Palm Springs and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians are postponing a public meeting about a massive proposed warehouse project near Interstate 10. Instead of happening June 3 as scheduled, it will take place later this year.
The Desert Mountain View Business Park would include roughly 2.9 million square feet of buildings on tribal land, at the intersection of Highway 111 and Interstate 10. That means the tribe, not the city, will make the final decision on whether it’s approved. But the city and the public can weigh in and make recommendations.
In a press release, Palm Springs officials said the city and tribe agreed to reschedule the meeting so the developer has more time to address public comments about the project’s draft tribal environment impact statement. The delay will also “further evaluate a number of technical items related to the project,” the city added.
The project could become one of many warehouses given the green light to build in north Palm Springs. The city, along with others throughout the Coachella Valley, has encouraged warehouse development on its vacant desert land for its economic boost. But environmentalists have raised alarm bells about the impact projects like the Desert Mountain View Business Park could have.
Planning documents indicate the development would include four buildings and over 1,000 parking spaces between Tipton Road, Highway 111 and I-10, an area of around 217 acres. While tenants had not been identified, the buildings could be used for cold storage, warehousing, office space, or a combination of all three.
While the project is on tribal land, it could still generate revenue for the city, according to an earlier analysis. An estimated 1,045 warehousing jobs could be created, along with 225 office jobs. And around $4 million in annual tax revenue could be added to city coffers if the project is built, largely come from sales tax and possessory interest tax, which is a kind of property tax on public land used by private interests, according to the city analysis.
In addition to raising environmental concerns, the project drew criticism because of the relatively little notice the public received. The tribe held a public meeting in December, but it was not heavily attended, having received scant publicity aside from a notice on the tribe’s website.
Once the project drew more attention when it appeared on a December city council agenda, a number of residents said they would have attended the tribal forum had they known about it. City Manager Scott Stiles acknowledged city staff had “missed the mark … (by) not giving the public enough time to really dig into the discourse.”
Palm Springs did not announce when the joint meeting will now be instead of June, saying it will be held on “a mutually agreed upon date later this Fall.”
Desert Sun staff writers Paul Albani-Burgio and Sam Morgen contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs, tribe postpone meeting on massive warehouse project
Reporting by Ani Gasparyan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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