RECAP: Planning Commission Meeting, July 16, 2024
Planning swiftly passes development code changes to lighting, noise, and trash standards
You will not be surprised to learn that the first stream of public comment about the flash floods following monsoon thunderstorms on Sunday, July 14, began at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting.
City officials did little to address the damage at the Planning Commission meeting, which is to be expected just two days after the storm. We look forward to more analysis during the upcoming City Council meeting and other meetings in the weeks to follow.
Even with public comment, with only one public hearing item on the agenda, the meeting was quickly concluded in half an hour.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Doug Walters, who lives with his wife Clary on Daisy Avenue near the cemetery, brought up code compliance concerns that he believes caused flooding to his property. According to Walters, other residents have impeded easements between properties, blocking the free flow of water, which then backed up into his property. He asked,
What are the plans that are being made so that the water that is going down the easements continues going down the easements and is not being stopped by chicken coops, by trampolines, by pallets of cement….Unfortunately, my floors were damaged, and we're going to have to pull up the floors. What codes are being enforced to keep that from happening? It's just, I'm looking for your help....
In reporting on meetings attended, Commissioner Leslie Paahana commented in a side note, “It's devastating what happened to some families. You know, there's only so many vendors and so much we could do at all at once, and the city's utilizing the equipment they have to do the best that they can. I understand how awful it is, and I'm sorry that we have to go through this.” None of the Commissioners said whether they had visited flood-affected areas.
The Consent Calendar, which consisted of minutes (linked here) from the last Planning meeting on May 21, was passed with comment.
PUBLIC HEARING
2 Development Code Amendment (DCA), Article 4 Site Development Regulations Part 2 (Lighting Standards, Noise Control, Trash Enclosure Standards)
Community Development Director Keith Gardner introduced the discussion of this development code amendment as being the “latest in a long series of development code updates and changes.” The biggest change, he said, was the change in the code for lighting standards from foot-candles to watts; “It’s very difficult,” he said “to measure foot-candles with any sort of modern equipment.” The changes also covered noise control and trash enclosure standards, but these were not covered in the Commission’s brief discussion.
Commissioners had some questions about lighting standards, which the Desert Trumpet covered in its preview.1 Commissioner Cure asked about extensions following notice of code enforcement violations and asked how long a homeowner or business has to correct their lighting once they have received a letter from code enforcement requiring modifications. Assistant Planner Diane Olsen replied that, “if you're doing modifications to your property, you should be able to modify your lights at that time.”
In public comment, Susan Peplow expressed frustration that three very different topics were covered under one discussion item, giving the public just three minutes to comment on lighting, noise, and trash enclosures. This restriction only gave her time to address her concerns with the new lighting standards. She said that there have been new builds that were approved in Indian Cove with noncompliant lighting and that sign-offs for new construction should cover these lighting violations.
She also questioned the choice of wattage to determine lighting violations because, she said, a 40-watt incandescent bulb puts out a different amount of light than a 40-watt LED bulb—and that not only are lumens a more common standard, but that foot-candles are a more accurate representation of light output than watts.2
Brenda Calvillo expressed her concerns that light pollution is increasing in Twentynine Palms, which affects light cues that animals and plants depend on and the health and well-being of residents. Ronnie Tiner also expressed frustration at the topics clumped together that made public comment challenging and said that Code Compliance had not been very helpful in responding to light and noise complaints in her neighborhood on Old Dale Road.
Commissioners quickly discussed the difference between foot-candles, lumens, and watts; Assistant Planner Olsen said that “if you have light trespass, whether it's 40 watts or four watts, it's a violation.”
Commissioner Jim Krushat summed up by saying,
We've got to choose something that can be measured and something that can be looked at if we can't measure foot candles, and we've got to find another way. Wattage, I think, is a good-enough thing. The only thing I would offer, if you feel there's a noise violation or light violation, you should pursue that with the city. And if you have a difference with what code enforcement says, there's an avenue for you to correct that too. But I think moving forward on these regulations and ordinances is the way to go.
The Amendment passed 5-0.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR UPDATES
Community Development Director Keith Gardners thanked the City’s public works staff, “who have been working hard ever since the surprise monsoon downpour hit us. It's a pretty thankless job that they have to get out there almost 24/7 and scrape the roads and get them cleared out for for public safety.”
Planning Commission Chair Max Walker asked about the car wash going up on Highway 62 and Oasis Avenue. Gardner replied that they are in the midst of processing permits, and it can’t proceed without them.
And with that, Commissioner Walker closed the meeting.
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Laraine Turk commented on the Desert Trumpet meeting preview that she hoped that the City had consulted San Bernardino County’s new Light Trespass Ordinance for unincorporated areas in the Desert and Mountains and notes that the County measures lumens. The Morongo Basin Conservation Association provides background on dark night skies.
Foot-candles and lumens measure light intensity; watts measure the amount of power drawn by a lighting device.
Regarding the lighting ordinance, the Commission appears to be making up the rules without a clear understanding of what they are making the rules about. I thought that Susan Peplow made it pretty clear what the difference was between watts and lumens, incandescent and LED, but they still couldn’t grasp this modern concept, and are still going to use watts as their criteria.