On the Agenda: Twentynine Palms Planning Commission, April 1, 2025
Chair and Vice Chair nominations, road maintenance, language clarification, and Farmer's Market considerations
What do maintained roads, bingo, and the Twentynine Palms Farmer’s Market all have in common? Well, they’re all slated to be discussed during Tuesday night’s Planning Commission meeting, of course. Following a cancellation of their March 18 meeting, the Planning Commission will convene at City Hall, Tuesday, April 1, at 5 pm, 6136 Adobe Road.
Attendees can expect a changing of the guard as the Commission chooses their annual Chair and Vice Chair. Following that will be a study session addressing two topics—city-maintained roads and Article 5 of the City Development Code. Study sessions are typically not live streamed, so if you are interested in these topics, plan on attending the meeting.
The 45-page agenda packet for the upcoming meeting is linked here. Our coverage of the previous March 4 Planning Commission meeting is available here.
SELECTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR
The process for choosing the Planning Commission Chair and Vice Chair is codified in Article One, Chapter 19 of the City Development Code:
Currently, the Planning Commission is Chaired by Max Walker with Jessica Cure serving as Vice Chair. To date, Commissioners Jessica Cure, Alex Garcia, and Leslie Paahana have not yet held the Chair position. Commissioner Jim Krushat served as Chair prior to Walker.
Traditionally, the Vice Chair of the Commission moves up to Chair during this process, as Walker did under Krushat, although that is not legally required. This convention would mean Vice Chair Jessica Cure moves up to Chair, contingent upon a nomination and at least three approval votes for a majority. The Commission could also choose to reappoint Walker as Chair for another cycle.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
After Planning Commission announcements, residents 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. Residents 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 March 4 meeting minutes.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
None
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
None
STUDY SESSION
2. Maintained Road List
Public Works maintains online lists of the paved and unpaved roads that it does and doesn’t maintain. According to the staff report, a list was handed over from the County of San Bernardino when the City first incorporated back in 1987 and has been modified a number of times since. Caltrans is in charge of maintaining Highway 62, while the County is in charge of outer unincorporated areas. After Planning Commission review, a list of City-maintained roads will be submitted to Council for approval at a future date:
Once approved by the City Council, any modifications to this list will also require action by the City Council.
The staff report states that the City does not expect any more roads to be added to the list and that public works is in charge of maintaining most paved roads within City limits. A deep-dive into the list in the agenda shows there are some exceptions, however. For example, two blocks east of Donnell Hill, drivers can find the pothole-stricken road of Pine Avenue, which is a paved road within City limits.
Highlighted in yellow in the map of maintained City roads above, between Old Dale Road and Sullivan Avenue, the southern portion of Pine Avenue is not currently maintained by the City, although its northern portion, from Old Dale Road to Highway 62, is.
It is unclear who paved this lower portion of Pine Avenue initially but the neighborhood is currently zoned for Service Commercial, features one property with an active VHR permit, and, according to Google maps, is home to the Twentynine Palms branch of Yucca Valley Towing and an HVAC service company. A handful of residential homes and storage lots line the street as well.
Over time, chunks of Pine Avenue’s asphalt have washed away from eastward rain flows trickling from Donnell Hill’s higher elevation. The road itself, which is just north of the City’s Public Works building, could possibly meet the criteria for City paving in the future.
According to the Staff Report:
There are a select few unpaved streets that Public Works maintains for safety reasons and through prior practice. It is anticipated that no more unpaved streets will be added to the Maintained Street List. In order for a street to be added to this list, the following must occur:
1) All Rights-of-Way need to be dedicated to the City
2) The street must be constructed and paved up to City standards
Public Works has an active list of road projects approved for upgrades, paid for with funds through the County’s Measure I, the City’s Special Project Funds and Capital Projects funds. El Sol Avenue, adjacent to Knott Sky Park and the Water District building, was repaved last month. Indian Cove Road, from Highway 62 to Sullivan Road, will be closed for repaving April 1-2.
3. Development Code Amendment - Article 5
The City has been carving out amendments to various sections of the Development Code as part of a larger effort by Community Development Director Keith Gardner to clarify inconsistent verbiage. The Community Development Director is divvying up these workshops into chewable study sessions before moving forward with formal code amendments. Development code amendments were last approved by Council in August 2024.
The section on Article 5, “Special Use Regulations” is the Community Development Director’s latest endeavor and is a continuation of last meeting’s Article 5 workshop, in which Commissioners were given a homework assignment by Gardner to review the code section in its entirety in anticipation of clarifying Article 5’s language inconsistencies at a future date.
Because the section is so nebulous, covering activities from the animal shelter all the way to car rentals, a wide array of businesses could potentially be impacted by revisions.
The download-friendly version of Article 5 is 196 pages and the code covers everything from A to Z— the following business types and activities are regulated under Article 5, Chapter 19 of the City’s Development Code:
Adult Oriented Business, animal keeping, automobile and vehicle related uses, bed and breakfast uses, bingo licenses, Farmer’s Market uses, commercial vehicle parking, community care facilities, emergency shelters, mobile home and special occupancy parks, outdoor dining, outdoor storage, recycling facilities, accessory dwelling units, single-room occupancy facilities, and telecommunications facilities.
The staff report suggests language revisions for sections on bed and breakfasts, bingo licenses, vehicle uses, and the farmer’s market, then poses the following questions for the Commission to consider:
Bed and Breakfast:
Should a paved road be required? Or is a maintenance plan sufficient?
Farmers Market
Should there be a minimum distance between uses? Should there be a minimum percentage of produce/food vendors? Should food trucks be allowed and maximum number?1
City Staff’s suggested changes to the section pertaining to Bed and Breakfast uses includes removal of a requirement that modifications to bed and breakfasts be made in compliance with the overall “character of the neighborhood” and a distance requirement that required bed and breakfasts to be 1,000 feet apart.
Strategic Planning meetings are fast approaching! The first workshop will be held on Friday, April 4, from 5 to 7 pm at City Hall, and the second on Saturday, April 5, at 10 am (location to be confirmed). The purpose of these sessions is to identify long-term goals for Twentynine Palms with the next five, ten, and twenty years in mind. Residents are encouraged to attend and provide community input at these meetings.
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