Twentynine Palms makes camping on public lands illegal if done outside designated areas
It was easy to tell the room was packed for the housing project because over half of the people in attendance left after it was approved. The project by 29 Build LLC will add an additional 137 homes north and west of the Twentynine Palms Elementary and Junior High schools. Steve Enochs, the project representative, said it’s a near-identical project to an unfinished one in the same area that expired in 2023 after building only 40 of 177 proposed homes.
The homes will be in the upper moderate income level, which city numbers show it needs more of. This vote doesn’t mean the project is ready to start. 29 Build LLC still needs approval from the City Engineer as well as some additional permits. There will also be a second reading in front of the council at a later date.
It wasn’t only support in the room, however. A representative with the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience Program tuned in to the meeting online to say she didn’t think the project did its due diligence to bypass the California Environmental Quality Act. She said that 29 Build LLC’s projections underestimated both air and noise pollution. She also said the surveys it did for area wildlife did not meet the state standards.
A resident who lives in the Desert Knoll Ave. and Samarkand Drive area says the water processing plant for the neighborhood is loud and worries who will buy houses at the estimated price point of around $400,000. Enochs did acknowledge that sales of the houses would likely be slow due to cost. Councilwoman April Ramirez also said she learned from committee housing advisors that allowing private building for moderate houses can help the city focus on low-income housing. “Should we get money from the state, we can focus more on that as a city, versus having to actually–us as a city, include those above moderate.”
The City Council also voted to support an ordinance that would make it illegal for people to camp on public land outside of designated areas. It does require the government to hold any seized items for 90 days so they can be collected, which would require a one-time cost for the city of paying for the storage containers. Opponents in the audience worried the ordinance was inhumane and requested more meaningful support from the city to connect homeless people with city services.
Mayor Pro Tem Octavius Scott spoke on his past experience in homeless services and gave this response, “This policy, I think, is better than the policy that we had before because now we’re going to be able to provide space to acquire those to hold those items that we get from those encampments. That wasn’t a thing before.” The motion did not pass unanimously, with Councilman MacArthur Wright voting against it and Councilwoman Ramirez no longer in attendance after having to leave early. Mayor Pro Tem Scott did also request to add an item addressing free parking for homeless people for future consideration.
The Council did vote unanimously to approve the Tourism Business Improvement District for another year. That means several hotels, RV sites, and short-term rentals will continue to pay a 1.5% tourism assessment fee which funds the district’s programs and marketing. The Marketing Director, Breanne Dusastre, estimated that would raise $375,000 to be combined with an additional $275,000 to be spent from past year’s savings.
City Manager Kevin Cole presented Proposition 1 on the upcoming November ballot to the council. It’s a bond to spend $11.25 billion on affordable housing statewide, which the city could apply to use locally. Robert Embry, founder of Re-Enlist to Life located in Yucca Valley, spoke in support of the proposition as potential money to be used to house homeless veterans in the area.
The Council also declared September 15 through October 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month in the city. The September 15 date recognizes the independence of several Latin and South American countries around that time of year. Councilwoman Ramirez spoke on the significance of the month to her personally, “That means keep showing up, keep fighting, and keep being proud of where you come from because sometimes one of the most powerful forms of peaceful protest is simply occupying space in the rooms where they once told us we didn’t belong.”
