Councilmember Sanchez - Cherry Comments 2020-04-06_Redacted1
Nichole Romane
From:Steve Sanchez
Sent:Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:03 PM
To:Nichole Romane
Subject:FW: Coral Mountain Development
Attachments:THE CORAL MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT AND ME.doc; Hanford Sentinel - Oct. 4, 2018.doc; Hanford
Sentinel - Sept. 20, 2019.doc; Hanford Sentinel - Sept. 21, 2019.doc; La Quinta Wave Park - LA
Times.doc
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Completed
Steve Sanchez | Councilman
City of La Quinta
78495 Calle Tampico | La Quinta, CA 92253
Ph. 760.777.7030
E: SSanchez@LaQuintaCA.Gov
www.LaQuintaCA.Gov
www.playinlaquinta.com
From: Steve Cherry
Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2020 8:16:39 AM
To: Steve Sanchez <ssanchez@laquintaca.gov>; Kathleen Fitzpatrick <kfitzpatrick@laquintaca.gov>
Subject: Fw: Coral Mountain Development
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Steve Cherry
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Steve Cherry
To: Steve Sanchez <ssanches@laquintaca.gov>; Robert Radi <rradi@laquintaca.gov>; Linda Evans
<levans@laquintaca.gov>; John Pena <jpena@laquintaca.gov>; Kathleen Fitzpatrick <kfitzpartick@laquintaca.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2020, 09:13:08 AM PDT
Subject: Coral Mountain Development
Some thoughts
Steve Cherry
THE CORAL MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT AND ME
Introduction
It started innocently enough when my son in Hanford mentioned a recent article
in the Hanford Sentinel about a wave park being planned for La Quinta. This seemed to
be a reprint of a LA Times story (attached herein). Why would Hanford be interested in
a wave park in La Quinta? A quick look at Mapquest answered this question - there is a
8-9 mile distance between Hanford and Lemoore - the latter being the site of the only
other wave park in the state. Thus, what happens in La Quinta doesn't necessarily stay
in La Quinta.
Follow-up
I then contacted Chris Aguirre, the content editor of the Hanford Sentinel and
asked about any other articles written about the Lemoore wave park - there were three
which he was kind enough to send to me (attached herein). None of these articles
discussed any environmental impacts due to the Lemoore wave park - which is situated
far away from any residential/commercial development so that there wouldn't be any
significant environmental impact. This is not the case for the Coral Mountain wave park
in La Quinta.
I suggested to Mr. Aguirre that he assign several reporters to the next event at
the Lemoore wave park to obtain an unscientific assessment of any noise and traffic
impact directly attributed to the wave park. I made the same suggestion to Parker
Bowman, a Hanford Sentinel staff reporter who had been tasked by his editor.
Closer To Home
The Lemoore wave park, I've been told, is out in the middle of nowhere.
Therefore, there shouldn't be any noise/traffic downsides. However, such is not the
case for the wave park planned for the Coral Mountain development in La Quinta.
Indeed, a scaled drawing of the development indicated a 1-mile distance from the
middle of the wave park to the entrance to Trilogy on Avenue 60. From this point to my
humble abode is another 0.45 miles, thus, I am 1.45 miles from the center of the wave
park and noise levels will be a major consideration.
What Should The City Of La Quinta Do?
In the best of all worlds the folks at the Hanford Sentinel could supply us with
unscientific data about noise and traffic problems at the Lemoore facility. Failing this,
the city of La Quinta could:
1. Require that the Coral Mountain development provide scientific measurements of
both the noise and traffic conditions at the next major event at the Lemoore facility.
2. Require that the Coral Mountain development develop mitigation schemes to solve
any potential noise and traffic problems at the La Quinta facility.
3. Require that the Coral Mountain development submit a full environmental impact
report covering all aspects of the development.
4. Do nothing and let the residents of Trilogy and Andalusia enlist the aid of Manny
Perez (Riverside County representative) to correct any overlooked problems.
Kelly Slater Surf Ranch not open to public -
yet
Chelsea Shannon
Oct 4, 2018
LEMOORE — Ready to surf at the Surf Ranch? Residents of Kings County may have to wait a
few years before they can hang ten in town.
During the Lemoore City Council meeting on Sept. 18, Councilman Eddie Neal wondered if the
Surf Ranch will ever be a place where the public can go to enjoy.
The Surf Ranch’s General Manager Sam Ramirez said that the Surf Ranch is far from being open
to the public regularly since it is not part of its business model at this time while also giving an
update on its progress.
The Kelly Slater Surf Ranch has been an allusive place for residents of Lemoore since it opened
less than a year ago. With rumors of top-tier actors and athletes visiting the Surf Ranch, the
public wants to see what goes on out there.
Ramirez said that Kelly Slater, professional surfer, and his team decided to purchase land in
Lemoore so they could do research and development for surf ranches they would later open
around the world.
“We came for the privacy and stayed for the hospitality,” Ramirez said.
Prior to the two surf competitions held at the ranch, people in the surfing community probably
had no idea where Lemoore was, Ramirez said. This made it a perfect spot to begin creating the
wave pool and seeing how it can be used as a tool for surfing and as a business.
Ramirez said that currently the Surf Ranch has private clients who come to either learn to surf or
are experienced and want to see what a 45-second long wave feels like. Ramirez said that usually
a good wave in the ocean lasts around 20 seconds long.
Ramirez said they get many people contacting them wanting to surf there and the ranch takes
each request on a case-by-case basis. Organizers are still looking at ways to better involve the
community in their venture.
In the near future, the ranch plans to build some form of housing on the property for clients who
come from out of town to surf. He said that many clients stay at Tachi Palace due to its proximity
but would like the opportunity to stay on the property.
Ramirez said that the ranch is around 160 acres and includes the golf course, east of the wave
pool, and several acres west of the tree line surrounding the wave pool.
Ramirez said that the city of Lemoore is getting more recognition by being associated with the
Surf Ranch. He said that over 5,000 people came to its surf competitions, over 1,000 channels
displayed footage of the competition and 1,500 global online and print outlets had news about
the event.
The first surf competition at the ranch was in May and the second was in September. Ramirez
said that for now the ranch is scheduling events a year from now and is seeing a steady stream of
interest in furthering its services.
The reporter can be reached at 583-2458 or chelsea.shannon@lee.net.
Lemoore businesses booked up for air show,
Freshwater Pro
Lauren Wagner
Sep 20, 2019
LEMOORE — The World Surf League’s Freshwater Pro and the NAS Lemoore Air Show are
putting Lemoore on the map.
Over 200,000 people are expected to be visiting Lemoore and the surrounding area over the
weekend, City Manager Nathan Olson said.
“(Both events) definitely have all of our hotels booked and our restaurants full,” he said.
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, one of the main hotels servicing the Lemoore area, is fully booked
Friday and Saturday, Director of Marketing Rojelio Morales said.
Surfers competing in the Freshwater Pro reserved almost 190 rooms on Friday and 150 rooms on
Saturday. Morales estimated that about 20 additional rooms were reserved from fans attending
the event this weekend.
“Last year the event was over the Labor Day weekend and we displaced guests that wanted to
stay here for the three-day weekend,” Morales said in an email. “This year the event was the
third weekend in September giving us the best of both worlds.”
Tachi Palace saw an increase of bookings even a week ago, he said. The hotel and casino is also
providing free parking and shuttles to the Freshwater Pro during the whole competition.
Lemoore restaurants are also gearing up to be busier than ever, said General Manager of The
Vineyard Restaurant Joe Jones.
“Last year we got a lot of surf fans who came in for both breakfast and dinner,” Jones said.
“Some surfers already came this morning, though we haven’t had any fans yet. But we will get
really busy this weekend.”
The Vineyard Restaurant sits between Best Western Inn & Suites and the Travelodge, which are
both fully booked for the airshow and Freshwater Pro, Jones said.
If visitors are interested in dining at The Vineyard, Jones recommends making a reservation if
there is a party more than four people because of the increased traffic.
This year marks the second time Lemoore is hosting the Freshwater Pro at the Surf Ranch. The
Lemoore Air Show is also coming back after an eight-year hiatus.
The city tried not to schedule the two events on the same weekend, Olson said. But when he tried
to change the dates, he was told it was already set in stone.
The Freshwater Pro will be open to visitors with VIP passes on Friday and to general admission
ticket holders on Saturday. It is being held at Kelly Slater Wave Company’s Surf Ranch at 18556
Jackson Ave. in Lemoore.
Flying at the Lemoore Air Show will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday on the NAS
Lemoore base at 700 Avenger Ave. The event’s main feature are performances from the Navy’s
Blue Angels.
For more information about the two events, visit www.lemooreairshow.com/ and
www.wslfreshwaterpro.com/.
Surf fans ride the wave to Lemoore for the Freshwater Pro
Parker Bowman
Sep 21, 2019
0
LEMOORE — California Surfing Day was observed with great fervor in Lemoore as the
Freshwater Pro continued Friday.
International crowds came to an unsuspecting patch of land hidden among farms and homes
outside of Lemoore to watch the best surfers in the world compete in the World Surf
League's (WSL) Freshwater Pro.
“It’s really weird. There’s beautiful almond trees and fruit trees and suddenly, ‘Oh. There’s
the surf thing,’” said Mark Nakada.
A surf enthusiast from Salt Lake City, Nakada visits the beaches of California often to surf,
he said, but Friday marked Nakada’s first visit to the Lemoore Surf Ranch.
“I follow it peripherally but it’s great to get a chance to see everybody close up in a different
kind of format than you see at the ocean, so it’s just great,” he said.
He said that he’d “one day” like to surf the 600-yard-long machine-made waves of the Surf
Ranch.
The surreality of the Surf Ranch, which features the wave pool, a man-made lake and
beaches, multiple cabins and other amenities, being tucked away in the midst of the San
Joaquin Valley agricultural hub was not lost on many of the surfers in attendance.
“I’ve driven by [Lemoore] on the 5. But even then, you can’t quite see it,” said Santa Cruz-
based surfer Peter Mel during an on-site interview that was simulcast on the dozens of
screens that dotted the Surf Ranch’s walls, billboards and anywhere else a screen would fit
to make sure that no one in attendance missed a second of the action.
That surfing action is exactly what enticed Grant Bridge to make the long journey from Sydney,
Australia.
I'm looking forward to it seeing how it works and what it's about," Bridge said on the shuttle
from the parking lot at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino to the ranch itself.
Kevin McDonald and his wife drove up to the Surf Ranch Thursday night from the Los Angeles
area to enjoy the surf performances. While Friday was day two of the event, the ranch was not
open to the public on Thursday.
“It’s like another world. We’re in the middle of the Valley surrounded by farms. The first couple
of hours took a while just to have it register. When the machine starts moving — it’s mind-
blowing, just how they were able to engineer this thing,” McDonald said. “To see it on TV
doesn’t do it half the justice of seeing it in person.”
McDonald added that the act of watching a World Surf League event at the ranch as compared to
at the beach was a totally different experience. In addition to being physically closer to the water
and the surfers at the ranch, there’s more action, as each surfer is guaranteed to get a perfect
machine-made wave on every outing.
These invariable waves were touched on by Australian surfer Nikki Van Dijk during a simulcast
interview.
“It’s more of a controlled environment and as athletes, we’re control freaks,” she said.
The Freshwater Pro continues today.
The Freshwater Pro will be broadcast live on www.WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL
app.
Tickets are still available for the Saturday competition, which includes a free-with-admission
concert by the Raconteurs at 7 p.m.
“Jack [White] hasn’t toured at all in a long time — in terms of this band — so it’ll be really fun,”
Nakada said.
Golf is out, surf is in at a resort planned for the Coachella Valley
By ROGER VINCENT STAFF WRITER
FEB. 25, 2020
1:22 PM
A luxury resort proposed for the Coachella Valley is set to serve surfers instead of
golfers with a wave-making machine that could stir up water for professional surfing
competitions or kids playing on foam boards.
The big waves are to roll at Coral Mountain, a proposed development that would
combine a hotel and housing on 400 acres in La Quinta that have already been
approved for a golf-centered community.
But with more than 100 golf courses already serving the region, the builders hope to
instead stand out with a $200-million complex built around a surfing basin created by
Kelly Slater Wave Co. The Solana Beach engineering firm founded by surfing legend
Kelly Slater says it will provide the largest, rideable open-barrel, human-made waves in
the world.
By substituting surfing and other adventure sports such as rock climbing for golf,
developers Meriwether Cos. and Big Sky Wave Developments intend to create a new
kind of neighborhood for the Palm Springs area, which has seen a demographic shift in
recent years toward younger visitors and residents.
As evidence of the change, consider the thousands drawn by the annual Coachella
Valley Music and Arts Festival and the proliferation of hip hotels meant to appeal to
millennials.
Coral Mountain would be a master-planned “wave-based community,” the first of its
kind, developer Garrett Simon of Meriwether Cos. said, with a 150-room hotel and as
many as 600 homes, mostly single-family residences priced between $1 million and $5
million. There would be a private club and multiple dining venues.
In addition to the 18-million-gallon surf basin, the features might include a network of
ponds that hotel guests and residents could navigate on stand-up slow-moving paddle
boards or decidedly faster electric hydrofoil boards that lift riders out of the water.
For enthusiasts of land-based adventure sports, there would be snaking skateboarding
runs, bike pump tracks and trails for mountain bikes and perhaps electric motorcycles.
Despite its aquatic focus, Coral Mountain would use a fraction of the amount of water
required by a golf course, Simon said. Golf courses use as much as 1 million gallons a
day to stay green, he said, while Coral Mountain would give up about 18 million gallons
a year in evaporation.
The developers’ pivot from golf to more active sports also reflects the declining fortunes
of the golf industry.
Hundreds of U.S. golf courses have closed in recent years as the numbers of golfers
and rounds played have fallen, according to industry reports. An oversupply of courses,
which were often built to sell nearby homes, has contributed to the golf industry’s
challenges.
The Coral Mountain site was to be the second phase of the adjacent Andalusia Country
Club, which opened in 2006, Simon said.
But, as the Desert Sun reported, the golf venue struggled with home sales and country
club membership after the recession that started in 2008. Meriwether Cos. acquired the
property last May.