HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2B - Public Comment - OswitLandTrust
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July 22, 2025
To the Honorable Members of the Planning Commission City of Palm Springs, California
Attention:
Christopher Hadwin, Director of Planning at Christopher.Hadwin@palmspringsca.gov
Glenn Mlaker, Planner at Glenn.Mlaker@palmspringsca.gov
Planning Department at: planning@palmspringsca.gov
RE: A REQUEST BY FIRST INDUSTRIAL REALTY TRUST INC, OWNER TO CERTIFY A FINAL
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (FEIR), AND APPROVE OF A STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING
CONSIDERATIONS; A TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP (#38790) FOR TWO (2) PARCELS; AND A MAJOR
DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO WAREHOUSE BUILDINGS ON A
NINETY-SIX (96) ACRE PARCEL LOCATED AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF NORTH
INDIANCANYON DRIVE AND 18 AVENUE. (CASES #STM 2023-0015, & DP 2023-0023) (GM)
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
That the Planning Commission take the following actions:
1. Certify that the Final Environmental Impact Report as complete.
2. Adopt the Statement of Overriding Considerations.
3. Adopt the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.
4. Approve a Tentative Parcel Map and a Major Development Permit application subject to
attached conditions of approval.
To Whom It May Concern:
Oswit Land Trust is a 501C3 non-profit land conservancy dedicated to preserving criUcal habitat
for wildlife corridors and sensiUve species. We achieve our goals through the acquisiUon of land
and advocacy. We are a proud member of the Land Trust Alliance and have over 3,000 acUve
members who are residents within the Coachella Valley and beyond.
Oswit Land Trust thanks the City of Palm Springs for your kind consideraUon of community
concerns to control runaway industrial development. We ask that the city conUnue to balance
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the demands of a growing populaUon and economy with the need of sensiUve stewardship of
remaining ecological resources. Those resources feed and define the strength of economic
opportunity. Those same resources have an independent right to survive the extremity of our
demands upon the land.
(1) Sand and water transport through the Palm Springs First Commerce project area to
downstream habitat preservation areas north of Interstate 10 and easterly of Palm Springs
(with threatened and endangered species) as a potential significant adverse environmental
impact:
The project is planned within a sensitive sand transport area that has the potential to impact
“downstream” conservation areas once it is blocked by major development. It appears there has
been no assessment to date of those impacts, and no consideration of mitigation measures. The
San Gorgonio Mountains provide the wind and sand transport that feeds biological function
through a series of ‘drainages’ that run from Whitewater Preserve, across the San Andreas Fault
Line.
Increasingly, the Coachella Valley cities are blocking the sand and water transport with mega-
buildings that allow for no pass-through or proper diversion of resources, and First Commerce is
one such development. In time, there is substantial risk this industrial over-build will ‘kill’ the
biology of the region and starve this region from the nutrients that give beauty, form, and
ecological function.
Our request is to recognize that these warehouse projects are approved through Statements of
Overriding Consideration (SOC), because they already violate the CEQA standards of mitigation,
and they now require local officials to ‘override’ that damage through prioritizing economy over
health and environmental function. This is not just; this is not sustainable; this is not even good
economic policy. In San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, over 4,000 such permits using the
SOC have accumulated, which has left the entire region in considerable risk, including Palm
Springs. It must stop.
Flooding is now a reality with Global Warming. The last major storm deposited 12 inches of rain
in the San Gorgonio Mountains in less than 24 hours. These storms will increase over time, and
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having an industrial zone filled with mega-buildings along the entire San Andreas Fault Line
(Valley-wide) is going to pose extraordinary risks.
The Valley lost its air quality for one year after Hurricane Hilary from increased winds that blew
the silt deposits that ran from three to six feet deep in drainage areas (and through developed
areas). Now, the air quality has profoundly deteriorated across all Southern California. The
Desert Sun ran an article last week that said Palm Springs has some of the worst air quality in the
United States, and the article said it is coming from industrial growth. Our review of the FEIR
shows 55 percentile solid waste issues on the project area. That is high, and flooding will
distribute the contamination valley-wide.
Oswit Land Trust earlier reported to the city our research shows that over 70,000,000 square feet
of warehousing has been proposed between Banning and Coachella on the Interstate 10,
currently unbuilt. The cumulative impact assessment is so deficient, the cities have felt free to
ignore the air pollution, GHG, biological, and transportation outcomes.
The cumulative impact assessment for First Commerce is equally deficient. Palm Springs First
Commerce FEIR has failed to incorporate adequate data on the fact that two counties comprising
the Inland Empire are now handling 40% of the total warehousing for the entire United States.
Just the changes from Banning to Coachella (planned at 70 million sf) are not discussed or
evaluated. Added to this, the Floor Area Ratios are doubled on this project to exacerbate the
damage. This is not accounted for in Cumulative Impact Assessment.
During Hurricane Hilary, we spoke to the owner of The Windmill Market on the corner of Dillon
and Indian Canyon, less than a mile from the project area, and directly observed the damage to
the property, and the owners dealt with a minimum of three feet of sand that penetrated into
the houses and commercial buildings in the area. What will be the outcome of blocking
transport?
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(2) If there has been a doubling of Floor Area Ratio ‘FAR’ for this project (0.26 permitted to 0.47
proposed), in violation of the General Plan Standards (as stated in the Comment letter of Blum,
Collins and Ho, Attorneys) the city cannot legally approve a project in violation of General Plan
standards. Neither can the city exceed its public service allocation tied to those limitations, or
demand that the community bear the cost of increased services from violating standards. (‘fair
share’ allocation of costs to a developer).
The concern of Oswit Land Trust is that the environmental assessment of biological impacts has
failed to consider impacts of a massive industrial operation, with warehousing Floor Area Ratios
(FARs) that are at 0.46 FAR when the Palm Springs General Plan anticipated 0.26 FAR.
If this ‘doubling of FAR capacity’ has occurred, it is potentially catastrophic. Exceeding legal
standards will violate public services planned for in the general plan update that were quantified
and limited (water, sewer, energy, fire, police, and emergency services). California law prevents
a city from violating the standards set in the general plan, and would negate the action, if
litigated. But this action also violates public trust.
The ‘fair share’ allocation of cost of development cannot properly reflect what cost on
improvements and services should be borne by the developer, and which by the public. This can
dramatically increase local taxes over time.
The over-allocation of land use affects both Palm Springs and the City of Desert Hot Springs, with
poverty communities involved, and there have been no meetings or agreements with the City of
Desert Hot Springs on how this will impact services, flood risks, Level of Service (LOS), and general
transportation planning.
The comments of Blum, Collins & Ho also highlighted the profound problems with handling
transportation capacity and transportation improvement planning, because the affected areas
of impact are not in the jurisdiction of Palm Springs. And no agreements have been reached. The
City of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are rooted in eco-tourism. The music industry
(Coachella Fest and Stagecoach) depends upon clean air, good traffic flow, a healthy
infrastructure, and pleasant environment.
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(3) Environmental Justice Concerns:
Oswit Land Trust was distressed to read that the census tract is 91 percentiles for ozone, 55
percentiles for solid waste (soil contamination risk) that will wash down the Valley with flooding,
60 percentiles for cardiovascular, and 50 percentiles for asthma in an area where 50% of the
inhabitants do not speak English. Whether or not the project area is within a Disadvantaged
Unincorporated Community (DUC) under Environmental Justice – if it is not, it should be so
designated, and the compassion of this community should reach towards preventing
disproportionate environmental impacts to people of color and people of low income.
These projects would never be approved in Palm Springs ‘proper’ in English-speaking
communities with resources to protect their health and well-being. During the ICE raids, it is
unlikely that the Hispanic Community will come forward to protect its interest. Please protect it
for them, and extend that protection to the animals, birds, and species that also do not have a
voice.
CONCLUSION: We ask you to consider our concerns for the environment and the health of the
Valley. Oswit Land Trust, in its conservation mission, adds natural areas of beauty, interest, and
environmental function that help maintain the eco-tourism that feeds the local economy. Oswit
Land Trust cares about the economy; about quality of life; about the vitality and long-term
sustainability of our precious environment. Most of all, Oswit Land Trust and this community
depends upon your knowledge, sensitivity, and attention to our concerns. Thank you for being
there.
Please help by re-evaluating this industrial development and either denying the FEIR as
inadequate or asking for re-evaluation.
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With regard,
Jane Garrison, Executive Director