Twenty minutes before the meeting even started, all the chairs were occupied in the meeting room and people were forced to stand in the hallway. There was some grumbling when Chairperson Cure announced that each person’s speaking time would be cut to two minutes because there were so many people wanting to have their voices heard. The assistant City Attorney assured the meeting that this was legal and the Chair was within her rights to do so.
Item two on the Agenda was the Ofland Resort Project and the chair opened up the floor to comments during this public hearing portion of the meeting. Nine people spoke in favor of the Ofland project. They mainly referred to the money that would be flooding into the coffers of the City of Twentynine Palms, based on maximum occupancy.
Twenty-eight people spoke against the project, explaining why, in their opinion, this project should not be allowed to move forward. Wildlife, and in particular the Desert Tortoise was mentioned several times, as being severely impacted by the proposed rezoning and development of this project. Wildlife corridors from the Joshua Tree National Park would also be adversely affected.
Dark skies were on most people’s minds, as they pointed out that a proposed open-air movie screen would put out ten thousand lumens, whereas the bright lights on the average vehicle only put out one thousand lumens. Folks argued that this and other proposed lighting developments would most certainly cause light pollution and adversely affect the Indian Cove neighborhood as well as surrounding areas. People wanted an Environmental Impact report instead of a mitigated negative declaration
Folks argued that this project would do nothing for the businesses of Twentynine Palms as the project would be several miles West of the downtown area. Guests of the Ofland project would have no reason to go into town as restaurants, pools, entertainment and a gift shop would all be on site to take care of guests’ needs. The only community perks would be the possibility of employment and pool passes. People wondered why this project wasn’t planned for a site already zoned for commercial tourism.
After more than two hours of public comments, the Planning Commission discussed their thoughts on the matter of Ofland Resort. At first, Chair Cure appeared to have several misgivings about allowing the project to move forward. She wanted to continue to a future date certain to iron out some issues she had with the design and the placement of the main entrance of Lear Avenue.
After further discussion, a motion was made that the planning commission adopt the resolution recommending adoption of the mitigated negative declaration, general plan amendment, rezoning, development code amendment and conditional use permit to the City Council. The motion was approved 4-0.
Many members of the public were visibly disappointed.
Links:
“Say No To Ofland” Citizen Group
Official Website of Ofland Resort Twentynine Palms
Previously Reported:
