Yucca Valley Planning Commission puts limits on extensions, denies proposal for water vending
Last night, the Yucca Valley Planning Commission approved limits on extensions for Site Plan and Design Review and Conditional Use Permits and also voted down a proposal for a new water and ice dispensing business.
Because there were previously unlimited extensions for Site Plan and Design Review and Conditional Use Permits, the Commission made an amendment that would limit each development to two extensions, each for a two-year period. In addition to the initial three-year approval period, this will put a seven-year period on each proposal. Vice Chair James Henderson commented that this “offers predictability” in the wake of some recent projects that unnecessarily stretched for over a decade.
The Commission considered a proposal for a Watermill Express self-serve water and ice dispensing station on the southside of Shoe City at Twentynine Palms Highway and Old Woman Springs Road. Despite the company’s claims it would be categorized as a “vending kiosk or ATM,” the Commission decided it “does not meet the dimension and location criteria” and “does not meet the intention of the section, as it is a standalone building.”
Vice Chair Henderson stated that approval of this project would “undermine the intent of our original code,” while Commissioner Stoker added, “The location would be horrible, it just wouldn’t look good.” Stoker emphasized the importance of the Planning Commission’s role of using discretion to “decide what is a net positive for the community and not something that will be the butt of a joke later,” coincidentally referring to Shoe City’s tower as an example of such consequence.
After an appeal from a Watermill Express representative present at the meeting, who asked for the same consideration they received in Palm Springs and Cathedral City, the Commission voted against the proposal 4/0.
