Town hall meeting explores “finding balance” between developments and environment this Saturday in Twentynine Palms (5/31)
How do we preserve our unique desert environment while promoting affordable housing and sustainable economic growth? This critical question will be at the heart of “Finding Balance: A Community Conversation on Development in Our Desert Ecosystem” this Saturday, May 31, from 3–5 pm at the Twentynine Palms Community Center.
Across the Morongo Basin, communities struggle to find the balance between development and preserving the environment. As Twentynine Palms updates its General Plan, calling for “high quality development” compatible with both Joshua Tree National Park and the city’s small-town character—residents and leaders alike are grappling with how to responsibly grow without sacrificing what makes the Morongo Basin special.
With the recent influx of luxury housing development proposals in communities across the Morongo Basin, residents are concerned about light pollution, water table depletion, and increasing traffic in areas once considered serene and laid back. Yucca Valley residents fight to preserve Joshua trees while balancing conflicting State mandates with significant costs.
Similar issues are faced by communities and neighborhoods throughout the Morongo Basin at a time when revenues appear to be falling and inflation rising. President of the Morongo Basin Conservation Association Steve Bardwell told Z1077:
“There is such a pressure for development and even after the COVID crunch of when Joshua Tree became the hippest place on the planet, it’s still got a real allure, and there’s so many development proposals––“luxury” development proposals––that are being proposed for the Basin and we just felt it’s really important to talk about these things. We don’t want these developments to be, you know, killing the golden goose just because these developers find it appealing here. Because the place is so special, we want to make sure that developments respect that and reinforce that specialness.”
Bardwell went on to state in their press release that “we must protect the Mojave’s intact ecosystem, conserve water, and rapidly transition to clean renewable energy to respond to the threat of our warming climate.”
Bardwell will be speaking at the meeting, along with California Desert Program Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association Luke Basulto and local business owner and musician Rich Good. Ample time will be given for community conversation.
