What everyone is missing is that we are not opposed to this project.
We are opposed to this plan because it creates president for council and planning commission to arbitrarily rezone our best neighborhoods.
What council and planning commission members fail
miserably to recognize is that we, the citizens of 29 Palms hold the cards.
We share the gateway to one of the most popular national parks in the nation, over 3 million visitors annually.
29 Palms is the delicious cake that everyone suddenly wants a piece of. Yet we act like the developers are doing us a favor by building in our residential areas.
Of course a sleepy desert community would only have infrastructure in its neighborhoods. No previous need for large commercial infrastructure.
Now developers need that infrastructure. And they are insidiously burrowing into our finest neighborhoods.
Since the developers stand to make so much money from completely altering our previously trusted zoning laws, the developers should put in the infrastructure they need, in areas zoned for commercial development. Work with the community instead of tearing it apart.
The city needs to stand up for its residents, instead of claiming that we are lucky developers want to work with us.
What the planners and city officials are doing is selling the city out to the highest bidder!
No need for costly and time consuming environmental assessments.
No need to accommodate tax paying residents, who bought property here in the good faith that they could enjoy our clean air , beautiful views, and quiet, with no fear of
developments built next to them.
Developers get everything they want since we are so humbly unworthy.
!IMPORTANT! Councilmembers for Districts 3, 4, and 5 have terms expiring in 2026. They can and should be voted out if we can find candidates who actually care enough to understand the distinction between developer greed, extraction, and sustainable economic growth. We have so many commercially-zoned buildings and properties that are dilapidated and need revitalization. We don't need vultures forcing their business plans on us and ruining our ecosystems and neighborhoods and lying about the fact that they will actually create sustainable jobs for locals. In the meantime, I hope there will be many lawsuits and whatever it takes to slow or stop this disaster.
On another note... I wonder if that church got any special new donations recently....
Very disappointing that both the Planning Commission and the Council paid no heed to the concerns of their citizens and the request for a full EIR, which is standard procedure for a development of this significance. Sorry to say this, but it’s the good ol’ boy system of influence.
I must add another comment to my initial one…if anything, the Planning Commission should have recommended the removal of an outdoor movie screen. If they are truly wanting to promote the town, they should realize that Smiths Ranch has one of the few remaining drive-in movie theaters in California and these Ofland tourists should be encouraged to go there to support this homesteading family business, instead of a contrived experience at the resort. I have been to Escalante recently where the Yonder resort is just a ways west of town. It’s a charming town, but with few cafes or even a coffee house. I saw very few people roaming around town when we were there.
I am baffled by the sense of entitlement displayed by some residents of the Indian Cove area who seem to believe that a 152 acre parcel of land is theirs alone to dictate its use. This property, lying east of the established neighborhood has remained undeveloped since its incorporation into the City of Twentynine Palms over 37 years ago. Now that a proposal - the Ofland Project - is finally under consideration, some voices insist it’s a threat to their community, despite the fact that the project is not within any existing neighborhood. There are no eminent domain issues involved and no one is losing their home. What is happening is thoughtful planning: the proposal includes a large buffer zone, soon to be designated open space conservation, ensuring no residences will abut the resort. As stated, repeatedly, this project will benefit the entire community of Twentynine Palms. This is why so many long term residents, to include five former council members and mayors strongly supported this project.
SECOND POINT:
The recent outcry over the Ofland Project is reminiscent of the concerns raised about Short-Term Vacation Home Rentals (STVHRs) in our community not long ago.
Back in 2015, the City of Twentynine Palms was ahead of the curve, establishing an ordinance to regulate STVHRs - well before San Bernardino County adopted similar measures for unincorporated areas like Joshua Tree. However, when STVHR permits surged, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns surfaced about their impact on local neighborhoods.
Cindy Bernard formed a special interest group aimed at banning or severely limiting STVHRs, citing potential noise, neighborhood disruption, loss of long-term rentals, and degradation of community character. Yet, she offered no concrete evidence that these issues were occurring in Twentynine Palms.
Despite many residents and property owners pointing out that market forces - specifically supply and demand - would naturally regulate the number of STVHRs, the City ultimately imposed a cap of 500 permits. The city also hired additional resources to monitor and address any complaints.
And what was the outcome?
- Many derelict properties were renovated and repurposed as STVHRs.
- Complaints about noise and disturbances remained minimal.
- A San Bernardino County study found no significant impact on the availability of long-term rentals.
- The permit cap of 500 was never reached, and as the market adjusted, many permits were voluntarily relinquished.
- Homes that once served as STVHRs gradually returned to the long-term rental market.
- Most notably, STVHRs contributed nearly $1 million in transient occupancy tax to the city in 2024.
Let’s recap:
- STVHR proliferation? Didn’t happen.
- Excessive complaints or disturbances? Didn’t happen.
- Rental market collapse? Didn’t happen.
- Neighborhood character destroyed? Didn’t happen.
- Ms. Bernard writing in her blog that she got it wrong about STVHRs? That didn’t happen either.
That experience should serve as a cautionary tale about reacting to speculative fears without data, and about the unintended consequences of policy driven by anecdote rather than evidence,
Rental market collapse? Perhaps nots, but it is very hard to find long-term renters, and now the STVHR market is collapsing, and they're selling since they can't get long-term tenants
Neighborhood character destroyed? Perhaps not destroyed, but definitely diminished. I live on a small private road with at least six different STVHR. It has been extremely disruptive and the owners, despite making money off of our neighborhood, never want to contribute to its well-being. Every time a house goes up for sale, the full-time people who live here worry about having an Air bnb close by. It is not a good experience at all
Also- entitlement? What could be more entitled than coming into a community from the outside, imposing your biz strategy that multiple communities object to (Townsend), and buying up a bunch of land you know isn't zoned for business and presuming you're entitled to change and disrupt it as you see fit?
I suggest, Mr. Krushat, that you put on a breechcloth and pretend you are an Indian watching for the first time the sails of the Mayflower arise over the horizon.
My wife and I were in Escalante in April of last year. We walked the grounds of the Ofland resort to get a sense of its scope and aesthetic. Also spoke to a couple of restauranteurs/retail folks in town. Our question to them was "Do Ofland guests ever come into town and buy?" The answer in both cases was "Every once in a while someone will come in and order a pizza."
Ofland and the city should respect the zoning that's in the general plan. They should also take environmental issues more seriously. Both Planning and the CC behave as if the environmental health of the area is a stumbling block for development, and should be sacrificed for ANY business opportunity, without distinguishing beneficial from bad.
Ofland should've more seriously considered the first parcel that they looked at, which is in a district that wants their business, which is close to the North park entrance, and which would be more likely to generate business dollars downtown.
In retrospect, I believe that early on, both Planning and the CC decided that Ofland was going to happen, so all of the public comment has been theater. Meeting recently with a couple of council members was dispiriting - there was a thorough lack of interest.
And now a viable parcel zoned for housing, with adjacent available utilities, will be removed from consideration, making a potential residential build elsewhere in the city more expensive. This is not a good look for a city that has expressed a desire to provide more housing.
Frankly I think an impact not mentioned here is the anticipation of statues to the movers and shakers who supported this irreversible event in 29 Palms' history.
Birds will forever be indebted to them for the restroom facilities provided by city's wisdom.
Methinks the biggest factor in approving this development is about one thing...all those capitol "S" with vertical stakes driven through them.
I expect to see no measurable impact on the city. There will be a bit more traffic at certain hours and perhaps an immeasurable increase in money flow.
There will be more dust in the air to breath from the cars coming and going to the short term rentals during parts of the year.
Everything they need will likely be purchased out of town for convenience and familiarity and carried here.
Our currently declining water tables will be drained a bit more quickly.
The city will have more $$$ for more Freedom Plazas and paved parking.
What everyone is missing is that we are not opposed to this project.
We are opposed to this plan because it creates president for council and planning commission to arbitrarily rezone our best neighborhoods.
What council and planning commission members fail
miserably to recognize is that we, the citizens of 29 Palms hold the cards.
We share the gateway to one of the most popular national parks in the nation, over 3 million visitors annually.
29 Palms is the delicious cake that everyone suddenly wants a piece of. Yet we act like the developers are doing us a favor by building in our residential areas.
Of course a sleepy desert community would only have infrastructure in its neighborhoods. No previous need for large commercial infrastructure.
Now developers need that infrastructure. And they are insidiously burrowing into our finest neighborhoods.
Since the developers stand to make so much money from completely altering our previously trusted zoning laws, the developers should put in the infrastructure they need, in areas zoned for commercial development. Work with the community instead of tearing it apart.
The city needs to stand up for its residents, instead of claiming that we are lucky developers want to work with us.
What the planners and city officials are doing is selling the city out to the highest bidder!
No need for costly and time consuming environmental assessments.
No need to accommodate tax paying residents, who bought property here in the good faith that they could enjoy our clean air , beautiful views, and quiet, with no fear of
developments built next to them.
Developers get everything they want since we are so humbly unworthy.
As council and planning commission has decided,
bend over and take it, 29!
Respectfully,
Cynthia Stoddard
THANK YOU FOR NAMING THIS!!
Ugh.
!IMPORTANT! Councilmembers for Districts 3, 4, and 5 have terms expiring in 2026. They can and should be voted out if we can find candidates who actually care enough to understand the distinction between developer greed, extraction, and sustainable economic growth. We have so many commercially-zoned buildings and properties that are dilapidated and need revitalization. We don't need vultures forcing their business plans on us and ruining our ecosystems and neighborhoods and lying about the fact that they will actually create sustainable jobs for locals. In the meantime, I hope there will be many lawsuits and whatever it takes to slow or stop this disaster.
On another note... I wonder if that church got any special new donations recently....
Very disappointing that both the Planning Commission and the Council paid no heed to the concerns of their citizens and the request for a full EIR, which is standard procedure for a development of this significance. Sorry to say this, but it’s the good ol’ boy system of influence.
Chris Tiffany
Sherman Highlands
We must be neighbors! :)
I must add another comment to my initial one…if anything, the Planning Commission should have recommended the removal of an outdoor movie screen. If they are truly wanting to promote the town, they should realize that Smiths Ranch has one of the few remaining drive-in movie theaters in California and these Ofland tourists should be encouraged to go there to support this homesteading family business, instead of a contrived experience at the resort. I have been to Escalante recently where the Yonder resort is just a ways west of town. It’s a charming town, but with few cafes or even a coffee house. I saw very few people roaming around town when we were there.
I don't think wandering tourist accounts will show a notable increase in much of anything but car fuel purchasers.
Any records of visits to 29 Palms by the thousand +,marines nearby?
I am baffled by the sense of entitlement displayed by some residents of the Indian Cove area who seem to believe that a 152 acre parcel of land is theirs alone to dictate its use. This property, lying east of the established neighborhood has remained undeveloped since its incorporation into the City of Twentynine Palms over 37 years ago. Now that a proposal - the Ofland Project - is finally under consideration, some voices insist it’s a threat to their community, despite the fact that the project is not within any existing neighborhood. There are no eminent domain issues involved and no one is losing their home. What is happening is thoughtful planning: the proposal includes a large buffer zone, soon to be designated open space conservation, ensuring no residences will abut the resort. As stated, repeatedly, this project will benefit the entire community of Twentynine Palms. This is why so many long term residents, to include five former council members and mayors strongly supported this project.
SECOND POINT:
The recent outcry over the Ofland Project is reminiscent of the concerns raised about Short-Term Vacation Home Rentals (STVHRs) in our community not long ago.
Back in 2015, the City of Twentynine Palms was ahead of the curve, establishing an ordinance to regulate STVHRs - well before San Bernardino County adopted similar measures for unincorporated areas like Joshua Tree. However, when STVHR permits surged, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns surfaced about their impact on local neighborhoods.
Cindy Bernard formed a special interest group aimed at banning or severely limiting STVHRs, citing potential noise, neighborhood disruption, loss of long-term rentals, and degradation of community character. Yet, she offered no concrete evidence that these issues were occurring in Twentynine Palms.
Despite many residents and property owners pointing out that market forces - specifically supply and demand - would naturally regulate the number of STVHRs, the City ultimately imposed a cap of 500 permits. The city also hired additional resources to monitor and address any complaints.
And what was the outcome?
- Many derelict properties were renovated and repurposed as STVHRs.
- Complaints about noise and disturbances remained minimal.
- A San Bernardino County study found no significant impact on the availability of long-term rentals.
- The permit cap of 500 was never reached, and as the market adjusted, many permits were voluntarily relinquished.
- Homes that once served as STVHRs gradually returned to the long-term rental market.
- Most notably, STVHRs contributed nearly $1 million in transient occupancy tax to the city in 2024.
Let’s recap:
- STVHR proliferation? Didn’t happen.
- Excessive complaints or disturbances? Didn’t happen.
- Rental market collapse? Didn’t happen.
- Neighborhood character destroyed? Didn’t happen.
- Ms. Bernard writing in her blog that she got it wrong about STVHRs? That didn’t happen either.
That experience should serve as a cautionary tale about reacting to speculative fears without data, and about the unintended consequences of policy driven by anecdote rather than evidence,
STVHR proliferation? Did happen
Excessive complaints or disturbances? Does happen
Rental market collapse? Perhaps nots, but it is very hard to find long-term renters, and now the STVHR market is collapsing, and they're selling since they can't get long-term tenants
Neighborhood character destroyed? Perhaps not destroyed, but definitely diminished. I live on a small private road with at least six different STVHR. It has been extremely disruptive and the owners, despite making money off of our neighborhood, never want to contribute to its well-being. Every time a house goes up for sale, the full-time people who live here worry about having an Air bnb close by. It is not a good experience at all
Also- entitlement? What could be more entitled than coming into a community from the outside, imposing your biz strategy that multiple communities object to (Townsend), and buying up a bunch of land you know isn't zoned for business and presuming you're entitled to change and disrupt it as you see fit?
I suggest, Mr. Krushat, that you put on a breechcloth and pretend you are an Indian watching for the first time the sails of the Mayflower arise over the horizon.
My wife and I were in Escalante in April of last year. We walked the grounds of the Ofland resort to get a sense of its scope and aesthetic. Also spoke to a couple of restauranteurs/retail folks in town. Our question to them was "Do Ofland guests ever come into town and buy?" The answer in both cases was "Every once in a while someone will come in and order a pizza."
Ofland and the city should respect the zoning that's in the general plan. They should also take environmental issues more seriously. Both Planning and the CC behave as if the environmental health of the area is a stumbling block for development, and should be sacrificed for ANY business opportunity, without distinguishing beneficial from bad.
Ofland should've more seriously considered the first parcel that they looked at, which is in a district that wants their business, which is close to the North park entrance, and which would be more likely to generate business dollars downtown.
In retrospect, I believe that early on, both Planning and the CC decided that Ofland was going to happen, so all of the public comment has been theater. Meeting recently with a couple of council members was dispiriting - there was a thorough lack of interest.
And now a viable parcel zoned for housing, with adjacent available utilities, will be removed from consideration, making a potential residential build elsewhere in the city more expensive. This is not a good look for a city that has expressed a desire to provide more housing.
Frankly I think an impact not mentioned here is the anticipation of statues to the movers and shakers who supported this irreversible event in 29 Palms' history.
Birds will forever be indebted to them for the restroom facilities provided by city's wisdom.
Methinks the biggest factor in approving this development is about one thing...all those capitol "S" with vertical stakes driven through them.
I expect to see no measurable impact on the city. There will be a bit more traffic at certain hours and perhaps an immeasurable increase in money flow.
There will be more dust in the air to breath from the cars coming and going to the short term rentals during parts of the year.
Everything they need will likely be purchased out of town for convenience and familiarity and carried here.
Our currently declining water tables will be drained a bit more quickly.
The city will have more $$$ for more Freedom Plazas and paved parking.