Twentynine Palms Planning Commission simplify process of obtaining a city address

Currently, the City of Twentynine Palms will allocate a street address for a vacant parcel as long as an application for a building permit has been submitted. It is at the discretion of the Community Development director Keith Gardner to issue an address or not. He wants to remove this issue from his discretion and create a policy to be followed when applying for a city address. The cities of Palm Springs and Riverside have identical application forms for establishing an address; a similar one could be implemented in Twentynine Palms.

In principle, the Twentynine Palms Water District will not install a water meter without a city address. General Manager Matt Shragge offered a way the Water District could assist the City when a water meter is being requested.

“I’m just saying the city could have a way out to help you with this policy by saying there is an underlying way to get a water meter, but you will have to sign a cultivation letter saying no marijuana can be on site.”

If the applicant signs a letter stating that marijuana will not be cultivated, a water meter might be installed. However any signs of marijuana cultivation will cause the meter and access to water to be promptly removed at the owner’s expense. At this time a 5/8 inch water meter costs approximately $7,000 which may run all the way up to $13,000 if there is excess digging required or a road has to be traversed. 

The Commissioners agreed that an appeal process should remain in place so if an application is denied, an applicant may address the Planning Commission and request that their application be reconsidered.