Paul Murphy, a member of the Palm Desert Parks and Recreation Committee, spoke at Thursday’s meeting. He told councilmembers the committee would struggle to meet goals if their meeting schedule was changed from once a month to once every other month.
Palm Desert is pressing pause on its development code to conduct a sweeping analysis of city views, a decision capped Thursday night by a City Council vote to disband the citizen-led environmental group that previously oversaw such growth. The council also moved forward on a procedural vote related to a major affordable housing project.
As the city continues to finish its Unified Development Code (UDC) and objective design standards updates, staff presented updates, expected outcomes and timelines for key projects for fiscal year 2026-2027.
Director of Development Services Rosie Lua received council support for delaying the completion of a Unified Development Code to allow city staff to complete other necessary reviews.
As part of ongoing updates to design standards such as the hillside residential design standards - approved for a third time in regular session - Deputy Director of Development Services Carlos Flores said the city would be embarking on an aesthetic “views analysis” for Palm Desert in June.
Councilmember Jan Harnick said such an analysis would be foundational for future development and rationalized finishing it before completing other projects that could benefit from it.
“If we don't have the views analysis in place, it's difficult to do all these other things and then go back and say, I wish we'd done the views analysis,” she said.
Of particular interest were outdoor drinking and dining possibilities for Palm Desert’s downtown district, which includes the city’s El Paseo corridor. Flores said staff would be returning to the item in a future study session.
“I'm just wondering if the look we want is people walking down EL Paseo with plastic cups branded for outdoor alcohol consumption,” asked Mayor Pro Tem Joe Pradetto.
City staff identified 25 key projects in total, including upcoming rent changes for Palm Desert’s four rent-controlled mobile home parks. A resolution establishing new rates is expected in summer 2026.
Closing of committees, confirmation of camping ban
Later during regular session, councilmembers confirmed the closure of two city committees and voted to reduce some Parks and Recreation Committee responsibilities
The Environmental Resources Committee and Homeless Task Force were disbanded with a vote of 4-1, with Councilmember Karina Moreno “severely objecting” to the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem’s top-down elimination of the environmental resources committee.
“By disbanding the committee, the city will eliminate any mechanism for formal citizen participation in implementing key elements” of the climate action plan, said Palm Desert resident and committee member Donald Ziegler.
The Parks and Recreation Committee meeting minimum was reduced to every other month and park inspection obligations were dropped for members.
Paul Murphy, a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee, told councilmembers he and other committee members agreed that, “we do not feel that we can probably do our jobs with meeting every other month.”
“We've had problems that we didn't solve, and we're still trying to solve them,“ he said.
“So this is setting a floor, not a ceiling,” said Mayor Pro Tem Pradetto to justify the change.
Councilmember Harnick said homelessness was better addressed at the county level through the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.
Following expected reduced state funding for homeless programs, the city may consider a different service model for supporting the unsheltered population. Homeless and Supportive Services Manager Ivan Tenorio said any such model would be devised after state funding levels are determined.
The council also voted to adopt of the homeless camping ban read earlier this month.
Tax-exempt bond ceiling raised for affordable housing development
Also in regular session, City Council approved a $30 million increase to the tax-exempt bond limit for a 298-unit affordable housing development at the northwest corner of Cook Street and Frank Sinatra Drive after the developer revised its financing plan to require up to $30 million in additional tax-exempt funding since February.
City staff said the move was necessary as an administrative step, and involves no financial obligation from the city.
A $50 million bond was previously authorized in February, but the developers’ revised financing plan can now rely on up to $80 million tax exempt funding from the state. CMFA spokesperson Jared Suzuki said the higher tax-exempt bond limit allowed developers to forgo other non-tax exempt funding, which would lower costs. No other changes to the project were presented.
The project is being developed by nonprofit partnership Sinatra Family Housing in which San Diego-based Affirmed Housing are identified as lead developers. The proposed development would be reserved for families making 30-70% of Riverside County’s Area Median Income, and would be built on land adjacent to the Palm Desert.
Federal law required a hearing be held in the project’s local jurisdiction for a state bond issued by the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA) to be granted. The CMFA issues bonds for affordable housing projects and other programs deemed of public benefit.