On the Agenda: Twentynine Palms Planning Commission, March 4, 2025
Housing Element yearly update, General Plan status report, and two workshops
This upcoming Tuesday, March 4, at 5 pm the Twentynine Palms Planning Commission will hold their regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall, 6136 Adobe Road, where they conduct a hearing on the state Housing Element and General Plan Status, and hold two study sessions—a workshop on ancillary uses at commercial businesses and a workshop on Article 5 of the City Development Code, which covers everything from Adult-Oriented Businesses to Telecommunications Facilities.
Study sessions are generally not live streamed, so if you are interested in these topics plan on attending the meeting. The agenda packet for the upcoming meeting is attached here, and coverage of the previous Planning Commission meeting is available here.
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 or agenda item comments and hand it to the staff, usually sitting at the desk at the front of the room on the right side. You have three minutes to make your comments.
Regarding public comment during the study session, come prepared to be allowed to speak only once for three minutes.
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 for this meeting is approval of the February 18 meeting minutes.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Housing Element and General Plan Status Annual Report.
Each year, the City must review and submit its affordable housing plan progress report to the State Office of Planning Research and the California Department of Housing and Community Development. This report outlines the City’s progress in meeting its 2029 housing element goal.
The statute, Government Code 65400, sets hefty housing development expectations for municipalities and asks local elected officials to report actions they have taken towards fulfilling their state housing element goals:
The housing element portion of the annual report shall include a section that describes the actions taken by the local government towards completion of the programs and status of the local government’s compliance with the deadlines in its housing element.
The City of Twentynine Palms 2022-2029 Housing Element, prepared under former City Officials Community Development Director Travis Clark and City Manager Frank Luckino, set a goal of developing 1,105 housing units by 2029. Six separate drafts were submitted before State approval in February of 2023.
Once reviewed by the Planning Commission, the report will be forwarded to City Council for final approval then submitted to the State of California.
Last year’s housing element report update showed the City of Twentynine Palms barely scratching the surface of this 1,105-unit goal, with only 27 units added in 2023.
2024’s numbers fared similarly. According to the staff report, out of 43 residential build permits at the City, only 24 units were constructed in 2024. The City currently has open build permits for 18 residential units:
A total of 965 more residential units are needed to be constructed by 2029 in order for the City to meet the RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Assessment) goals.
The staff report does not indicate how many of those 24 units are considered low-income/affordable housing units. Tangible plans for a 100-unit affordable housing project on a city-owned parcel near City Hall were presented at the Planning Commission in October 2022 and last discussed by Council nearly two years ago— in June 2023. Desert Trumpet writer Jonathan Hume an opinion piece on the issue in May 2023.
Council has also received presentations from the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition and Habitat for Humanity proposing potential partnerships with the community, but no formal agreements with either nonprofit have been approved by Council. From the State of California, the Project Home Key program is assisting the City with funds to convert four units on Elm Avenue into affordable housing for Veterans
Comparative housing element data for Twentynine Palms and other San Bernardino County cities for 2023 is available on the State’s Housing Element Dashboard.
Also tied into this agenda item is an annual report on the status of the City’s General Plan, which is required by both the State and the City Development Code:
This report is meant to outline each element of the General Plan, when each element was adopted, the last time each was amended, and any anticipated upcoming amendments. Additionally, any new policies for implementation of the General Plan need to be identified.” (staff report)
2012 was the last time the City General Plan was thoroughly reviewed with the next review set for 2028. Included in the City’s 2012 General Plan is a strong emphasis on affordable housing, with policy goals outlined below:
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
None
STUDY SESSION
Ancillary Uses and Commercial Business Workshop
Ancillary is typically something that is secondary or subsidiary. Ancillary use, per the Twentynine Palms Development Code, is defined as “a use incidental to and customarily associated with a specific primary use, located on the same lot or parcel.”
Commercial businesses often have ancillary operations within them – the staff report uses a Barnes & Noble bookstore operating a Starbucks coffee shop inside their storefront as one example. An ancillary use could also include residential units above commercial office spaces, food courts inside malls, or bank branches in grocery stores.
Right now, the Twentynine Palms development code only provides permitting for primary commercial business uses and does not accommodate for these ancillary, or secondary, commercial business operations, hence the purpose for this workshop:
Community Development Staff frequently gets requests for commercial activities that are located within an existing commercial establishment, or are related to an existing commercial business.
Similar to the entertainment permit discussion, the City development code lacks a well defined policy on the topic of ancillary use taking place in commercial businesses. Per the staff report,
The Development Code does not recognize such activities, and assumes that each commercial establishment is in its own unique physical space and conducts one type of activity.
The Community Development department is hoping to simplify this, both for businesses and City Staff, by establishing an ‘administrative use permit’ process, which would reduce the required number of permits for businesses submitting plans to the City.
Per the staff report, it is recommended that ancillary use would be approved through a “zoning clearance” and based on the level of permit that is already required:
At this time, Staff is proposing that ancillary commercial uses may be approved by a zoning clearance by the Community Development Director, with the exception of Ancillary Entertainment.
With regards to commercial businesses, like shops and restaurants, staff recommends the definition of ‘ancillary use’ not apply to ‘ancillary entertainment,’ like open mic nights at a restaurant. Ancillary entertainment would have a different process, under review since September of 2024.
Community Development Director Keith Gardner has taken on code clarification as his top priority, but the bureaucratic wheel is moving slowly with the CDD’s staff taking up agenda items on three separate Planning Commission meetings, one City Council meeting, and at least two workshops to hash out definitions for entertainment permits alone, which is still yet to be defined in the City Code.
Article 5 Workshop
Article 5 of the City Development Code, entitled “Special Use Regulations,” establishes guidelines for plethora of operations, including hotels, outdoor dining, animal shelters, farmers markets, accessory dwelling units, commercial parking, and mobile home parks. Each category or use is defined by the City, with permitting requirements and restrictions written into the City code, starting with Adult Oriented Business and ending with Telecommunication Facilities.
The purpose for this workshop, according to the staff report, is to amend portions of Article 5 at a future date, “to correct any errors or inconsistencies.”
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