ON THE AGENDA: Planning Commission / Housing and Homeless Committee, January 16, 2024
ON THE AGENDA: Planning Commission / Housing and Homeless Committee, January 16, 2024
A conditional use permit for a brewery and an updated presentation on Homeless & Housing solutions
The upcoming City of Twentynine Palms Planning Commission meeting will take place this Tuesday, January 16, at 5:00 pm. This agenda is short and sweet, with the Homeless Committee Study Session to follow. The entire agenda packet can be found on the City’s website, which will also have a link on the day of the meeting to livestream the meeting. The recording will be available for viewing later on YouTube.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
After Planning Commission announcements, you 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 comments or agenda item comments and hand it to the staff usually sitting at the desk at the front of room on the right side. You have 3 minutes to make your comments.
You may also email comments to Planning Commission members and Keith Gardner, the Community Development Director, and request that comments be read at the meeting.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The only item on the Consent Calendar is approval of the minutes from the December 5, 2023, meeting.
PUBLIC HEARING
2. CUP23-000006 a Conditional Use Permit for the establishment of a small beer manufacturer and brewhouse/ brewpub located at 73565 Twentynine Palms Highway.
29 Beer Company LLC (owned by Eric Smith, Grnd Sqrl co-owner Mike Usher, and Grnd Sqrl Executive Chef Joel Pettersson) submitted an application for a Conditional Use Permit for the establishment of a brewhouse/pub on July 12, 2023. Conditional Use Permits are issued by cities to authorize a property to be used for a purpose other than what it is typically zoned for. The application for this conditional use permit entails plans of a full coffee/espresso bar, grab-and-go breakfast in the mornings, an outdoor patio extension, and an on-site brewhouse. The staff report notes that “29 Beer Company LLC will offer full coffee/espresso bar and grab-and-go breakfast in the mornings. Afternoon and evenings will see full beer menu and food items.”
The staff report continues, “The applicant has applied with Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) for a Type 23 Small Beer Manufacturer License and brewhouse/ brewpub. A brewpub is a small brewery with a restaurant where the beer it produces is sold in draft form exclusively at its own premises.”
The Twentynine Palms Planning Commission is recommended to approve the Conditional Use Permit. Potential operating hours listed in the application are 6 am to 10 pm with adjustments for holidays and local events. The space is currently permitted as a tattoo parlor and nail salon.
STUDY SESSION
3. Housing and Homeless Committee Updates on previous decisions
4. Homeless and Housing presentation
A Homeless & Housing Presentation by Andrea Keller and Jessica Cure will present three potential action items the City of Twentynine Palms can pursue to address homelessness and the general housing crisis. A preliminary version of the Housing & Homeless presentation was presented at the November 7 Homeless and Housing Committee.
Adaptive reuse looks at renovating existing buildings and repurposing them for something other than what they were originally built for. One potential example would be converting the Motel 6 on Highway 62 into affordable housing units in a similar fashion to Los Angeles County, which in its Homeless Initiative program successfully converted a former Motel 6 into 97 apartments in an unincorporated portion of Whittier in April 2023.
Building new structures from the ground up could be less costly than adaptive reuse. The presentation suggests abundant land in Twentynine Palms makes this housing development option viable and that placing these new builds in commercially zoned areas of the city could uphold residential neighborhood culture. The downside to these new builds is that they may require a sewage treatment package plant that could be costly.
An incentivized Home Revitalization Program. The goal of this program would be incentivizing homeowners to renovate housing structures that have been otherwise abandoned, neglected, or are in disrepair by providing them with funding in the form of loan assistance, tax breaks and subsidies, streamlined building requirements that take away bureaucratic red tape, and potential use of an emergency improvement grant program such as the one implemented in the City of Palm Desert.
The presentation notes state, “Taking inspiration from the success of the Business Improvement Loan Program, an Abandoned Home Revitalization Program would incentivize residents toward revitalizing abandoned homes and could also include renovating a space into JR ADU or ADU [Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit and Accessory Dwelling Unit]. This proposal encourages homeowners to take the initiative in transforming neglected properties, fostering a sense of pride and community engagement.”
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