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Home My WebLink AboutDallos- Comment Letter_ ITEM 4C - OSWIT LAND TRUSTFrom:Jarek Dallos To:Planning Cc:Jane Garrison Subject:Comment Letter: ITEM 4C - A REQUEST BY THE OSWIT LAND TRUST, FOR A MINOR AMENDMENT TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (PDD 153) TO ALLOW THE RESTORATION OF APPROXIMATELY 90 ACRES OF THE 120-ACRE FORMER GOLF COURSE AND COUNTRY CLUB SITE INTO A NATIVE DESER... Date:Monday, July 22, 2024 11:54:58 AM Attachments:Comment Letter - ITEM 4C.pdf NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Dear Planning Commission, I am reaching out on behalf of Jane Garrison, to share with you a comment letter regarding: Re: ITEM 4C - A REQUEST BY THE OSWIT LAND TRUST, FOR A MINOR AMENDMENT TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (PDD 153) TO ALLOW THE RESTORATION OF APPROXIMATELY 90 ACRES OF THE 120-ACRE FORMER GOLF COURSE AND COUNTRY CLUB SITE INTO A NATIVE DESERT HABITAT AND NATURE PRESERVE; THE SITE IS LOCATED BETWEEN SUNRISE WAY; AND EL CIELO ROAD; NORTH OF MESQUITE AVENUE; ZONE PDD 153/W, SECTION 24 (CASE 5.0303-PD 153) (ER). Please confirm receipt and distribute the attached letter to the Planning Commission. Thank you kindly. Jarek Dallos -- ING. JAREK DALLOS (He/Him/His) | Administrative Assistant for Executive Office & ACE Division Website: www.OswitLandTrust.Org Email: jarek@OswitLandTrust.Org OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 1 July 22, 2024 Planning Commission City of Palm Springs Sent via email Re: item 4C PrescoC Preserve July 24th PC meeEng Dear Planning Commissioners, We are wriEng to ask for you to vote in favor of the PrescoC Preserve Minor modificaEon of the landscape plan for PDD 153 as recommended by staff. However, we are reques9ng important changes to the staff recommenda9ons for condi9ons. Summary of changes requested (details about each below) Modify or remove the following condiEons: Project specific condiEons 3 and 4, ADM 5, ADM 9, ENV 1, ENV 2, PLN 1, ENG 2, ENG 13, ENG 14, ENG 22, FID 10. Important history ● Oswit Land Trust received the property that is now PrescoC Preserve as a donaEon. ● OperaEng and maintaining a public nature preserve is consistent with the goals of Oswit Land Trust and adds to the well-being of our residents and visitors and we take that responsibility seriously. ● Our goal is for our property to remain as a preserve that current and future generaEons can enjoy. ● The city determined that we would require a minor modificaEon to a landscaping plan from the exisEng PDD before we could start planEng. This could have been approved by the Planning Director but staff chose to send it to the Planning Commission. ● We were disappointed the city was requiring this minor modificaEon to go before the Planning Commission considering that over a dozen neighborhoods have converted their grass to naEve landscape (which is essenEally what we are doing at PrescoC Preserve). OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 2 ● We had several meeEngs with City staff (including the City Manager) where four condiEons were idenEfied that we would need to comply with. We agreed to those four condiEons. ● We were shocked to receive the agenda/staff report and see that 50 condiEons had been added to this simple minor modificaEon to a landscaping plan. ● Although many of these condiEons create a huge burden for our nonprofit, we can agree to 38 of these condiEons but need modificaEons to project specific condiEons 3 and 4 and 10 other condiEons detailed below. Misinforma9on in staff report Page 1: staff report states that there were citaEons issued for the removal of vegetaEon and trees. We have not removed any trees from the property or any vegetaEon, other than non- naEve, invasive species for fire safety reasons. We received a warning for plan9ng 100 trees that were donated to us and worth $700,000. PlanEng trees that help improve air quality, add shade and beauEfy the property is a benefit to the environment and the community. Details of requested changes to condi9ons: Project specific condiEon 3: it is a financial burden to require OLT to employ a full-Eme ranger for PrescoC Preserve. We have owned this property for 2 years and we have a successful system to protect our property from illegal dumping, encampments, etc. We respecdully request that condiEon 3 is modified to state that “OLT will employ rangers as needed to protect the property and prevent illegal dumping, encampments, etc.” Project specific condiEon 4: it is unsafe for trails to be open to the public at all Emes. Our trails are only open from sunrise to sunset. In addiEon, there are Emes when we need to close certain trails for safety reasons. We respecdully request that the condiEon is modified as follows: Access to trails: The trails shall be opened to the public (delete: at all Emes) (add: from sunrise to sunset) and the enEre site shall always remain as Open Space per Council ResoluEon No. 15648. OLT has the right to close trails as needed for repairs and for the safety of humans and wildlife as needed. ADM 5: our lawyers will not allow us to put ourselves in a situaEon to cover the city's legal costs. OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 3 ADM 9: this is not applicable for a nature preserve. We are not developers. ENV 1: all environmentals have been completed by the Wildlife ConservaEon Board (WCB). We do not want the city to file anything that could conflict with what has already been approved by the WCB in connecEon with our pending 7.2-million-dollar grant. ENV 2: not applicable for a nature preserve. We are adding habitat for wildlife so would not need to pay the California Fish and Wildlife anything for negaEve impact. PLN 1: As our submiCed plans and plant species list shows, we are only planEng water efficient naEves. It is a burden for us to have to have our plans approved by the Riverside County Agricultural commissioner's office and not applicable for a preserve. ENG 2: We cannot agree to making street improvements. ENG 13: as stated in the plans we submiCed and the meeEngs we held with staff, we are not touching the creek channel so do not need any approvals from Riverside County Flood Control and Water ConservaEon District. ENG 14: we are not working within the creek or creek bed. This was a very important decision we made to help with the environmental approvals we received via Wildlife ConservaEon Board ENG 22: not applicable. This is for a developer. FID 10: This language is too general and lel to interpretaEon for us to agree to. Everything in the desert could be classified as “capable of being ignited.” The last thing we would want is a fire on our property. Therefore, we are very proacEve in miEgaEng any risk. We own and are responsible for over 5,000 acres. As a land trust, we take fire safety incredibly seriously. In fact, when we first purchased the property, we spoke with the fire department regarding debris that had been lel on the property for several years which OLT removed. Oswit Land Trust is dedicated to preserving open space for humans and wildlife. We pride ourselves on the accomplishments and successes we conEnue to achieve. PrescoC Preserve is already our most popular and visited property of all the land we own. We recognize the importance of allowing it to remain open to the public. However, we can't achieve this if we are OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 4 not allowed to plant the naEve plants needed to reduce water use, beauEfy the property and create a safe and enjoyable experience for the public and wildlife. For these reasons, we hope you will approve the modificaEon of landscaping and modify or remove the 12 condiEons we idenEfied. Your consideraEon of this request is appreciated. If you have any quesEons, please feel free to reach out to me directly at 843-343-8887 or by email at Jane@oswitlandtrust.org. Thank you, Jane Garrison ExecuEve Director cc: ScoC SEles Christopher Hadwin