Earth Day 2025: An Editorial
Twentynine Palms Needs a Coherent and Visionary Development Plan
At the April 5 Twentynine Palms Strategic Planning meeting, City Manager Stone James said:
We have a remarkable amount of undeveloped land, and we have a community that understands that new development is required to keep the City afloat.
Tonight the City Council will take yet another look at a way this undeveloped land might be used: commercial campgrounds and RV parks on land zoned Rural Living (RL) in Twentynine Palms. The issue first came up in September 2023 after Hipcamp contacted the City encouraging it to revise regulations so landowners could turn their undeveloped properties into campgrounds. The current proposal is that—with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP)— minimum campground and RV park size would be five acres, with a maximum density of 15 campsites or 12 RV slots per acre.1
Let’s do a little math. A five-acre campground could potentially have 75 campsites. The code requires three trash enclosures for five acres plus an undetermined number of restrooms or toilet facility. There is no stipulation regarding fire rings or grills, no regulations about pets, no requirements to maintain dirt roads or provide environmental protections.
The draft ordinance2 suggests that this zone change is consistent with the intent of the goals and policies of the General Plan:
The Development Code Amendment is consistent with the following policies of the General Plan: Goal LU-1 – Encourage orderly growth and development as envisioned by community residents. Goal LU-10 - Promote a high quality of life for Twentynine Palms residents by developing and sustaining a strong and diverse local economy.
With our understaffed and overtaxed Code Compliance office, campgrounds might quickly turn into fetid, trashy burn zones that will blight our desert lands. You’ve seen the BLM campgrounds at Giant Rock, Joshua Tree, and south of Cottonwood. You know what they can be like. Will this be a “high quality of life for Twentynine Palms residents”?
What if the City had a coherent development plan?
The development code update for campgrounds and RV parks builds on other City-favored initiatives as the Ofland Resort and the Twentynine Palms solar farm, which seek to monetize Rural Living neighborhoods with commercial projects. Instead of handling development of Rural Living zones piecemeal, CUP by CUP, what if we had a visionary overview of the City and the ways it can be best developed to serve the people who live here?
Instead of revising development code to fulfill the desires of out of town land owners and developers, what if we had a plan for development that made the City more livable for the people who are here? What if we looked at the big picture?
The City’s strategic planning process brought out community voices that mitigated that drumbeat of “revenue, revenue, revenue” and turning desert land into developer gold. The Desert Trumpet has and still is reporting on this planning process,3 also covered by Z1107 and the Hi-Desert Star, “Message to the city: Keep small-town charm.” We have yet to see the survey promised to go out to businesses and residents shortly after the April 5 meeting. A draft strategic plan is scheduled for the end of May and a finalized plan will go to City Council in early June. We’ll keep you informed.
We haven’t had a new General Plan since 2012. Its vision for the City was admirable:
Promote a high quality of life while preserving the City’s desert, small-town feel.
Encourage high quality development compatible with the Joshua Tree National Park, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and the City’s desert, small-town character.
Develop a strong and diversified local economy with a focus on arts, cultural, tourism, retail, job growth and overall quality of life for all community members.
Preserve the desert environment and its natural and cultural resources for future generations.
Promote sustainable and adaptable growth principles in the development of the City.
Let’s not develop piecemeal, and let’s not destroy our neighborhoods. In a revised General Plan, let’s continue to create a strong and diversified economy. Let’s not miss the opportunity to develop a livable, sustainable community that supports the precious desert environment that makes this City so unique.
Save the Date! On May 31, from 3 to 5 pm, Indian Cove Neighbors and the Morongo Basin Conservation Association will be holding Finding Balance: A Community Conversation on Development in Our Desert Ecosystem at the Twentynine Palms Community Center, 6547 Freedom Way, Twentynine Palms. It’s free. Please plan to attend and let your voice be heard.
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The Desert Trumpet has covered the campground question several times over the last year and half: the first presentation before the Planning Commission, September 19, 2023; a recap of the November 7, 2023 Planning Commission meeting; October 22, 2024, District 2 City Council Candidates Respond to the Planning Commission Vote on Campgrounds in Rural Living Zoning.
Item 17: DCA23-000004 - Mobile Home Parks and Special Occupancy Parks. RECOMMENDATION: The City Council find the project exempt from CEQA and adopt the Ordinance approving the Development Code Amendment for Chapter 19.124 Mobile Home Parks and Special Occupancy Parks.