IN BRIEF, NOVEMBER 15, 2022
Council meeting recap, Planning meeting preview, Indian Cove meets with a developer and numbers from the November 8 election
NOVEMBER 8 CITY COUNCIL RECAP
City Council managed to get some work done despite a stormy evening which scrambled a few presentations and the video feed while Council members Mintz and Bilderain walked in 30 minutes late due to a Volleyball tournament and accident on 2 Mile. Oh and it was election night, prompting Suzy Dick of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints to include God directed results in her invocation: “We pray that it will be a safe and fair election and that all things will come out the way that Thou would have them come out.”
Early Child Care Crisis and Broadband Internet
The presentation section of the agenda was more active than usual with Powerpoint presentations by Kimberly Andromeda, Director of the Institute of Inquiry on the Childcare and Education Crisis of the Morongo Basin, and Doug McAllister, Vice President of External Affairs for Frontier Communications. Neither presentation was included in the agenda packet and the camera was on the three Council members during Andromeda’s talk, so neither she or the slides were visible to anyone viewing online.
Andromeda gave a comprehensive analysis on the poor state of child care services in the Morongo Basin — San Bernardino County ranks 56 out of 58 Counties for early child care. Desert Trumpet feels that her presentation deserves more attention so we’ve transcribed it and obtained the slides from the City. We’ll be sending it out to our subscribers later this week.
“Who do you use for internet?” is one of the most common questions in the What’s Going On in Twentynine Palms Facebook group. McAllister’s presentation touted the arrival of fiber optic broadband via Frontier Communications in “all” of Twentynine Palms, offering speed up to 2 gigs. However it was unclear how much of the City would be covered. As Mayor Pro Tem Wright pointed out, the map McAllister presented was partial and the Wright’s own home was not on it.
Several neighborhoods in Twentynine Palms lack broadband coverage and get by with 4g wireless. The arrival of Starlink has improved connectivity for some but at approximately $700 to purchase the dish and $110 a month the service too expensive for most residents. Frontier is planning to offer three tiers of service starting at $49.99 for 500 mbs up and down and topping out at $149.99 for 2 gigs mbs up and down.
McAllister spoke about Frontier’s efforts to alert residents to the upcoming construction via door tags and yard signs (and has this new construction passed Planning yet? We don’t know.) The timeline to service was also unclear.
Please see our agenda preview for other issues covered in the meeting, we’re going to jump to….
Sewer and Wastewater
At the Nov 8 City Council meeting the Council rubber stamped City Manager Frank Luckino's revised sewer plan.
The wastewater treatment plant is now slated to be located near the intersection of Twentynine Palms Hwy and Utah Trail, a few parcels west of the northwest corner of that intersection. This is an abrupt change from Luckino's previously floated plan, where the wastewater treatment plant was to be sited up on Amboy Road, much farther north.
The City will request $158M from the state to fund this project. If the City obtains this full amount, it will pay for Phases 1 and 2 of the sewer project. These phases would provide sewer service to downtown Twentynine Palms plus an area northwest of downtown.
Included in this $158M total is $20M for tertiary wastewater treatment. This additional treatment is necessary to address concerns raised by TPWD (Twentynine Palms Water District) and others that wastewater must be squeaky clean before it's returned to local aquifers, reducing any risk whatsoever of contamination.
Luckino conceded there is not any evidence now of water contamination risk from the City's current approach of treating wastewater using septic tanks, and ideally the City would wait for the recently launched USGS (United States Geological Survey) study before moving forward with sewer.
But Luckino framed continued reliance on septic as a significant limitation on City growth, pointing to 1700 housing units already in approved City tract maps . The way Luckino sees it, the lure of potential 100% state funding for sewer is simply too tempting for the City to resist.
Luckino also said that if the state ended up granting the City significantly less than $158M, it would be easy enough to trim the scope of the sewer project accordingly. For example, the Phase 2 area northwest of downtown could be deferred, or the tertiary treatment could be added at a later date.
Luckino reiterated that the cost of connecting each home and business to sewer, estimated at $12,000 per parcel served, is included in the total project cost. This stands in contrast to the sewer project in Yucca Valley, where often unhappy local residents were forced to directly bear the cost of connecting sewer from their property line to their home or business.
What about cost to be on sewer? The timeline shown by Luckino stated the monthly cost for sewer customers won't be known until at least December. Mark your calendars!
NOVEMBER 15 PLANNING COMMISSION PREVIEW
In a wide ranging 511 page overloaded agenda, Planning will:
Approve a conditional use permit for a car wash and restaurant at the intersection of 62 and Oasis (being developed by the same owner as the much anticipated Cholla Laundry)
Align the City with State law on electric charging stations
Approve the revised Housing, Safety and Land Use Elements of the General Plan
Amend the Development Code so residents may keep pot bellied pigs as pets.
A quick reminder that public comment in Planning Commission meetings has the same rules as City Council meetings. As always we recommend reading the full agenda. But we must note that similar to City Council agendas, one has to wonder who is served when important issues such as revisions to the General Plan are packed into an overcrowded agenda. Even pot bellied pigs deserve more consideration. In any case, we’re pulling out one item for longer review…
#2. Appeal of VHR22-195, Sullivan Road
A novel STR permit appeal is before the Planning Commission - an objection to a permit issued for barely completed new construction of a single family residence (SFR) and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on a lot in Indian Cove. When combined the two structures have 5 bedrooms.
The appellants Katherine Talley-Jones, Dennis and Gale Corsini and John Wall are arguing that the STR code is intended for residences and dwellings that have been owner occupied at some point in their history. Since these new structures are designed to be STRs, they point out, they have never had a residential use and therefore should not be allowed to operate as STRs in residential neighborhoods.
An anomaly not mentioned in the appeal is in most instances SFRs and ADUs on a single lot are issued one permit per structure, however since this owner has promised to lease the two buildings as one unit, they’ve been issued one permit, an unusual interpretation of the City’s STR code.
The permit being appealed is one of three permits in process for new construction apparently designed to be operated as short term rentals (STRs) in Indian Cove. The structures were built and are owned by a series of interrelated LLCs. These LLCs are building multi-bedroom structures which go straight to STR without having been used as a residence, then promoting the rentals via their own STR management company.
The buildings located at 68982 Sullivan Road and 7050 Indian Cove Road are both two stories high and have already created controversy in the mostly one-story neighborhood due to loss of privacy and blocking of views. Complaints have landed “Two-story homes in Indian Cove” on the Future Council Initiated Items list at City Council.
Desert Trumpet is in the process of writing an depth report on how the lack of a residential requirement in STR ordinances has incentivized a matrix of LLCs to jump on the “straight to STR” construction bandwagon instead of encouraging developers to build needed residential homes. Watch your inbox in the next few weeks for more info. Also join the conversation at 5pm as we live chat tonight’s Planning Commission meeting from City Hall.
NOVEMBER 13 INDIAN COVE NEIGHBORS MEETING
The sleeping giant of Indian Cove was roused to action when more than 50 residents gathered to discuss a proposed resort development in the middle of their neighborhood with new owner Joubin Sedgh and yet to be contracted “project manager “ Hooman Fazly. Since an editor of the Desert Trumpet was an organizer of the event as well as the moderator, we will recuse from coverage and refer you to the excellent article by Heather Clisby at z107.7. Indian Cove residents may join a neighborhood mailing list for further information at indiancoveneighbors@gmail.com.
NOVEMBER 8 ELECTION RECAP
For Twentynine Palms City Council the big news is that District 4 in Twentynine Palms will be represented by challenger Octavious Scott, who prevailed over incumbent Karmolette O'Gilvie by 35 votes. Scott received 235 votes to O'Gilvie's 200.
Voters returned the two unopposed City Council incumbents, Daniel Mintz in District 3 and McArthur Wright in District 5, to office with 362 and 252 votes respectively.
In Twentynine Palms Water District, voters returned all three incumbents. Robert Coghill received 1,519 votes, Anita (Suzi) Horn got 1,412 and Randy Leazer received 1,272, while challenger Ted Wright got 846 votes.
In countywide measures, County of San Bernardino Measure D passed handily, 159,683 (58.88%) to 111,528 (41.12%).
County voters approved Measure EE, the other countywide measure, by a hair -- 138,649 (50.61%) to 135,319 (49.39%).
Finally, for U.S. House Representative District 23, Republican Jay Obernolte beat Democrat Derek Marshall 66,059 (59.99%) to 44,050 (40.01%).
What was the result of State Assebly District 34 ? Smitty Smith or Tom Lackey ?