2021-10-04 Staff - Novak Public Comment_RedactedSaturday, April 9, 2022 at 12:35:22 Pacific Daylight Time
Page 1 of 3
Subject:RE: Please Show the Reality
Date:Monday, October 4, 2021 at 9:43:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From:Cheri Flores
To:Nicole Criste
CC:Danny Castro, ConsulJng Planner
ADachments:image002.png, image003.png
Sounds good! Thanks Nicole!
Cheri L. Flores | Planning Manager
City of La Quinta
78495 Calle Tampico La Quinta, CA 92253
Ph. 760-777-7067
www.laquintaca.gov
PLEASE NOTE: City Hall is now open to the public during normal business hours:
Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. (Counter closes at 4:30 p.m. daily), with the exception of nationally
observed holidays. Please follow all CDC and State recommended guidelines as they
pertain to COVID-19 safety and awareness. All public services continue to be available
via phone, email or online web portal and the public is encouraged to utilize these
services when possible. Thank you.
From: Nicole Criste <ncriste@terranovaplanning.com>
Sent: Monday, October 4, 2021 8:18 AM
To: Cheri Flores <clflores@laquintaca.gov>
Cc: Danny Castro <dcastro@laquintaca.gov>; ConsulJng Planner <ConsulJngPlanner@laquintaca.gov>
Subject: Re: Please Show the Reality
** EXTERNAL: This message originated outside of the City of La Quinta. Please use proper judgement and cauJon when
opening aYachments, clicking links or responding to requests for informaJon. **
Cheri,
It was sent to us, so I think I need to put it in the public comment folder. When it lands here, it’s a comment!
Nicole
Nicole Sauviat Criste
Principal
TERRA NOVA PLANNING & RESEARCH, INC.®
42635 Melanie Place, Ste 101
PALM DESERT, CA. 92211
(760) 341-4800
FAX#: 760-341-4455
E-Mail: ncriste@terranovaplanning.com
Page 2 of 3
From: Cheri Flores <clflores@laquintaca.gov>
Date: Monday, October 4, 2021 at 8:12 AM
To: Nicole Criste <ncriste@terranovaplanning.com>
Cc: Danny Castro <dcastro@laquintaca.gov>
Subject: FW: Please Show the Reality
This was cc’d to us but not sure this is a public comment on the project since it’s
not actually addressed to us. What’s your thought?
Cheri L. Flores | Planning Manager
City of La Quinta
78495 Calle Tampico La Quinta, CA 92253
Ph. 760-777-7067
www.laquintaca.gov
PLEASE NOTE: City Hall is now open to the public during normal business hours:
Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. (Counter closes at 4:30 p.m. daily), with the exception of nationally
observed holidays. Please follow all CDC and State recommended guidelines as they
pertain to COVID-19 safety and awareness. All public services continue to be available
via phone, email or online web portal and the public is encouraged to utilize these
services when possible. Thank you.
From: <>
Sent: Saturday, October 2, 2021 12:23 PM
To: kate.franco@desertsun.com; julie.makinen@desertsun.com
Cc: Robert Radi <Rradi@laquintaca.gov>; John Pena <jpena@laquintaca.gov>; Planning WebMail
<Planning@laquintaca.gov>
Subject: Please Show the Reality
** EXTERNAL: This message originated outside of the City of La Quinta. Please use proper judgement and cauJon when
opening aYachments, clicking links or responding to requests for informaJon. **
Hi Kate & Julie,
Would you and all your reporters (esp. Sherry Barkas) please stop using the developer’s drawings of the
proposed SurfPark at Coral Mountain to accompany all of your stories on the project? The developer’s
materials show a cutesy, strolling, pedestrian-oriented village. If that was all they were planning to build here,
no one would be opposing it. You need to show the reality of the situaJon by using actual photos of the Kelly
Slater Surf Ranch in Lemoore.
Page 3 of 3
There are tons of photos available on-line of:
The ugly, exposed scaffolding required to support the horrendous, train track-contrapJon and 150
massive Jres that loudly roll back and forth…the enJre width of the wave pool…to create the waves
The wires and electrical boxes supporJng the huge hydraulic foils only half-submerged in the water
The jumbotron screens that show close-ups of the surfers, since aYendees can’t see them from the
shore
The mulJ-story building housing the wave, lights, music and video controllers and the PA announcer
And, you should definitely show photos of the 17, 80-foot light towers lining both sides of the wave pool.
There are even photos and videos on-line showing how significantly they light up everything around them at
night (compare that to the Night Sky/Dark Skies goals of all the surrounding residenJal communiJes). The
developer’s and DEIR’s claims that a 6-foot perimeter wall and “shaded” lights will prevent the lights from
being visible by nearby neighborhoods is truly laughable!
To help you understand what the SurfPark will really look like, here is one reporter’s descripJon of the
Lemoore facility:
“What you see now, looking eastward across the pool, is a Mad Max-esque contraption known
in-house as the Vehicle, whizzing back and forth on a raised track on a hundred and fifty or so
truck tires. The Vehicle is about the size of three train cars, and looks from a distance like a
tattered blue houseboat tipped up at an angle. It is unmanned and travels, hauled by heavy
cables, between two big winch houses at either end of the pool. The most important part of the
Vehicle is a hundred-ton iron blade, roughly a hundred and fifty feet long, that hangs half
submerged from its western side.”
Source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/17/kelly-slaters-shock-wave - “Kelly
Slater’s Shock Wave” by William Finnegan, The New Yorker magazine, Dec 10, 2018
As menJoned, you can find lots of photos of the Lemoore facility on-line. In this one example -
hYps://centerforsurfresearch.org/surf-ranch/ - please note the last video. It shows much of what is
described above, as well as the ever-present jet skis that accompany every surfer!
The illustraJons you use to accompany future stories should show real images, not PR-veYed drawings from
the developers, so that everyone in the community can beYer understand what is actually being proposed.
Thank you,
BridgeY & Philip Novak
Homeowners in La Quinta, CA