Planning commissioners recommend Oveland resort project and mitigated negative declaration, send proposal to City Council

The Twentynine Palms City Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend adoption of a mitigated negative declaration and to forward the Oveland resort proposal to the City Council for final action.

The project, described in staff materials as the “Evelyn project,” covers about 152 acres north of Sullivan, east of Leer Avenue, west of Shoshone Valley Road and south of Highway 62. The proposal would place roughly 42 acres into a commercial-tourist development envelope containing about 100 cabin units, two lodges, a restaurant and a small retail/general store, and would place the remaining roughly 110 acres in a new open-space/conservation zone. The applicant described the proposal as “an outdoor oriented boutique hotel that serves as a base camp for 29 Palms, the Joshua Tree National Park,” and said the plan has been reduced from earlier versions: “we have decreased the development envelope by over 30%, decreased the number of cabins from a 130 to 100, and proposed and decreased the proposed square footage by 27%,” Luke Searcy, director of development for the applicant, told commissioners.

Why it matters: The commission’s recommendation is advisory; City Council approval is required for the general plan amendment, rezoning, development code changes and the conditional use permit. The project drew more than 60 written comment letters and more than 60 speakers during a multi-hour public comment period, with proponents citing local jobs and tax revenue and opponents raising CEQA, wildlife, water, lighting and neighborhood impacts.

Project details and staff recommendation Staff described the application as a bundle of actions: a general-plan amendment, a rezoning to a commercial-tourist designation for the development envelope, a new open-space/conservation zone for the outer…