Developers hope a 17.63-acre site corner of Frank Sinatra Drive and Portola Avenue will some day contain more than 150 new homes. (Photo: Shutterstock / Planning documents)
The Palm Desert Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a tentative tract map and precise plan for a 156-unit single-family housing development at the southwest corner of Frank Sinatra Drive and Portola Avenue.
The project will occupy a currently vacant 17.63-acre infill parcel surrounded by existing development. The tentative tract map subdivides the site into 156 lots, while the precise plan establishes the overall framework for the project, including setbacks, lot layout, and minimum lot sizes.
Tuesday's approval did not include architectural or landscape plans. According to a representative of Blue Fern, the applicant, the homebuilder that eventually takes over the project will develop those plans and bring them back to the Planning Commission and other relevant bodies at a later date.
The approval replaces an earlier vision for the site. A separate project previously approved for the parcel would have built 394 multifamily units across 13 three-story apartment buildings, but that project is "no longer active," city staff said. Blue Fern representative Kim Molina said the shift in direction was intentional.
"We wanted to bring something that wasn't going to be controversial, that was going to be more compatible with the adjacent neighborhoods, and we wanted to stay at the lower end of the zoning," Molina said. The applicant's representative also noted that "the neighbors had a lot of angst about that" earlier proposal.
The site is zoned Planned Residential, a designation intended to encourage walkable, coordinated neighborhood design. According to the city staff report, the district is meant to "allow flexibility in residential development by encouraging creative and coordinated site design that incorporates a range of residential densities, varied housing types, and community amenities."
That zoning would have permitted up to 22 units per acre on the parcel. The approved single-family project comes in well below that threshold at 9.2 dwelling units per acre — a tradeoff that prompted at least one commissioner to raise concerns about long-term housing supply, even while supporting the project.
"Personally, I'm worried that when we go too far under the maximum density, we're not going to have enough housing for our children and grandchildren in the future. So I want to be mindful of that," the commissioner said.