Planning commission reviews 104-unit pre-application for Racquet Club site; neighbors raise historic-preservation and setback concerns

The Palm Springs Planning Commission on Oct. 14 held a study session on a pre-application by GHA Investments, LLC and Far West Industries for a 104-unit residential planned development district (PDD) proposed for an 8.23-acre site at the southwest corner of North Indian Canyon Drive and East Racquet Club Road.

The proposal, called by the applicant The Village at Racquet Club, would include 31 detached single-family homes, 53 townhomes (in duplexes and triplexes) and a 20-unit apartment building designated as affordable housing. The project as presented would yield an overall density of about 12.6 units per acre, with single-family lots of about 2,850 square feet, the applicant said.

The session was a scoping and information-only meeting; no decisions were made. The pre-application process gives commissioners and staff the chance to identify issues the developer should address in a formal PDD application.

Why it matters: Commissioners and residents pressed the applicant on the trade-offs the PDD would require: substantial deviations from underlying R-2 and R-1A development standards (including lot sizes, setbacks, building separation and open-space requirements) in exchange for public benefits such as affordable housing. Staff and commissioners emphasized that public benefits must be substantial when the city grants those deviations.

Key points and debate

Catherine Myler, owner of the Grace Miller House (a 1937 Richard Neutra–designed property listed as a Class 1 historic site and on the National Register), told the commission the project "will drastically and negatively impact this important historic…