Riverside County Planning Director and hearing officer John Hildebrand approved Plot Plan No. 22,016 on July 21, 2025, clearing the way for three multi-tenant light-industrial warehouse buildings across three contiguous parcels in the Bermuda Dunes area of the western Coachella Valley.

The director’s action follows a staff recommendation and an environmental addendum to a previously adopted mitigated negative declaration (EA4048), which staff found adequate to conclude the revised proposal would not have significant environmental effects.

The project covers 6.38 acres of currently vacant land divided into three parcels. Parcel 1 (2.25 acres) and Parcel 2 (2.26 acres) each would be developed with a 42,060-square-foot tilt-up concrete building subdivided into seven tenant spaces (each space about 5,480–6,200 sq ft). Parcel 3 (1.87 acres) would contain a 30,667-square-foot building divided into six tenant spaces (about 4,824–5,255 sq ft each). Each tenant space would have a private dock door; on-site improvements include parking (including EV and ADA spaces), landscaping and off-site improvements. The buildings are shown in staff elevations with varying gray tones and orange accents.

Hector Soto, Assistant Planner, presented the project and the environmental finding. “The project does not require major revisions to the previously approved plan as the additional square footage is added within the limits of the original approval and in areas that were previously analyzed,” Soto said during the presentation.

Staff noted the project stays within existing zoning and general-plan designations for light industrial and related commercial uses; no rezoning is required. Only one public comment letter had been received by staff as of the hearing — a message from Desert Sands Unified School District noting that new development would trigger school mitigation fees — and that letter was included as an attachment to the staff report.

During questioning, Hildebrand pressed for operational details. He asked whether tenant spaces would be sold or leased; the applicant’s representative said the units will be offered for lease and there is no intention to subdivide them for sale. The applicant confirmed an existing property owners association would manage shared park services and that the applicants expect to proceed to construction documents with a goal of beginning construction in spring, targeting early April, though they acknowledged desert weather and permitting could delay that timeline by a year. The applicant added: “This project supports economic growth by generating employment for both local and regional residents, creating opportunities for new and existing businesses and contributing to the tax base.”

The hearing officer asked staff to ensure rooftop equipment is fully screened by parapets or enclosures where necessary; staff indicated building heights will comply with zone requirements and rooftop screening will be required if equipment would otherwise be visible from the ground. The staff presentation listed proposed landscaping covering roughly 13–16 percent of each site with species such as tipuana, heritage live oak and hybrid fan palms; trees are specified at a 24-inch box and shrubs in 5-gallon containers.

After discussion, John Hildebrand moved to approve the plot plan “based upon staff’s recommendation.” No additional public speakers appeared during the public hearing. The director’s approval is conditioned on the mitigation measures and standard conditions described in the staff report and the addendum to EA4048.

The project site is adjacent to existing industrial and wholesale uses to the north, east and west and borders the Thousand Trails Palm Springs RV Park to the south, and it sits near Interstate 10. The development overlays a previously approved but only partially built 14-lot industrial project; the proposed building footprints fall within the previously approved overall boundaries, according to staff.

Next steps: the approval allows the applicant to proceed with construction drawings and permitting; staff will enforce the listed conditions of approval and mitigation measures included in the project file and addendum. If schedules and permitting proceed as the applicant described, construction could begin as early as spring 2026, though the applicant cautioned delays were possible.