Chino Cone Land Designated Open Space [Opinion]

Victory! Land in Little Tuscany (Chino Cone) Designated as Open Space [Opinion]

PALM SPRINGS — In case you missed it, at (the Jan. 9) City Council meeting, the Council approved a limited update to the General Plan that will result in the preservation of two parcels as open space in perpetuity.

Background: Two parcels of land, previously owned by Grit Development (née Wessman Development), were conveyed to the city as part of a settlement in a lawsuit a few years ago. These parcels are currently known as Boulders and Crescendo, as they were the names chosen by the developer for the housing they intended to build there.

These parcels have been contentious for about 20 years, as the developers’ vision for them was initially for rather dense housing. For many years, I and my neighbors resisted the developer’s plans, successfully resulting in reductions to the planned densities to a more acceptable level. We were always cognizant of the fact that property owners have the right to develop land in ways that are consistent with the City’s General Plan and zoning. We simply pushed back to urge the city and the developer to produce a better housing product with less density that was more consistent with the neighborhood.

An unrelated lawsuit between the City and Grit Development regarding ‘the New Downtown’ was resolved, and in 2019 these (and other) parcels were conveyed to the city as part of the settlement. At that time, Council members indicated that they were willing to designate this land as open space, but nothing was done to achieve that. As time passed, it became a concern that those council members might rotate off of the council, and that with no official protection, a future council could easily sell off the parcels to another developer.

In recent years, the Little Tuscany Neighborhood Organization, Oswit Land Trust, myself and others lobbied the city to make this designation official. I am a founder of the Little Tuscany Neighborhood Organization, which was created in 2004 and pre-dates ONE-PS, though I no longer have an official role with the organization.

In last night’s council meeting (Jan. 9) as part of the action taken by the Council to approve an update to the General Plan, this was finally achieved.

To accomplish this and be in compliance with the State of California’s ‘Housing Element’, the city was required to find other land to ‘absorb’ the density that these parcels would have ultimately seen. They accomplished this by designating as high-density residential another parcel that the City acquired in the same settlement. That land is on Gene Autry Trail north of Mission Drive. It was stated that there would be no net loss of housing by designating the Little Tuscany parcels as open space.

My personal appreciation to District 2 Council Member Jeffrey Bernstein, who passionately advocated for this designation, and Director of Planning Chris Hadwin, who understood the situation and helped to make this happen.

Please visit the City’s website for the video of the discussion of this item, http://palmspringsca.new.swagit.com/videos/325470#25592731and the meeting agenda packet that includes detailed information on the General Plan update. This is a big win for the environment, as these parcels provide habitat for many plant and animal species. A 2021 letter from Oswit Land Trust attached to the agenda item explained this.

PS: I’d advocate that we need to drop the names Boulders and Crescendo for these parcels in favor of something more fitting, such as ‘Pedro’ and ‘Chino.’