Last night the Twentynine Palms Planning Commission had a workshop on simplifying the development code for mobile home and special occupancy parks – namely rv parks and campgrounds. Community Development Director Keith Gardner presented some of the updates staff had made to the code.
Mobile Home Parks
For Mobile Home Parks – these can be in rural living zones but there can only be 8 spaces per acre, and the minimum lot size must be at least 10 acres. Each space must be a minimum 4,000 square feet. And the parking requirements have been reduced to one space per unit and guest parking to one space for every 5 units. A Mobile Home Park must also have a common laundry facility.
Recreational Vehicle (RV) Parks & Campgrounds
For RV Parks, they are being limited to commercial tourist and public zones. RV Parks are not permitted in rural living zones. The minimum lot size has also increased to 10 acres, but the density of the lot has decreased to 5 spaces per acre – and there must be a fifty-foot setback from all property lines. An RV Park must also have trash enclosures and a sewage disposal system.
A Campground must follow the same requirements as an RV park, save for the sewage disposal.
Keith Gardner noted that there are currently no applications submitted for any of these three types of projects.
Public Comment and Feedback
There were some public comment and feedback:
Xarene was looking for an update on the Yonder project in the Indian Cove neighborhood. The planning commission says the project haven’t filed an application with the City yet so they don’t have an project to provide comment on.
Susanne noted that the current draft of the changes for RV parks in the development code has a 7-day max occupancy -which she says is limiting and should be upped to a maximum of 28 consecutive days. She says this would encourage visitors and the TOT dollars they would bring.
Richard thinks an outright ban of campgrounds in Rural living zones is unnecessary, saying that the conditional use permit gives residents enough information and opportunity to submit feedback on projects such as low-impact residential camping experiences that he says provide a unique experience for campers and travelers.
Richard: “It can’t all be autocamp, and it can’t all be the national park. There needs to be a carve out in between, in the middle.”
Chair Max Walker says that projects that do submit in a rural living zone can always apply to get a zone change.
Dror is a representative from Imperial Enterprises – a group that has expressed interest in building what they describe as an “aviation themed hotel, lobby, restaurant, and a flight and skydiving school.”
Dror says the current commercial lands available don’t reflect the value of the Twentynine Palms area and they’d like to see campgrounds able to apply to Rural Living zones without having to explore rezoning.
Dror: “…it would take too much time, especially if you want to do something special and attract many people like we think our initiative is.”
Vino says he has over 40 years in the hospitality business, and he suggests keeping these types of parks away from rural living zones. He referenced human trafficking and a lack of background checks on travelers…
“We need to be careful on how we rubber stamp these things… ‘let’s put them here, let’s put them there.’ It will come back to haunt us in the long term.”
The meeting was adjourned with the planning commission and the public’s suggestions noted for the next review of the development code.
