03 The Wave 2019-01-22 Prelim Review Comments PREV2019-0001
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January 24, 2019
Mr. Garrett Simon
Meriwether Companies
gsimon@meriwetherco.com
SUBJECT: PREAPPLICATION REVIEW 2019-0001: THE WAVE
Dear Mr. Simon:
The Design and Development Department has reviewed the subject proposal, based on the
preliminary review request, and offers the following preliminary comments for your
consideration.
The purpose of preliminary review is two-fold: first, to provide the City’s various
development review departments the opportunity to assess a potential project’s preliminary
concept plans, to provide general comments and identify any fatal flaws or significant issues
prior to a formal application submittal; and second, to confirm any specific application
requirement exemptions and/or any required supplemental information. Please note that
this letter only contains application requirements and does not contain any preliminary
comments from other City departments.
Existing Conditions
The project site consists of approximately 377 acres on vacant land west of Madison Street,
south of Avenue 58. PGA West is located to the north. Groundwater recharge ponds
managed by the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) are located to the south. The Coral
Mountains are located west of the site and the Andalusia “East Tract” is located to the east.
Proposal
Based on the information submitted, the project proposes to develop the site with a
professional, competition level, artificial wave facility with an associated 100-room hotel
and 650 residential units over the 377 acres. The project proposes a small golf course and
other outdoor amenities such as an outdoor amphitheater, ropes course and trails that are
integrated with the mountains to the west.
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Land Use and Zoning Consistency
The current General Plan land use and Zoning designations for the site are Low Density
Residential (RL) and Golf Course (GC). Additionally, the Andalusia at Coral Mountain
Specific Plan (SP 2003-067) governs the site since this specific plan bifurcated the Andalusia
(north of Avenue 60) and Trilogy (south of Avenue 60) areas. Residential uses are allowed;
however, the land use configuration in the Specific Plan would need to be revised to reflect
the proposed project. Additionally, hotels and wave parks are not allowed in RL zone or the
Specific Plan; therefore, the Specific Plan would need to be amended to allow these uses.
The Tourist Commercial (CT) zone would be appropriate for these uses. Since the Specific
Plan would need to be amended, the General Plan and zoning designations would also need
to be changed to accommodate the project.
Environmental Review
A Mitigated Negative Declaration (EA 2003-483) was certified in December 2003 for SP
2003-067. This is the effective environmental document for the project site. To satisfy the
requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), it is recommended that
an Addendum to EA 2003-483 (Addendum) or a Subsequent Mitigated Negative Declaration
(SMND) be prepared to address potential environmental impacts of the project, per Sections
15162 and 15164 of CEQA. The Addendum or SMND will evaluate potential impacts and
introduce any measures to mitigate the impacts, as necessary. A list of City approved CEQA
consultants who prepare environmental documents is attached. Special studies to be
prepared include traffic, cultural/paleontological update letter, geotechnical, biological
update letter, noise, lighting, and air quality studies. Further studies may be required based
on more detailed review.
Since the project consists of over 500 residential units, the project would be defined as a
water-demand project per Section 15155 of CEQA and may be required to have a water
supply assessment prepared and approved by the public water agency, CVWD, per SB 610.
Additionally, since the project will involve a tract map to subdivide the property, a water
supply verification may also be required, in accordance with SB 221. The City understands
that the applicant has assumed prior water agreements with CVWD from TD Desert
Development and those agreements include provisions for the development of various water
facilities and infrastructure to support 1,600 residential units and two 18-hole golf courses.
Acknowledging that the project proposes a unit count that is within this total and is reducing
the golf course size, the City is willing to work with the applicant and CVWD to come to an
agreement on evaluating water supply to serve the project.
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Application Requirements
The following application requirements currently apply to this proposal:
1. A General Plan Amendment (GPA) would be required for the proposed project to
revise the land use configuration in the Specific Plan. All materials required by the
application shall be filed. Requirements can be found at the following link:
https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29184
[Fee: $10,432]
2. A Zone Change (ZC) would be required for the proposed project to revise the land
use configuration in the Specific Plan. All materials required by the application shall
be filed. Requirements can be found at the following link:
https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29186
[Fee: $9,365]
3. A Specific Plan Amendment (SPA) would be required to either revise the current land
use configuration to accommodate the proposed project. All materials required by
the application shall be filed. Requirements can be found at the following link:
https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29190
[Fee: $4,776]
4. A Tentative Tract Map would be required to subdivide the property. All materials
required by the application shall be filed. Requirements can be found at the following
link: https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29198
[Fee: $8,351]
5. A Site Development Permit (SDP) would be required for the proposed project to allow
staff, Planning Commission and City Council to review the architecture and
landscaping of the project. All materials required by the application shall be filed.
Requirements can be found at the following link:
https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29192
[Fee: $8,885.00]
6. An Environmental Assessment Form would be required for the proposed project in
order to determine any potential environmental impacts related to the project, per
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Upon review, City staff shall
determine what type of CEQA document is required, if any is needed. The
Environmental Assessment Form can be found at the following link:
https://www.laquintaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=29226
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[Fee: $485.00]
This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of entitlements required for the project. A
Development Agreement may be desirable and can be worked out at a later date.
Additionally, the fees quoted herein do not include costs such as building permit fees,
environmental review fees (based on an environmental determination at project submittal),
plan checking, bond requirements and others not considered here. More specific fee
information can be obtained by contacting individual city divisions.
Information on the City’s Planning applications and submittal requirements can be found
here. It is suggested to apply for these applications through our online permitting process
(eTrakIt), here: http://laquinta.trakit.net/etrakit3/. ETrakIt allows you to apply for every
permit from entitlement to construction fully online. Attached to this letter you will find a
Standard Operating Procedure on how to use eTrakIt. ETrakIt also allows you to set up a
trust account, where you can input money into an account to pay for permits through the
entire development process.
Development Review Process Timeline
All applications for entitlements may be processed concurrently in order to save time in the
development process. Please note that this is a conservative estimate and the City will do
whatever we can to process the review time as quickly as possible. The review process is
summarized below.
• The first step in the entitlement process would be to accept the applications and deem
them complete. This determination takes approximately 30 days from the date of
submittal. Once the application package is accepted as complete, it moves to the
second step in the entitlement process, design review.
• During design review, the application will be distributed to all City departments and
affected external agencies, such as CVWD and Imperial Irrigation District. This
process takes approximately 3-4 weeks and comments on the project will be sent to
the applicant. The applicant would then review the comments, make corrections and
resubmit the package for a second design review, which would take about three
weeks. Once all comments have been addressed to Staff’s satisfaction, the project
can be scheduled for public hearings.
• The public hearings are typically scheduled within 4-5 weeks of the completion of
design review, due to report preparation and public hearing noticing requirements.
The project must be heard by Planning Commission and City Council since it involves
a GPA, ZC and SPA. As discussed in our meeting, an option would be to have a study
session with the Planning Commission prior to holding the public hearing. This would
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give the Planning Commission the opportunity to see the project and be familiar with
it before they would make a decision. This would result in at least two (2) Planning
Commission meetings, one (1) for the study session and one (1) for the public
hearing. These could be scheduled two weeks apart.
• The City Council hearing would then be scheduled four weeks after the Planning
Commission hearing, due to report preparation and public hearing notice
requirements. For the ZC approval, an ordinance would be need to be passed, which
would require two readings at City Council (2 meetings) and is effective 30 days after
the second reading.
• In addition to the above steps in the entitlement process, the project would be subject
to SB 18 Tribal Consultation since it involves a GPA and SPA. This process takes 90
days from the date the application is deemed complete and involves government-to-
government consultation from the City to various tribal governments as indicated by
the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC). This consultation will be
conducted concurrently with the design review process.
• The environmental review process is dependent on how long it takes for special
studies and the environmental document to be prepared. Once the City receives the
environmental document, staff will review to make sure all potential issues are
covered, and the document is as defensible as possible. This review generally takes
2-4 weeks per submittal. Once the document has been deemed ready for public
review, if required, the document will be circulated to various agencies and interested
parties for up to 30 days for review and comment. Once the review period has
completed, the project will be ready to go to public hearing.
• Should an SMND be required, the project would be subject to AB 52 Tribal
Consultation as well. This process requires the City to notify Native American tribes
of the project and the tribe has 30 to request consultation with the City. This would
run concurrently with SB 18 process.
These comments are intended only to provide conceptual design guidance and do not
represent the more thorough, detailed technical design review that would occur with the
formal application review process. All comments are subject to change due to individual
site and project conditions, timing of the formal application submittal, City policy and code
revisions, etc. They shall not be considered final and/or all-encompassing.
Consequently, this letter is not all inclusive in terms of review and comment on every design
item associated with this project. These comments are intended only to provide conceptual
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design guidance and do not represent a complete technical design review. They are subject
to change due to individual site and project conditions, timing of the formal application
submittal, and City policy and code revisions, etc. They are not to be considered final and/or
all encompassing. A comprehensive detailed design review will occur in the future, after
submittal of a complete formal application.
Should you have questions, please contact me at 760-777-7067.
Sincerely,
Cheri L. Flores
Planning Manager
Cc: Geri Bone, Innova Counsel
Bill Ihrke, City Attorney
Danny Castro, Design and Development Director