With only one substantive item, the May 5 Planning Commission meeting promised to be brief, and clocking in at just 28 minutes in length, it was. In attendance were Commissioners Leslie Paahana, Alex Garcia and Jessica Cure and presiding was new Chair Max Walker. Vice Chair Jim Krushat had an excused absence.
Relavent links:
The Consent Calendar consisting of three sets of meeting minutes were approved 4-0-1 (absence).
Bounce Houses, Mechanical Bulls, and Later Nights—Historic Plaza Events Get Official Blessing
The Historic Plaza is unique in the City as local businesses surround the parking, which has a walkway and square between two rows of spaces and is dotted with trees. However, various entities own and run the businesses while the parking area is owned by the City. Friends of the Historic Plaza, a 501c3 nonprofit formed in 2024, has been producing events in the Plaza for the last two years and pulling Temporary Use Permits (TUP) for each event.
The proposed Conditional Use Permit (CUP) grants the nonprofit permission to produce Sunday events running from noon to 5 pm, with set-up allowed from 7 am with teardown through 7 pm. Alcohol sales are permitted under the CUP, provided an active ABC license is obtained and visible. Live and recorded music and street performers would be allowed, subject to the City’s noise regulations. A mix of vendors is also acceptable as long as each holds a valid City business license. Highlights of the 24 Conditions of Approval listed included:
a prohibition on “kiddie rides”
any sale or display of live animals must be coordinated with Animal Control
all merchandise must consist of new items, handmade crafts, antiques (defined as 50+ years old), or collectibles
a $1 million insurance requirement with the City listed as an additional insured
The Friends submitted a request to the Commission to amend the conditions presented in the agenda as follows:
Extend the operating hours to 10 pm from May to September
Allow kid friendly attractions such as inflatable bounce houses and mechanical bull rides
Near-by business owner Ted Pritchett also contacted the Commission with additional suggestions including two portable toilets, extra trash cans, restricting parking on Homestead Drive and at neighboring businesses and not impeding access to those businesses.
Discussion focused on the restricted parking, with Commissioners indicating that it was not within their authority to restrict parking on a public street. However, it was requested that the Friends place signage directing attendees to appropriate parking to ensure that business access isn’t affected.
Representative for the applicants, Friends of the Historic Plaza board member Jimmy Brower, spoke to the benefits of the events:
We’re able to increase and better the quality of life for our residents here in 29 but also add to the City’s Strategic Plan whenever it comes to boosting tourism and creating a unique identity for the City of 29 Palms amongst all of the other cities in the Morongo Basin.…It is also increasing more opportunities for entrepreneurial activities for all of our stay-at-home makers and crafters, our artists, our designers and those that are just following their dreams and passions and not able to afford a brick and mortar [business].
In public comment on the item, Mojaveland founder Anna Stump praised the Historic Plaza as “a magical place for kids” and endorsed the Friends application. Commissioner Cure echoed Stump’s comments, speaking to her appreciation of the Plaza and of the events produced there. Commissioner Garcia added, “It’s awesome seeing it being relooked at again, and revived a bit.”
A permit running five years, expiring May 5, 2031 was approved with 4-0-1 (absence) vote.
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Solar Returns in Public Comment
The E-Group Solar Project dominated general public comment.
Peter Lang focused on the March 3 Planning Commission meeting and assertions made by E-Group attorney Robert Smith that the project qualified under AB 205, which holds that renewable energy projects meeting specific requirements can bypass local mandates and receive approval from the California Energy Commission (CEC). As originally configured, the E-Group project fell below the 50 megawatt requirement for AC power generation, yet whether the project qualified for state review under AB 205 was never independently verified by the City.
A resident, Suzanne Lyons, contacted CEC and received verification that the project didn’t qualify. After being denied by City Council, E-Group reconfigured the project to meet the requirement and appears to have started the state process.
Lang expressed his frustration with E-Group:
E-Group spent nearly three years threatening this community with a state approval pathway they either did not understand or knew that they did not qualify for. There are only two explanations, and neither is acceptable. Either E-Group and its legal team failed to understand a basic eligibility requirement for this very process they were using to pressure the City, or they knowingly allowed the City, the Planning Commission and the public to operate under a false assumption that is either gross incompetence or dishonesty. In my view, either one should be disqualifying in the event that E-Group comes back to the City for a vote in any way, shape or form.
Lang concluded, “AB 205 still requires consideration of local laws and conditions, a finding of net positive economic benefit to the local government, plus legally binding community benefits, Benefit Agreements. E-Group presented AB 205, as a threat, but the actual process is more complex than they make it sound.”
Suzanne Lyons was next to speak, and promising “positive feedback,” thanked each Commissioner for their participation in the deliberative process, which resulted in a split 2-2 vote with one member remaining neutral.
I just want to say thank you to everybody and give you some positive feedback, because it was rough, it was hard. Everybody played a part, and you were all really important, and I think the whole process worked the way it’s supposed to work. So thank you.
Community Development Director Updates
Director Keith Gardner had three topics to discuss: Ofland, General Plan Updates and the Planning Commission calendar.
In the first City acknowledgement of Ofland’s abandoning of the planned resort in Indian Cove, Gardner said:
I did get a letter from an attorney representing the Ofland applicants asking for the City to initiate a rescission of their approvals. I’m working with our legal team to help [determine the] best approach to do that. So to be continued, I just want to let the Commission know that I did receive it, and we’re working on how, how best to approach that.
Regarding the General Plan, Gardner advised the Commissioners that Planning had examining land use on a parcel by parcel basis and would be working with the new City Manager Kevin Cole. He also pointed out that there was no budget allocation for 2026-2027 to hire consultants so the City is working internally to “get our thought process together before we hire anyone else.”
The Commission agreed to meet in two weeks, perhaps for a workshop on General Plan updates or other “broad topics.”
The next Planning Commission meeting is Tuesday, May 19 at 6 pm.
NOTE: Desert Trumpet staff members Cindy Bernard, Kat Talley-Jones, and Heidi Heard live in the Indian Cove neighborhood, adjacent to the proposed Ofland development project, and are on the organizing committees of Indian Cove Neighbors and Say No to Ofland. Read our policy for covering Ofland here.
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