Last night, the Twentynine Palms Planning Commission hosted a public hearing on development code changes for mobile home parks, RV parks and campgrounds and an approved resolution was reached. The proposed changes will soon appear before the Twentynine Palms City Council for their consideration and possible approval.
Several residents approached the commission with concerns, primarily around proposed restrictions of parks and campgrounds in Rural Living zones, and limitations of density caps.
Allowing commercial development in Rural Living (RL) zones was an issue the commission wrestled with back and forth, ultimately deciding to leave the code as is and allow for RV parks and campgrounds in all Rural Living zones (RL) in addition to Commercial Tourist (CT) and Public (P) zones. (The city currently has no commercial campgrounds and no development plans have been submitted.)
Proposed changes to the Mobile Home Park (MHP) section include:
- Defining the density to eight spaces per acre.
- Increasing the minimum lot size to 10 acres.
- Defining the minimum dimension of each space at 40′ x 100′ (4,000 square feet).
- Reducing the parking requirement to one stall per unit and guest parking to one stall per 5 units.
- Requiring common laundry facilities.
- Reducing the landscape buffer to 10 feet along street frontages.
The changes to the Recreational Vehicle Park section include:
- Increasing the minimum lot size to 10 acres.
- Increasing maximum density to fifteen spaces per acre. (Twentynine Palms RV Resort and Cottages, the city’s only RV park, covers 17.06 acres and, with 168 permitted spaces, maintains 9.8 spaces per acre.)
- Setting a fifty-foot setback from all property lines.
- Requiring trash enclosures.
- Requiring a sewage disposal system (dump station).
The changes to the Campground section include:
- Increasing the minimum lot size to 10 acres.
- Increasing the density to fifteen spaces per acre.
- Implementing a fifty-foot setback from all property lines.
- Requiring trash enclosures.
Additionally, there would be a repeal of the Mobile Home-Tourist Commercial District (MH-CT) which was to allow Mobile Home Parks in the Tourist Commercial (CT) District, which is already permitted in the CT districts, thus the regulation was redundant and removed.
Commission Chair Max Walker also requested more specific development code language with regards to “keep consistent with the neighborhood” as a disqualifier calling it “too vague.”
The commission also cancelled two upcoming meetings on November 5 (due to Election Day) and on December 3 due to the city’s tree lighting ceremony. The two remaining meetings of the year will be held on November 19 and December 17.
