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2021-03-11 WeissThursday, March 11, 2021 at 08:54:41 Pacific Standard Time Page 1 of 5 Subject:Comments regarding Coral Mountain Development Date:Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 12:09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time From:Kathy Weiss CC:ConsulDngPlanner@laquintaca.gov To Nicole Sauviat Criste, An Environmental Impact Report is being prepared for the City Of La Quinta to review The Coral Mountain Development that is planned for just outside the Quarry Gates, Trilogy at La Quinta, Andalusia, and PGA WEST, at the base of Coral Mountain. I am sending this to you, Nicole Criste, La Quinta City Planner, to convey the impact and negative effects to the Coral Mountain area. What “Coral Mountain Resort” has planned will have a huge and mostly negative and tragic effect to The Quarry, Trilogy at La Quinta and Andalusia & PGA WEST. The major significant impact on our environment and peaceful existence will be the Zoning Change from Low-Density Residential w/ 18-hole golf course to TOURIST/COMMERCIAL. Coral Mountain will be a mega resort with lodging potential for over 5,400 overnight tourists, with a 17- Acre Wave Pool that needs 18 million gallons of water to work. Coral Mountain Resort will not be a residential neighborhood. It will be a high energy Resort focused on attracting the young, affluent -travel -adventurer and Surfer. An enormous Surf/Extreme Sport Themed Adventure Park will be in front of the Quarry Gates and next to Trilogy at La Quinta , Andalusia, and PGA WEST. Plans for the Tourists in a “Commercial Environment”, aka “Resort” are: #1. 600- person occupancy hotel complete w/ restaurants, bars, and entertainment all available on a per night basis. #2. 600 “Dwelling Units” with unlimited number of bedrooms & bathrooms- available for overnight rental. A dwelling unit could easily have 4 bedrooms, allowing 8 guests per unit. 600 Units x 8 people= 4,500 people staying in the Units. All units are available on an overnight basis- same as the Hotel. The staggering number of overnight rentals (STR’s), 750, are the most impactful part of the project and the least discussed. The people coming to Coral Mountain are Vacationers, not Residents. Today’s Short- Term vacationer is a different type than the kind I grew up knowing. Many vacationers of today are young, affluent, traveling with friends, want to have a good time and feel entitled to Party, Party, Party, no matter who or what is affected. La Quinta City Government is very aware of this new type of Short-Term Renter due to the 10th STR Moratorium issued in the past year. I am perplexed as to why LQ City Council would even consider allowing a zone change from Low-Residential to Tourist/Commercial amid Low-Residential, golf oriented, Zoned communities for miles in each direction. Coral Mountain will have the potential to lodge 5,400 people on an overnight basis. (as explained below) Imagine the mayhem and chaos created by 5,400 people staying right next door coming and going on a single night rental basis. Add the workforce needed to keep all running. That is what we will have after having endured the 10-20 year build out of constant heavy construction traffic, dust all day long, and pollution. Heavy traffic will dominate the Streets, where there were only light traffic conditions before. Page 2 of 5 Streets, where there were only light traffic conditions before. Coral Mountain will not be a Residential Neighborhood just because it has “dwelling units. “This will be a 5,400-person capacity Tourist/Commercial Resort with The Wave Park and other water sports as the main feature. To attract more than just Surfers, Coral Mountain plans to have kid-friendly Roller Skate parks, BMX tracks, and ponds for hydrofoil and paddle board activities. Coral Mountain plans to have their own Vacation Rental website for booking reservations. The nightly rental business will be a huge part of their operation and income. Meriwether is quoted as saying “Coral Mountain is PRIVATE. The Wave Pool, etc. is open ONLY to members and guests. (Not “THEIR GUESTS”). There is an enormous difference. This is a word play wanting to portray a more “exclusive” type Resort. The Coral Mountain Guest is not like a typical Private Golf Club Guest. A Private golf club guest is accompanied by the Golf Course Member when using the facility. A Coral Mountain Guest is anyone that can pay the price of a room. With a daily 5,400 tourist/lodger capacity - there will be no need to be “open to the public.” Word play again. #3. The Wave Pool covers 17 acres, a length of 2,600 feet, needing 18 million gallons of water to work. The Wave Pool water evaporation rate is 30,000 to work. The Wave Pool water evaporation rate is 30,000 to 180,000 gallons of water daily. Plans include stadium bleacher seating on each long side, and many 80’ tall light towers for Night Surfing and entertainment. Plans have the Wave Pool running 365 days a year from 7 am to 7 pm for the 5,400 tourists staying at the hotel or in a dwelling unit. We will be living next door to a Las Vegas experience every single night. Goodbye Dark Skies- Hello Lights, Music, Action! We did not buy homes here to be blindsided by this Project. #4. Loudspeakers projecting above The Wave Pool in all directions are needed for the Wave Pool Announcer to call the 30 second countdown for every single wave. At $500 a Wave, 20 Waves per hour, the surfers need to be alerted for the coming Wave, as there is no Ocean to watch or feel until “the big one” comes. A Wave is manufactured every 3 minutes. The Lifeguards, videographers, photographers, will be riding motor driven Jet skis to handle their duties. A jet ski is 100 to 150 decibels on the noise chart. No one can control the screams & shouts of the Surfers, skateboarders, BMX bikers, etc. and spectators. With a minimum of 2,500 ticket buying- people, plus the lodgers already staying there, for each of the 16 days of Televised events- complete with Special Event Hours- we will experience the constant hum and effects of huge numbers of human activity just around the corner. The noise level of the Wave crashing at Kelly Slater Surf Ranch has been measured at 75 decibels. 75 decibels is comparable to the sound of cars traveling on a busy interstate highway. Diesel trucks traveling at 40 mph are 84 decibels. Average Rock Band is 110 decibels. #5. As previously mentioned, Coral Mountain wants 16 days of “Special Events” spread out over 4, four- day weekends, complete with NBC filming the Events. That is 4 days MORE than Coachella Fest and Stagecoach combined. In no way, shape, or form does Coral Mountain fit in with the existing neighborhood. Tourist/Commercial Zoning allows a higher noise level. Low-Density Residential zoning does not. Coral Mountain Resort will be our loudest and most chaotic neighbor. Only 23 acres (3%) of the 386- acre site is set aside for Open Space. All workforce (3 eight- hour shifts daily) will commute as there is no employee housing on site. Page 3 of 5 Environmental Damage The Resort is open 24/7, 365 days a year. There is no downtime. If approved, La Quinta City Council will forever burden the existing surrounding neighborhoods with: # 1. Noise Pollution- that will NEVER CEASE- heavy Construction equipment working at 85 decibels or more, non-stop all day long, for the next 10-20 years- (according to Coral Mountain’s own projection). The beep-beep of heavy construction equipment and trucks in reverse. Diesel engines always idling. Once completed, there will be noise from: constant traffic, horns honking, screeching tires, wave generators, breaking waves, the plethora of lodgers and guests, entertainment venues, crowds cheering & shouting, loudspeakers, and music broadcasting non-stop 12 hours or more daily. The lodger/guest can leave Coral Mountain Resort and go home when tired of the noise and activity. The homeowners and residents nearby cannot leave when tired of it. (Unless they sell and no longer live here). The people that invested and live in their homes here did so because of the quiet, peaceful, off the beaten path neighborhood that surrounds us. Most of the homeowners would have never bought in this area had we known La Quinta would allow this Zoning Change. # 2. Road and Traffic Congestion- no more light traffic conditions driving to the grocery store, restaurants, or shopping. Vehicles full of tourist/guests and the large workforce to keep Coral Mountain Resort running smoothly- will be driving to and from the intersection of 58th/60th and Madison on a daily, round the clock basis. No employee housing is planned at the Resort. Add the Shuttle Buses & Semis for bringing in people and supplies for the Public Events- driving will be a nightmare. Heavy traffic induces stress. More sitting in traffic, not moving one’s body due to longer driving times, more air pollution when in traffic, all cause more stress and faster heart rate, which leads to tension, heart problems, and poor health. Heavy traffic has a negative effect on the desirability of a Residential Community. Driving to and from 58/60th & Madison will require vigilance, alertness, and quicker reaction time due to the increased number of vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians near 58th/60th and Madison. Cars speeding, driving under the influence, car accidents, honking horns, tires screeching, and Crime will increase. #3 Chaos and Mayhem NBC network owns the television rights to World Surf League (WSL). NBC will be announcing, recording, and televising the 16 days of Special Events and the World Surf League Competitions. Events will be open to the paying public (people that do not have a room/unit rented at Coral Mountain) and to Coral Mountain lodgers. These events, like most large events, will draw both good and bad types of people to our neighborhood. # 4. Air Pollution: diesel and gas fumes, constant dust during Meriwether’s projected 10–20- year build -out. The project will scrape away every inch of” biocrust”, creating the need for even more Water Trucks to keep the dust down. Even if there were 100 hundred water trucks operating all day long- it is impossible to keep all the dust all the time. 17 acres will be dug deep to accommodate just the Wave Pool. Add the Hotel, Commercial buildings, 600 dwelling Units, more pools and water features-, utilities, roads, all require digging and moving dirt to build. 400 acres of dirt, rocks and vegetation will be loaded onto trucks and driven to another on- site spot where it will be dumped until needed. Then the dirt will be moved again. The winds still blow at night. Our neighborhoods and homes will be inundated with dirt, dust, pollens, allergens, and diesel fumes. “Biocrust “is to the Desert what “Tundra” is to the high elevations. Both tundra and biocrust take many hundreds of years to replace once damaged. Dust will be a big issue at Coral Mountain for eons to come. #5. Light Pollution- 80’ tall light towers illuminating The Wave Pool, swimming pools, Page 4 of 5 Skateboard Park, BMX Track, other Sports Courts, acres of parking lots, streets, all lit for nighttime safety, and 117,000 square feet of Commercial Buildings lit inside and out. At night, Coral Mountain light spill will be equal, if not more, than the light emanating from several shopping centers. The spill light will affect the surrounding community. No more dark skies. Goodbye nocturnal wildlife. No more sitting out on the porch gazing at the stars. # 6. Road & street Damage; The infrastructure needed to ensure adequate water, sewer, electric, natural gas, and wi-fi is huge. Utilities will be buried under the newly paved 58th and 60th Streets and Madison or in trenches to be dug. Once an asphalt road is damaged, cracking and potholes develop. The newly paved 58th & 60th Streets by Madison will be trashed by 10 +years of heavy construction traffic. When heavy construction finally ends, the roads will need to be re-constructed for miles in every direction. # 7. What about the Elephant in the Room? Drought Conditions are dire in the Western States. What happens if the Colorado River is unable to fulfill the needs of the CVWD All American Canal after 5 to 10 years of drought conditions? Agriculture and new homes, to accommodate population growth, will take precedence of water allocation. Amusements and Sports will be at the bottom of the water allocation list. Who wants to live next to a stinky 17- acre Cement Pool that is full of run-off, mud, plants, insects, algae, dead animals, and trash? We know what the Salton Sea looks like today. That could happen here. Would not that be an eyesore for “The Gem of the Desert”? Adding to water woes is the fact that the Aquifer is refilling at a slow pace, due to local soil conditions. The aquifer water level has been dropping every year despite the water reclamation projects recently enacted. Coral Mountain Resort does not have any of the characteristics of the surrounding low- density residential neighborhoods. This is a high energy Mega Resort, open 24/7, 365 days a year, planning high profile televised events, totaling more days than Coachella Fest and Stagecoach combined! This Project is much better suited in an existing high Density, Tourist/Commercial area, with easy on and off access from the interstate , not needing to drive through miles of residential neighborhoods affecting every household and road on the routes. La Quinta has many acres of vacant land, with Commercial/Tourist zoning already in place, closer to the Interstate or Hwy 111. Coral Mountain development is not compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods near 58th and Madison for miles in every direction. If LaQuinta City Council approves Coral Mountain, the surrounding neighborhood homeowners and Club members will suffer irreparable permanent and irreplaceable loss of the reasons why we bought here in the first place: for the peaceful, quiet, serene atmosphere this corner of La Quinta is renowned for. Allowing this extremely large Tourist/Commercial High- Density Resort into a quiet low- density residential, golf-oriented neighborhood, will negatively affect every Homeowner and Golf Member. There will be no coming back. The value and quality of life living and being in this special corner of the La Quinta will be tragically degraded forever. Sincerely, Kathy Weiss Quarry Winter Resident & Homeowner since 2005 58617 Quarry Ranch Rd. La Quinta, Ca. 92253 Page 5 of 5 970-309-7037 mobile