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2021-04-02 ArroyoSaturday, April 3, 2021 at 11:30:48 Pacific Daylight Time Page 1 of 3 Subject:City of La Quinta Resident Comments re: Coral Mountain Resort Date:Friday, April 2, 2021 at 4:53:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time From:robert arroyo To:consulIngplanner@laquintaca.gov CC:Cheri Flores, Kimberly Cuza Dear Nicole Sauviat Criste, ConsulIng Planner, City of La Quinta: Thank you for allowing us to submit our thoughts and comments for the planning process of the proposed Coral Mountain Resort located on 929 acres bounded by Avenue 58, Avenue 60 and Madison in La Quinta. Please also note that we do not object to development in La Quinta, but development must be thoughXul, well-planned and considerate, and should bring value to our community and enhance it for everyone. Our primary concerns with the Coral Mountain Resort are environmental and zoning. Although Kelly Slater, champion surfer and founder of the Kelly Slater Wave Co., seems to care about environmental issues, we believe that the investor Big Sky Wave Developments and developer Meriweather Companies are not concerned with the long-term environmental impact. Thank you for your consideraIon. We are sure that the City will take the Ime to read and seriously consider all the comments from their residents. Sally and Robert Arroyo Coral Mountain Estates 57712 Salida del Sol La Quinta, CA 92253 (760) 564-8126 __________ Water and Energy Usage: 1) In an era of massive climate change the City of La Quinta should be asking the major quesIon of where is the water coming from to sustain the resort. Surf parks require massive amounts of water and this resort will be no excepIon. We have seen esImates of 18 million gallons to fill the pool. In addiIon, this project will have to recover/refill water lost to evaporaIon that nearly equals the amount used to fill the pool. Add this to the amount of water used by residents, guests and commercial establishments as well as the golf course. Golf courses have the advantage of being able to use desert scaping and grey water for non-potable uses, resulIng in less water use. The surf park will not be using grey water in their pool and while they should have a filtraIon system, that sIll does not lessen the water lost through evaporaIon. 2) With our sources of water in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains well below average, we shouldn't have to remind the City that we live in a desert and have just barely come out of a crippling drought, with another drought projected. It was also our understanding from CVWD that our own aquifer is declining and being strictly managed despite replenishing. Water is essenIal and a precious commodity. 3) This facility, with so much water usage, would also increase our already rising humidity. 4) We know that IID and Southern California Edison are our local energy providers and will provide power for the resort but there should be a provision for the resort/park to be at least powered parIally by renewables such as wind and solar. It would be very easy to require solar panels on every structure to offset carbon-sourced electricity. 5) The City of La Quinta should also require a proposal from the developer of all the materials that could be used to Page 2 of 3 miIgate their carbon footprint and should require a short- and long-term sustainability study. We would hope that the City and the developer also work with STOKE (Sustainable Tourism and Outdoors Kit for EvaluaIon hips://www.stokecerIfied.com) to enhance the sustainability future of the project. STOKE cerIficaIons specialize in surf parks and ski parks. __________ Zoning: 1) The zoning must remain as it is now. This is a residenIal area and should never be a commercial area. If zoning is changed to tourist commercial as requested, the required EIR will support unacceptable increases in noise, density, lighIng, etc. So much is based on zoning and if the zoning is changed to what is proposed, then the City has completely diminished the environment and atmosphere of this part of the City. 2) The EIR must be based on current residenIal zoning. The iniIal area was zoned for low-density housing and a golf course which had low traffic and a very low noise level. To change it to tourist commercial and to allow for events will increase traffic, noise, etc. __________ Noise impact: 1) If we understand this wave process correctly, the wave system works by way of a large engine running down a track with an aiached hull pulled to create the waves. This machinery creates noise. And, at other surf parks, addiIonal noise is created by a PA system that announces when the waves are coming, how much Ime a surfer has on their wave and, in between setups/waves, some type of entertainment or music. We think that the resort would try to keep it quieter for their residents and guests but sound sIll carries and the surrounding neighborhoods would be impacted. These noises would be heard from probably 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, seven days a week. 2) This proposal appears to significantly increase housing density with the addiIon of a hotel and more housing than is zoned now. Noise must not result from this. 3) Commercial type outdoor entertainment must not be allowed as that will also increase noise. Soundproofing should be required where appropriate. 4) Couple this daily noise with more traffic noise, parIcularly with commercial enterprises on one corner, possibly two corners of Madison Street and Avenue 58 and our once quiet desert will be unacceptably noisier. __________ Light polluIon: 1) DestrucIon of our Dark Skies mandates, as outlined by the City, County and State statues, will result from the proposed 80-foot light poles to allow for night surfing. An 80-foot light fixture is almost as tall as a ten story building. 2) As currently zoned, regular residenIal street lighIng or mandatory house-number lighIng is on all night, every night and emits low levels of light. The proposed 600 homes and 150-key hotel will add much greater addiIonal lights to the environment. Commercial lighIng for the hotel and surf park would be much more intense than residenIal lighIng and would be on all night, every night. __________ Infrastructure: Page 3 of 3 1) We understand the economic reasons for a project or any large project of this nature but will the economics outweigh the added need for more services from our Police, Fire, EMT, Library, City Hall, etc. UlImately, as evidenced historically, taxes will have to be raised to pay for the addiIonal populaIon and raising taxes is not very popular or necessarily wise. __________ In AddiIon: 1) We are saddened that the City of La Quinta has allowed the resort to abut Coral Mountain which is a popular place for hikers and horse riders. A buffer zone of donated land from the developer in good faith between the resort and Coral Mountain would have been nice to conInue to create access to these popular walking/riding trails. As planned now part of that will be totally cut off to anyone other than members and guests of the surf park. Also along this same path are NaIve American petroglyphs which could be threatened with destrucIon. 2) The desert is a beauIful environment and many residents in La Quinta moved to La Quinta, "The Gem of the Desert," specifically because it was less dense, less commercial and less noisy than most of our other desert ciIes. Please be very careful in whatever you approve to maintain and enforce the residenIal qualiIes we enjoy. Please don’t make the residents regret living here.