Yucca Valley Planning Commission approves “Overlay District” for senior mobile home parks

After over a year of extended moratoriums, Yucca Valley is one step closer to a permanent overlay district for senior mobile home parks.

Last night’s Yucca Valley Planning Commission meeting began with a Public Hearing regarding the Senior Mobile Home Park Overlay District. The legislation would create a permanent overlay district for the four Yucca Valley parks that currently have 80% of units with at least one resident over the age of 55: the Country Club Mobile Estates, the Aztec Mobile Home Park, the Gates of Spain Mobile Estates, and the Apache Mobile Home Park. The revised ordinance removed language that pertained to a 90% threshold, beyond which parks could rent to non-seniors to protect occupancy rates.

The Commission moved to approve the ordinance with the support of several community members, including Cheryl Contopulos.

“I want to thank the Commission and the reviewers for really listening to residents at the last meeting. I’m glad to see that 90% taken out, but I thought you asked very thoughtful questions and I look forward to seeing this at the Town Council meeting.”

The Commission held a second Public Hearing for a Conditional Use Permit for Joshua Springs Calvary Chapel. The applicant proposes adding a 9,720 square-foot gymnasium to their facility, along with two additional ADA parking spaces. The site plan contained several former projects that have since been abandoned, and the Commission raised concerns regarding a lack of additional parking to service the new gymnasium. The Commission moved to continue the item, directing the applicant to work with Town Staff to review any need for additional parking adjacent to the new gymnasium and revise the site plan.

The Commission then considered a Temporary Special Event Permit for 58689 Ocotillo Drive. The residence currently operates as a short-term vacation rental, and the applicant, Cherish Delgado, seeks a permit that would allow her to host events such as weddings and parties with a maximum of 44 guests per event and 39 events per year. 

Seven neighboring residents spoke in opposition to the proposed permit during Public Comment, citing that this specific vacation rental had a history with guests causing issues with excessive noise, bonfires, and illegal fireworks. There were also raised concerns about road access and upkeep. Delgado was in attendance and spoke on behalf of her application, stating that the rental has a nearby property manager, noise monitors and cameras, and no outstanding compliance issues.

The Commission took all comments seriously, with Commissioner Henderson offering a rebuke to the issues caused by short-term rentals.

“As a Commission, we put into place some very steep enforcement measures when it comes to Airbnbs…and I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. I really am, because that is not the quality of life any resident wants to have. I can assure you that this Commission and certainly the Town Council doesn’t want Airbnb operators causing this much grief for the community.”

Commissioner Stoker also had several concerns about the proposal, including that the rental listing has already advertised as hosting weddings, a lack of detail provided in the application, and a history of $8,800 in past fines for building code and AirBnB violations.

Due to an error in the agenda, the Commission was unable to rule on the permit application. However, they did request that Town Staff look further into the violations as well as histories of other similarly sized vacation rental properties throughout the Town. The item will be brought before the Commission again on August 12.

The meeting concluded with a presentation of the Land Development Update.

The Walmart fueling station, Sun Mesa Mini Storage, and Dutch Bros have all either started or are about to begin the CEQA review process.