ON THE AGENDA: 8/15/23 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING (POSTPONED TO 8/29/23, AND AGAIN TO SEPTEMBER 19)
Joshua Trees and continued work clarifying and refining City development codes, including on mobile home parks.
Note: On Tuesday, August 15 we were notified that the August 15 meeting is cancelled due to a lack of a quorum, meaning that fewer than 3 of the 5 Planning Commissioners were able to meet. We think the agenda will be the same but will update this article once the August 29 agenda is released and there are changes.
Like several recent Planning Commission meetings, this one focuses on the many changes that are needed in the City’s development code to come into compliance with the changes the State of California has made over the past several years. Per City Manager Frank Luckino, “this will take several planning commission meetings for the planning commission to hear and absorb.”
Once these changes pass the Planning Commission, they come before City Council for final approval. As evidenced by the required public notices in the classified ads of the Desert Trail, several will be on the docket at the August 22 City Council meeting.
We are reviewing the agenda highlights. We recommend reading the entire agenda , which can be found on the city website. The link to the livestream of the meeting is available the day of the meeting at the same link.
PUBLIC COMMENT
You have an opportunity to comment on agenda items and planning issues important to you at every Planning Commission meeting. Please use the opportunity to question your Planning Commission members on the issues affecting our City. Because this meeting’s agenda is brief, it’s a great opportunity to use public comment to address concerns not on the list.
Public comments for all items are limited to three minutes per agenda item, but the public is entitled to fill out requests to speak on multiple items and may also speak during general public comments. To comment, pick up a green form at the desk, fill it out, and hand it to the Clerk who is usually sitting on at the desk at the front of room on the right side. The public can also send comments via email to Planning Commission members and the Community Development Director and request that comments be read at the meeting.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
#2. Downtown Specific Plan Allowable Land Uses Per the staff report, at the July 18 Planning Committee meeting, staff of the City’s planning office recommended a series of clarifications, consolidations, and updates to allowable land uses table in Article 2 in the City’s development code. The City’s planning staff proposes to implement the same list of allowable uses for zones in the Downtown Specific Plan.
We have linked to relevent documents. No attachments were provided for this agenda item.
#3. DCA23-000012 - Joshua Trees Most of Twentynine Palms is at an elevation where Western Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia var. brevifolia) do not grow, but many residents and businesses have the iconic yuccas on their properties. (This writer knows of one wild Joshua Tree growing in the park in Indian Cove; there may be others.)
Planning staff is proposing an amendment to the development code to establish a procedure for the removal, relocation, or trimming of Joshua trees, which have been listed by the California Fish and Game Commission as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. If you wish to remove, relocate, or trim a Joshua tree on your property, you must obtain a "take" permit from the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife. The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act signed into law by Governor Newsom in July 2023 makes no distinction between Joshua trees that have grown naturally or were planted as part of landscaping.
#4. DCA23-000002 - Nonconforming Uses The Planning staff is suggesting changes to Development Code Chapter 19.142, which provides guidance on existing structures that do not conform to the planning code.
If one of these structures is damaged or destroyed, can it be rebuilt or does it have to change so it conforms to current code? Do changes have to be made to a legally established lot that doesn’t meet the standards of the land use district? The code element limits nonconforming uses and regulates whether they can be enlarged, occupied after they have been abandoned, or altered or restored if they have been damaged or destroyed.
The City’s planners maintain that the proposed changes clarify rather than significantly change current regulations.
#5. DCA23-000004- Mobile Home and Special Occupancy Parks Like the other agenda items, this amendment clarifies the regulation of mobile home parks and will separate out the regulations for mobile home parks, which tend to be designed for long-term residency, and recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds, which generally are for short-term use.
Desert Trumpet writer Kat Talley-Jones is a member of the Public Arts Advisory Committee, which is a part of the City of Twentynine Palms.
The Desert Trumpet is looking for writers! If you are interested helping us cover Twentynine Palms, send us an email! deserttrumpet29@gmail.com.
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Hooray for the Joshua Trees and HOORAY for those of you who fight to protect them. I lived across the road from Yucca Mesa for a year and was fortunate to walk among the Joshuas and cholla and mesquite. It was a precious gift.