City Council sends mobile-home/ specialty-park code amendment back to planning commission after public concern

The Twentynine Palms City Council voted unanimously to send a proposed development code amendment concerning mobile-home parks and specialty parks back to the planning commission for further review and study.

Staff recommended referral to the planning commission; the city received letters from local property owners and stakeholders asking for additional review. The council’s action preserves the status quo while staff and the planning commission consider changes to zoning, densities and operational standards for manufactured housing, RV parks and commercial campgrounds.

Why it matters: The revision could change where and how manufactured housing, RV parks and commercial campgrounds may be sited in the city. Residents and lodging-industry stakeholders said the proposal has implications for tourism, neighborhood character, traffic, noise and fire risk.

Public testimony at the hearing urged additional analysis. Robert Evans, speaking for his parents (owners of 29 Palms Resort) and describing his work with a manufactured-housing trade association, said the resort owners want the city to re-review the amendments and offered to be a resource for staff and the planning commission. “There are code amendments that we believe need to be re-reviewed, and we look forward to being part of the review process,” he told council.

Local tourism business representatives and volunteers urged caution on density and use changes. Eric Menendez asked council to “keep the density low” for campground-style development and to involve the tourism board when the matter returns to planning. Kate Talley Jones, reading a letter from Save Our Deserts, warned that allowing commercial campgrounds in rural-living zones could bring increased noise, traffic, trash and fire risk and asked the city to consider expanding commercial-tourism zoning as an alternative. “Campgrounds can often feature RVs with toy haulers, pop up amenities, string lights, and Bluetooth speakers creating many towns of tourists,” she said.

Council action: The council motioned to return the amendment to the planning commission; the motion passed 5-0. Staff said the next planning commission review will likely be scheduled after further internal review and outreach; one council member encouraged residents to attend planning commission meetings and public workshops when the item returns.

Missing or not specified: The transcript and staff remarks show that specific density standards under consideration were discussed at prior meetings, but exact code text or numeric density limits were not specified during this hearing. Two emails were explicitly noted as part of the record: one from 29 Palms Resort and one from a Vicky Talley; both asked for the item to return to the planning commission.