2019-01-15 Thompson, Teresa - Council Meeting Comments1
From:Teresa Thompson
Sent:Tuesday, January 15, 2019 1:58 PM
To:Carlos Flores
Subject:FW: Morrow Ranch - Today’s City Council Meeting - PLEASE READ
Teresa Thompson | Management Specialist
City Manager’s Office
City of La Quinta
78495 Calle Tampico | La Quinta, CA 92253
Ph. 760.777.7030
E: tthompson@laquintaca.gov
www.laquintaca.gov
www.playinlaquinta.com
From: Linda Evans
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2019 1:15 PM
To: Frank Spevacek <Fspevacek@laquintaca.gov>; Teresa Thompson <Tthompson@laquintaca.gov>; Danny Castro
<dcastro@laquintaca.gov>
Subject: Fwd: Morrow Ranch ‐ Today’s City Council Meeting ‐ PLEASE READ
This just received.
Linda Evans | Mayor
City of La Quinta
78495 Calle Tampico | La Quinta, CA 92253
Ph. 760.777.7030
C: 760.899.3279
E: levans@laquintaca.gov
www.laquintaca.gov
www.playinlaquinta.com
Begin forwarded message:
From: John Hoffner <johnfhoffner@aol.com>
Date: January 15, 2019 at 1:10:05 PM PST
To: Linda.evans@tenethealth.com, Levans@laquintaca.gov
Subject: Fwd: Morrow Ranch ‐ Today’s City Council Meeting ‐ PLEASE READ
Ms. Linda Evans
Mayor
City of La Quinta
Dear Linda:
2
I am writing you a personal letter today to make you aware of some
important things for today’s City Council meeting:
1. Some homeowners in Monterra of PGA West, The Estates at La
Quinta, and Griffin Ranch will be attending today’s City Council meeting
to voice objections to Morrow Ranch’s plans to operate a commercial
rental enterprise for Major Special Events on its property, which is
located directly in the center of these three low‐density‐ residential
zoned neighborhoods.
2. I will not be able to attend the meeting, but I fully support this effort
of my fellow residents and neighbors, and would like to share with you
one very important fact which I personally believe now belongs at the
center of Monterra’s most critical objections to Morrow Ranch’s plans:
Morrow Ranch recently purchased four homes on Winter Haven Court
within Monterra, and it plans to use those homes as commercial (for
profit) rental villas for their proposed Major Special Events.
I believe this action constitutes a significant and negative game changer
for Monterra, since that now means that virtually ALL additional rental
foot and auto traffic will occur DIRECTLY into and out of Monterra
itself. And such traffic will very likely bring with it even more additional
noise, light, security and possibly even sanitation problems directly Into
Monterra itself ‐ instead of keeping all of those problems more confined
within the Morrow Ranch property during each one of their proposed
Major Special Events.
Additionally, all four of these commercial rental homes on Winter
Haven directly abut Morrow Ranch, so I have a concern that instead of
having to drive in and out of Monterra to get into and out of Morrow
Ranch, these renters will possibly seek access to Morrow Ranch through
a gate or gates which would allow them to walk right next door to enter
and exit Morrow Ranch. I do not yet know that WILL happen, but it is a
reasonable and likely concern because such ingress/egress would be
much easier for Morrow Ranch renters ‐ even though it would create
additional safety and security problems for Monterra ‐ none of which
would occur if these commercial rental homes had been located directly
within the Morrow Ranch property itself.
Because of these recent Monterra home purchases, this matter seems
to me no longer just a concern about what happens on Morrow Ranch
property itself and how that activity affects the three surrounding low‐
density residential neighborhoods. It is now a matter of how Morrow
Ranch’s commercial rental operation directly and materially impacts
Monterra itself ‐ and that is to me a more serious problem.
3
Additionally, I understand but have not confirmed that Morrow Ranch
might be building additional rental villas on its own property, and that
would make this an even larger‐scale commercial, for‐profit rental
enterprise, with more traffic, noise, light and sanitation problems. They
certainly have the room to do so, and have already expanded the size of
their commercial‐sized pool, and appear to have installed a commercial‐
grade sound/entertainment system which is extremely loud. All of
these actions raise some serious questions as to whether Morrow Ranch
has already violated or is violating existing low‐density residential
zoning regulations on their own property and in the surrounding
neighborhoods.
Linda, I hope you can understand and appreciate why levels of concern,
which were already high, have now been elevated even higher, and I
urge you and the Council to please give this particular concern the
utmost consideration when evaluating the decision on whether or not
to approve Morrow Ranch’s request to operate a commercial rental
enterprise for Major Special Events.
May I please ask you to share this important information with the
Council and with the Planning Commission so there is a more
widespread understanding of these recent facts as they relate to their
direct impacts on Monterra?
Thanks very much for listening, Linda, and for your consideration of my
request and of my concerns. I deeply appreciate it, and would welcome
any opportunity to discuss this matter in person, should you feel that
would be helpful in your deliberations and decision‐making.
With much respect,
John