Planning commission recommends code change to expand public notice, require community meetings for large projects

On May 20, 2025, the Cathedral City Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council adopt Zoning Code Amendment 25-003, which would add Chapter 9.09 to the Cathedral City Municipal Code to expand public notification requirements and require community engagement for larger projects.

The amendment would (1) distinguish notice to real property owners from notice to occupants of non-owner-occupied properties (for example, apartment residents and business tenants); (2) expand the standard notification radius to 500 feet and set a larger radius (750 feet) for projects of five acres or greater; (3) require community engagement meetings for project sites of five acres or greater; (4) limit mailed notices to occupants within Cathedral City limits (staff said this change was needed after outreach to adjacent jurisdictions yielded no usable occupant lists); and (5) include a provision drawn from state law that failure to receive a notice does not invalidate a hearing or action.

Assistant Director Molina summarized the staff recommendation and the changes since prior workshops, saying the draft ordinance separates notices to property owners (sourced from Riverside County records) and occupants (sourced from city business-license and building records, and by contacting property managers). Molina said the draft follows prior commission direction and that staff’s recommendation includes a finding that the amendment is exempt from CEQA. "If you don't get a notice, that doesn't mean the public hearing's invalid or the commission's action's invalid," Molina said during the presentation.

Commissioners discussed practical and procedural effects. Commissioner Mead asked about cost implications; Molina said IT work to compile expanded notice lists was estimated at roughly four hours of staff time and that mailed-notice costs would be charged to applicants, not borne by the city. Commissioners asked how occupant counts for apartment complexes would be determined; Molina said staff would use building records, business license records and contact complexes directly to verify unit counts.

A key timing change the commission adopted as an amendment was to specify 20 days' notice for Planning Commission hearings and 10 days for City Council hearings, aligning the city council notice to the state requirement while keeping the longer (20-day) notice for the Planning Commission stage. Commissioner Bedard moved the amendment and the motion (to adopt the resolution recommending the ordinance to City Council, with the 20/10-day modification) was seconded by Commissioner McPhail. The commission voted to forward the recommendation to the City Council; the clerk recorded the motion as passing "All ayes."

Commissioners also asked that staff pass the amendment to the consultant working on the larger development-code update so the change will be incorporated into that broader rewrite. The commission tabled discussion of on-site public hearing signage; staff said signage standards could be reconsidered in a later code update.

The commission's recommendation and minutes will be forwarded to City Council for first reading and potential adoption. If adopted by Council, the ordinance would be incorporated into the Municipal Code and used for future project notices and large-project community engagement.

The record shows commissioners asked for clarifications on data sources, cost recovery, and how city limits would affect occupant notification; staff recorded those clarifications in the staff report that will accompany the ordinance to Council.