Twentynine Palms council reviews general‑plan research approach and draft five‑year strategic plan

Twentynine Palms City Council on Tuesday reviewed staff proposals for how to update the city’s general plan and received a presentation of a draft five‑year strategic plan that lays out priorities including financial sustainability, local character, infrastructure and community outreach.

City staff described a phased approach to a general‑plan update that begins with a parcel‑ownership inventory and follows with targeted consultant work and community meetings to limit consultant costs. A separate draft strategic plan presented to council sets values, a vision and concrete goals with objectives, actions and timelines to guide city decisions over five years.

The general‑plan approach matters because it frames future land‑use and zoning decisions: "our initial thought is to do a complete research on the ownership of the parcels within the city limits," Planning staff member Mister Gardner said during the presentation. Gardner said the inventory would identify parcels owned by federal or other government entities and utility districts that might be better reflected as open‑space in future land‑use maps.

The draft strategic plan, presented by city staff, emphasizes six values and six major goals, including fiscal sustainability, enhanced local character, improved infrastructure, expanded access to resources, support for local tourism and increased community engagement. "What it does is it allows the stakeholders in the community, the business owners, the council, city staff to really talk about who we are, who we wanna become, and how do we get there," the staff presenter said.

Councilmembers generally expressed support for the phased, lower‑cost approach. One member recalled a previous general‑plan update that cost "almost a million dollars" and said the proposed method was a reasonable way to limit expense while doing internal work before hiring technical consultants.

Members of the public urged the council to add more emphasis on health care access, community wellness and broader inclusion of local organizations in tourism efforts. Resident Eric Fernandez said he wanted the draft to address health‑care and potential loss of local coverage: "I would like us to address that a little more…there's a very well chance we're gonna lose about…over 50 percent of people in this area could lose their coverage," he said, urging the city to consider health impacts in planning and outreach.

Several commenters and councilmembers also connected the planning discussion to housing and homelessness work. Audience speaker Mr. Melendez and other community members urged more coordinated outreach and working groups to move people into services and housing; staff and council noted existing regional coordination efforts and said additional public workshops were planned.

No formal decision was taken on either the general‑plan approach or the draft strategic plan; councilmembers were asked to review the draft and provide feedback. Staff asked councilmembers to submit comments by email and indicated that more detailed community meetings and technical work would follow. The city manager said staff will return with refinements after the council’s review and community input.