditional Use Permit for their event. This issue was raised to the City Council at the end of September, when staff asked the council to consider waiving the processing fee for a potential Conditional Use Permit for Historic Plaza. Historic Plaza has been the location of several community events this past year put on by the Friends of Historic Plaza with community events grant funding from the City and sponsorship from the Visit 29 / Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Event Sponsorships.
According to City Staff, a Conditional Use Permit is a more involved and onerous process that may dissuade future applicants. For example, each Conditional Use Permit for Historic Plaza events would cost an applicant about $5,000, on top of requiring a public hearing and approval by the Planning Commission.
City Staff is suggesting that applicants who schedule more than four events be instead required to apply for an Administrative Use Permit, which only requires approval by the Community Development Director, and doesn’t require a notice in public records.
In addition to making clear which permit is necessary when, City staff is also asking the Commission to also further clarify permit rules based on zoning. The City Code language does not currently differentiate between commercial and residential properties for Temporary Use Permits. The staff report on Temporary Use Permits is available here.
2. Study Session—Cooperative (co-op) Gardens / Greenhouses
According to the staff report, City residents have requested to use undeveloped properties as co-op gardens, despite there not being an established “Cooperative Garden” land use policy in City Code. The staff report proposes the following definition of a co-op garden:
A piece of land that is cultivated collectively by an established group of people or organization for non-commercial purposes. These gardens serve as shared spaces where individuals or groups come together to grow plants, vegetables, fruits and flowers. The garden is managed by the co-op members.
The staff report states that no such gardens have existed in Twentynine Palms in the last five years, though they have existed in the past. In 2023 the local veteran-focused non-profit Mil-Tree received a grant that funded the building of a community garden in Joshua Tree, but Desert Trumpet reporters confirmed that it no longer exists.
According to the staff report, one request for a co-op garden included the possibility of a greenhouse-type structure. Because the current Development Code does not address greenhouses for non-commercial purposes, the study session on co-op gardens will also include discussion on allowable greenhouses, zoning restrictions, and architectural regulations for allowed greenhouses. The staff report on co-op gardens and greenhouses is available here.
Correction:
My name is Crystal Wysong and I am a subscriber to your regular emails. I value what you are doing and would like to see someone hold the town of Yucca Valley accountable for their decisions and actions as well.
I’ve always appreciated and trusted the accuracy of your reporting, which is why I was surprised to see a misstatement in your recent Substack article/email blast regarding the Mil-Tree Joshua Tree Retreat Center (JTRC) Community Garden.
As a member of the Mil-Tree Board of Directors and the person overseeing the community garden, I wanted to clarify that the statement — “In 2023 the local veteran-focused non-profit Mil-Tree received a grant that funded the building of a community garden in Joshua Tree, but Desert Trumpet reporters confirmed that it no longer exists” — is incorrect.
I was particularly concerned by the reference to your reporters having “confirmed” this. To my knowledge, no one from the Desert Trumpet has reached out to Mil-Tree or to me personally to verify the garden’s current status.
The following will clarify what is going on with the JTRC garden:
1) The JTRC garden has been on hiatus over the summer. Last summer we worked through and it was just too hot. However, we have given permission to a local vet and 29 Palms business owner, and a local botanist to use our smaller bed in the southwest corner of the garden area for the time being.
2) The JTRC garden currently has three large composting bins working. The bins are enclosed with repurposed filing cabinets that have been reworked as planters. These were on their way to the landfill. We recently cut back cacti that have been encroaching on the garden area and are planting the cuttings into these new planters to camouflage the composting bins. In fact, I was there today to check on them to see if we need to protect them. Apparently, lucky for us, the local critters do not like these particular cacti as none of them had been eaten or carried away.
3) Meanwhile, during the summer, the JTRC garden committee was focusing on our proposal for a community garden in 29 Palms. This was a request from the mayor of 29, one of the city councilmen, and our CA state senator. We have also been looking for grant possibilities from non-city sources. (See #4 below)
4) The above 29 Palms community garden proposal was submitted to the city planner last week.
5) The JTRC garden has been waiting for funding to complete a large project (protecting our garden enclosure from animals) that we started last spring. We were recently rewarded a $2500 grant from the Joshua Basin Water District/Mojave Water Agency. We plan to pursue the same type of funding from the 29 Palms water agency if a 29 Palms community garden is approved.
6) Over the summer, if you have visited the JTRC garden area, you will see that some folks have been cleaning up the entire area at the old farm - cutting back dead trees, planting cacti, etc.
7) The JTRC garden is in the process of planning a work day/weekend that will include veterans from the Joshua Tree VFW and Single Marines from the 29 Palms military base. We are hoping to complete the garden enclosure in that one day/weekend so we can begin planting.
8) We are currently scheduling garden-related workshops and events for the fall, winter, and spring.
9) In addition, we are in discussions with Copper Mountain College to cross promote events that fulfill the mission of both of our organizations.
Upcoming events and deadlines to note:
October 8, 5:30 pm: Community Roundtable on Housing and Homelessness, Luckie Park Activity Center, 74325 Joe Davis Dr., Twentynine Palms.
October 15: Visit 29 Palms Sponsorship and Event Grant Program deadline for events taking place January 1 – June 30, 2026.
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