On Dec. 11 the Palm Desert City Council moved forward with a package of municipal-code and housing-related measures intended to align local rules with recent state law and administrative updates.

Staff introduced an ordinance to delete outdated email retention language from the Palm Desert Municipal Code and to rely instead on the updated citywide records-management policy and retention schedules. Council introduced the ordinance and approved it for further processing (5-0).

The council also introduced an ordinance to adopt the 2025 California Building Standards Code with local amendments. Jason Finley (chief building official) highlighted several local changes: wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire-safety provisions, use of the city's fee schedule, a new requirement that dwelling units be provided with air-conditioning facilities capable of keeping interior temperatures at or below 80°F, restrictions that complex electrical and mechanical permits be limited to licensed California contractors, and provisions for temporary power transfers from electric vehicles. Council moved to introduce the ordinance and scheduled a January public hearing; the motion passed 5-0.

To implement recent state housing laws, staff proposed zoning amendments to align local SB 9 rules with SB 450 (ZOA25-0002). The amendments establish mandatory 60-day review timelines for SB 9 two-unit projects and urban-lot-split applications, require reliance on objective standards from the underlying zoning, and integrate state enforcement provisions. The council introduced the ordinance for SB 9 compliance and voted 5-0.

Council also adopted an urgency ordinance updating accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and junior ADU (JADU) rules to conform with newly signed bills (including provisions that allow combining ADU types in some cases and specify 15-business-day completeness checks and 60-day approval timelines). The urgency ordinance takes effect immediately.

Together, these measures reflect a mix of administrative cleanups and substantive local amendments designed to maintain compatibility with state building codes and housing laws while preserving local implementation where allowed.

Next steps: staff will file the building-code ordinance package with state agencies as required and prepare follow-up non-urgency ordinances where indicated; public hearings were scheduled as part of the adoption process.