BREAKING: Controversial Ofland Resort Will Not Move Forward
The developer is abandoning the resort project in Twentynine Palms’ Indian Cove neighborhood according to a stipulation for the temporary stay of litigation filed April 28.
Ofland Hotel, the resort proposed to be developed in the Indian Cove neighborhood in Twentynine Palms, have abandoned the project.
According to a stipulation for the temporary stay of litigation filed with the San Bernardino County Superior Court by lawyers for Ofland, the City of Twentynine Palms, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Indian Cove Neighbors on Wednesday, April 28, 2026, the developer will not move forward with the project. A public hearing took place on April 29.
To comply with the stay the City of Twentynine Palms must rescind all zoning changes and project entitlements. The stay is in response to a lawsuit filed in August 2025 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Indian Cove Neighbors over the City Council’s approval of the proposed Ofland resort project without a full environmental review.
The project entitlements the City must rescind include zoning changes and the environmental impact statements, and these must happen within 90 days, or by July 27, 2026. The City must certify they have done so in the public record, for example a consent calendar item or a vote at a meeting, by August 31, 2026. These include:
The amendment to the City General Plan to create a new zoning type for City land use, Open Space Conservation (OS-C).
The conversion of the 152-acre parcel from Single Family Residential - Estate (RS-E) to Commercial Tourist (CT) and the new OS-C zoning.
Approval of the Mitigated Negative Declaration, which contained mitigation measures that must be met before development started to curtail significant environmental, traffic, noise pollution, light pollution, and archaeological impacts.
A Conditional Use Permit to grant Ofland permission for the project in accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
A follow-up hearing is scheduled for August 27, 2026. If the City rescinds the entitlements within 90 days the lawsuit may be dismissed. However, if they are not rescinded, the lawsuit may continue.
The project was approved in 2025 following the City Council’s vote on July 22 and adoption of the final zoning ordinances on September 9. However, since then, according to the resort owner,1 both economic and financial conditions have changed, rendering the project unfeasible. The potential Ofland property was pulled off the market on November 19, 2025 and is not currently listed.
The luxury resort project, which was proposed on an undeveloped 152-acre parcel in Indian Cove, would have included multiple new structures: 100 freestanding guest cabins, housing for 25 staff, a restaurant, an lodge/event space, and wastewater treatment facility.
Because this is a breaking story, we will be following up with more reporting and analysis in the coming days.
You can read more about the Ofland project, desert development, and the Ofland lawsuit in the Desert Trumpet’s previous reporting.
NOTE: Desert Trumpet staff members Cindy Bernard, Kat Talley-Jones, and Heidi Heard live in the Indian Cove neighborhood, adjacent to this proposed development project, and are on the organizing committees of Indian Cove Neighbors and Say No to Ofland. Read our policy for covering Ofland here.
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Per a April 23 from Ofland’s attorneys to the City of Twentynine Palms, which was provided to the Desert Trumpet.
Good news, thank you!
Great reporting, thank you. Joseph Rego