Palm Desert City Council - Study Session, June 25, 2026

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AI transcript text.

[00:04:38] Speaker: Okay, welcome everybody. I now call to order the Palm Desert City Council study session for Thursday, June 25th, 2026 at 3 p.m. And uh we're going to begin with our item 2A, Palm Desert Views Analysis.
[00:04:55] Speaker: Mr. Mayor, I just want to note for the record that uh Council Member Kintania has now joined the Zoom.
[00:05:00] Speaker: Moreno,
[00:05:01] Speaker: I'm sorry, Council uh Council Member Moreno.
[00:05:04] Speaker: Very good. Thank you so much.
[00:05:09] Carlos Flores: All right. Thank you, honorable mayor, members of city council. Carlos Flores in development services. I'm going to tee off this um this presentation and study session before turning it over to a consultant. So what we have um what's in front of you today is um you know the the first study session and kickoff meeting of our views analysis project. Um, just stepping back a little bit and some of the involvement you all have had in this um is we hired a consultant John Klitsky Architects JKA to work on our objective design standards and what started out as a project to work on multifamily objective design standards evolved at that time to also work on our hillside. Both of which have been um approved through our conversations with council members um whether it was here at the dis um on a city tour with the subcommittee as well as other stakeholders, city staff, developers, one common theme that kept on coming up was views, protection of the views. Let's protect our views and um you know it came up not just on different projects but from different points of view and different stakeholders. So we we really you know on one hand struggled to try to achieve that within the objective design standards to the you know full extent that we wanted to and on the other hand found you know a a unique and good opportunity to set out on a project which um would be a specific views recommendation study with um John Klitsky Architects. So today what we're going to talk about is an introduction of the project, what's a view, types of views, next steps, and some pointed questions for um discussion and oh going back too much. So yeah, so just again we started this project earlier this year and again during our updates from development services on different projects. Um, again highlighted the importance and what could what could come from this um project as we work on things like our unified development code and really not just limited to our municipal code but citywide whether it's public works projects, capital projects and the like. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to our consultant to um talk about some cool things we've done.
[00:07:34] Amibi Bot: Hi, mayor. Hello, council. Um, I'm happy to be here today. My name is Amibi Bot. I'm the director of urban design at John Klitsky Architects. I'm here today with my colleague, that's Daisy Sun. She's an urban designer at JK as well. I'm excited to talk to you guys about the Palm Desert View Study because one, it's a little different than the objective design standards that we're used to talking to you about, but two, I think this brings a unique opportunity for us to talk specifically about what views mean and what views are important for the city. Um, when we started this project, we went on a tour with city staff. Carlos was very nice to take us around and highlight some places that he thought were prominent views. So that's a part of today's presentation, but I ask that that's not the only thing that we're considering view. So if you have other ideas of locations, please feel free to let me know. And I want to make sure that that it's included for future um maps on this exercise. And for today's study session, I think it's really important that I present two major goals. The first we're doing today and it's about making sure that we can identify and define what views are. Um, a lot of cities have definitions for views, but what is a Palm Desert view is I think the focus of today's conversation. The second goal in this project would be to take what we've learned about views and how we've defined them and offer you all a set of recommendations for how we can make sure those views are conserved and perhaps enhanced. The the intent of this exercise is not necessarily to produce a policy. We'll give a recommendation for a policy and give those resources to staff so that they can come up with next steps, but just to be realistic about expectations. This exercise is to produce ideas for next steps and not necessarily do those steps at the moment. Okay. So, what is a view? Um, in this exercise, we're defining views as being from the public realm, like streets and parks, and not necessarily the private realm, like a view from somebody's living room. We are also focusing on locations within the city that offer views to mountains. Um, and not necessarily the view of Oh, excuse me. Sorry, this just went away. So, we're talking about views to the mountains and not necessarily a view
[00:10:00] Speaker: from the mountain into the city. I think
[00:10:02] Speaker: an exception to that is if there's a
[00:10:04] Speaker: public park or public space that perhaps
[00:10:06] Speaker: is at a higher elevation that looks out
[00:10:08] Speaker: into the city, but not, we're not
[00:10:09] Speaker: necessarily thinking about someone on a
[00:10:11] Speaker: hike looking into the city from a
[00:10:13] Speaker: particular mountainscape.
[00:10:18] Speaker: We started off by looking at the general
[00:10:21] Speaker: plan to understand what is already
[00:10:23] Speaker: written about views in the city. Uh, the
[00:10:27] Speaker: general plan speaks about conserving
[00:10:29] Speaker: views, and it lists eight local scenic
[00:10:31] Speaker: highways, um, that require special
[00:10:34] Speaker: setbacks and landscape requirement. So,
[00:10:36] Speaker: we made sure to take that into
[00:10:37] Speaker: consideration as locations for views in
[00:10:40] Speaker: this study.
[00:10:45] Speaker: So, we're identifying views in a very
[00:10:49] Speaker: particular way for Palm Desert. Um, and
[00:10:51] Speaker: we're referring to them as three
[00:10:53] Speaker: different types of views. There's a
[00:10:55] Speaker: corridor view, there's an open space
[00:10:57] Speaker: view, and a key site view, which I'll
[00:10:59] Speaker: explain with a little bit more detail.
[00:11:01] Speaker: But the understanding of this exercise
[00:11:04] Speaker: is that we would offer recommendations
[00:11:06] Speaker: for all three of these types of views.
[00:11:08] Speaker: And a recommendation for a corridor view
[00:11:10] Speaker: may be different from a key site view,
[00:11:12] Speaker: which may be different from an open
[00:11:13] Speaker: space view. So, by categorizing them in
[00:11:16] Speaker: these three different, um, categories,
[00:11:18] Speaker: we're hoping to get more targeted
[00:11:20] Speaker: recommendations for how to enhance and
[00:11:22] Speaker: preserve views in the city.
[00:11:25] Speaker: So, corridor view, um, a corridor view
[00:11:28] Speaker: we're defining as a roadway with views
[00:11:31] Speaker: framed by surrounding buildings. Um,
[00:11:33] Speaker: there are opportunities to view, uh,
[00:11:36] Speaker: mountains from either the vehicle,
[00:11:39] Speaker: because a lot of people are driving down
[00:11:41] Speaker: roads and get these like beautiful views
[00:11:42] Speaker: into the city, and then also if you're a
[00:11:44] Speaker: pedestrian that's walking
[00:11:46] Speaker: along a sidewalk. But I think in
[00:11:48] Speaker: particular what makes a corridor view
[00:11:50] Speaker: distinct is the fact that you are having
[00:11:53] Speaker: um, your view not necessarily obstructed,
[00:11:55] Speaker: but you're thinking about the fact that
[00:11:57] Speaker: there's context that's hindering a
[00:11:59] Speaker: full out view.
[00:12:03] Speaker: The second type of view is an open space
[00:12:05] Speaker: view. So, we're considering this as
[00:12:07] Speaker: public parks, trailheads, um, and
[00:12:10] Speaker: channels that provide views. Uh, the
[00:12:14] Speaker: Whitewater River storm channel as being
[00:12:16] Speaker: one of them that cuts through has a
[00:12:17] Speaker: beautiful open space view into the into
[00:12:20] Speaker: the mountains.
[00:12:21] Speaker: This differs from corridor views because,
[00:12:23] Speaker: again, we're not talking about an
[00:12:25] Speaker: obstruction of any sort. There are no
[00:12:27] Speaker: surrounding buildings in this type of
[00:12:28] Speaker: view. Um, and we're not thinking of the
[00:12:31] Speaker: vehicle in this situation as well. This
[00:12:33] Speaker: is very much from the pedestrian
[00:12:36] Speaker: perspective, perhaps from a bicyclist
[00:12:37] Speaker: perspective, but thinking at eye level.
[00:12:41] Speaker: In our tour with staff, we visited and
[00:12:43] Speaker: therefore identified a lot of different
[00:12:45] Speaker: parks on here as being, um, worth
[00:12:50] Speaker: thinking about in more detail because of
[00:12:52] Speaker: their views. Um, Dave Irwin Community
[00:12:54] Speaker: Park, Freedom Park, Desert Willow Golf
[00:12:57] Speaker: Course, Homie Adams. There are quite a
[00:12:59] Speaker: few that we've visited. Um, but we have
[00:13:01] Speaker: marked a lot of other parks that are in
[00:13:04] Speaker: the city that just because we haven't
[00:13:05] Speaker: visited them, we're not saying
[00:13:07] Speaker: that they're not worthy of views and
[00:13:10] Speaker: conservations. It's just a starting
[00:13:11] Speaker: point for us. Um, I think the next
[00:13:15] Speaker: thing to think about is just the fact
[00:13:17] Speaker: that there are some trails that are in
[00:13:19] Speaker: the city. Um, we've highlighted those
[00:13:22] Speaker: whether they have views to mountains. I
[00:13:24] Speaker: think we can offer recommendations that
[00:13:26] Speaker: talk about trails, but again, if they're
[00:13:28] Speaker: trails that are within the mountains
[00:13:30] Speaker: looking into the city, we're not
[00:13:31] Speaker: focusing on that for this exercise.
[00:13:35] Speaker: The last view is a key site view. Um, we
[00:13:39] Speaker: are saying that a key site view is
[00:13:43] Speaker: defined as some city-owned sites with
[00:13:46] Speaker: the potential for future redevelopment.
[00:13:49] Speaker: Um, as part of our recommendations, I
[00:13:51] Speaker: think when we were going around the
[00:13:52] Speaker: city, we were thinking about, "Hey, there
[00:13:55] Speaker: are these sites that potentially will be
[00:13:57] Speaker: developed in a certain way. Can we offer
[00:13:59] Speaker: recommendations for those sites so that
[00:14:01] Speaker: the views are prioritized?" You know,
[00:14:03] Speaker: just thinking out loud, like if you're
[00:14:04] Speaker: talking about building orientation and
[00:14:06] Speaker: the way that you're setting the building
[00:14:08] Speaker: into the site, and if there are
[00:14:09] Speaker: recommendations or standards that we
[00:14:10] Speaker: could offer related to development,
[00:14:14] Speaker: we're calling that a key site view.
[00:14:25] Speaker: Okay, so,
[00:14:27] Speaker: we're here in June. This is our first
[00:14:29] Speaker: study session.
[00:14:31] Speaker: The engagement part of this is not over.
[00:14:33] Speaker: We'd love to hear your thoughts today, but
[00:14:35] Speaker: we wanted to expand this to the public
[00:14:36] Speaker: as well to ask them if we're defining
[00:14:39] Speaker: these views correctly, if there are
[00:14:41] Speaker: other locations that are important to
[00:14:42] Speaker: them. And we want to do that using a
[00:14:44] Speaker: virtual engagement platform called
[00:14:46] Speaker: Public Coordinate. It's a mapping
[00:14:48] Speaker: exercise. So, people are able to, you
[00:14:50] Speaker: know, mark points on a map and write
[00:14:52] Speaker: notes, potentially upload photos if they
[00:14:54] Speaker: so choose, um, and offer comments on the
[00:14:57] Speaker: map in and of itself as a way to engage
[00:14:58] Speaker: with the community, particularly in the
[00:15:00] Speaker: summer because we know that attendance
[00:15:02] Speaker: in the summer is a little difficult
[00:15:04] Speaker: to come by. So, that's going to happen in
[00:15:06] Speaker: August. Um, we want to come back to you
[00:15:09] Speaker: in September with some draft
[00:15:11] Speaker: recommendations. So, what we learned
[00:15:13] Speaker: today, what we learned from the
[00:15:14] Speaker: community, and trying to give you that
[00:15:16] Speaker: first round of what we think could be
[00:15:18] Speaker: recommendations that are distinct for
[00:15:20] Speaker: corridors, open spaces, and key sites.
[00:15:26] Speaker: And with that, I'd like to not talk
[00:15:30] Speaker: anymore and let you guys speak a little
[00:15:32] Speaker: bit about what the three categories mean
[00:15:36] Speaker: to you. If you feel like they're
[00:15:38] Speaker: satisfactory, do you feel like we've
[00:15:40] Speaker: missed anything? Is there anything we
[00:15:41] Speaker: can elaborate on? And then if there are
[00:15:44] Speaker: any locations that you know, you
[00:15:45] Speaker: particularly know about that you think
[00:15:47] Speaker: is important for view conservation.
[00:15:49] Council Member: Thanks.
[00:15:50] Council Member: It might be helpful. Can we go back to
[00:15:52] Council Member: the slide that you had that showed the
[00:15:55] Council Member: all the different ones in different
[00:15:56] Council Member: colors?
[00:15:57] Speaker: Yeah, of course.
[00:15:59] Council Member: I think, yeah, that one.
[00:16:00] Speaker: Oh, sorry, I went too far. Uh,
[00:16:04] Speaker: this one.
[00:16:04] Council Member: Yeah. So, when you had initially
[00:16:09] Council Member: laid them out, I think it might have
[00:16:11] Council Member: been your first or second, or probably
[00:16:13] Council Member: second or third, actually, slide,
[00:16:15] Council Member: it just, it listed each one. Now we have
[00:16:18] Council Member: a few more on here than existed on that
[00:16:22] Council Member: other slide of a few earlier.
[00:16:25] Speaker: Yes.
[00:16:27] Speaker: So, this is just showing all three of the
[00:16:29] Speaker: views. I can go one by one. So, if we're
[00:16:32] Speaker: thinking about a corridor view on this
[00:16:34] Speaker: particular map, we've highlighted the
[00:16:36] Speaker: local scenic roadways that the general
[00:16:38] Speaker: plan speaks of. Um, Highway 74 because
[00:16:41] Speaker: that's, um, state recognized as a scenic
[00:16:45] Speaker: corridor. Um, and then we highlighted
[00:16:47] Speaker: Monterey and El Paso as streets that we
[00:16:50] Speaker: visited.
[00:16:51] Council Member Harik: So, and I agree, we really have to put, and
[00:16:56] Council Member Harik: we see some new development coming to El
[00:16:58] Council Member Harik: Paso, and we really need to protect the
[00:17:00] Council Member Harik: vistas on El Paso. It's what makes a lot
[00:17:04] Council Member Harik: of, you know, that it gives El Paso the
[00:17:06] Council Member Harik: character that it has. The other, I think,
[00:17:09] Council Member Harik: we might look at, and I don't see on this,
[00:17:11] Council Member Harik: and not that it's not on here, but I
[00:17:13] Council Member Harik: don't see it, is San Pablo also,
[00:17:17] Council Member Harik: uh, because from San Pablo you have some
[00:17:19] Council Member Harik: beautiful vistas of the mountains, and we
[00:17:22] Council Member Harik: don't want to lose that either. That's
[00:17:24] Council Member Harik: part of what makes that community area
[00:17:27] Council Member Harik: so special. So, if we can look at that
[00:17:30] Council Member Harik: too, and primarily,
[00:17:33] Council Member Harik: uh, when we look south,
[00:17:36] Council Member Harik: uh, and west on San Pablo, there's some
[00:17:40] Council Member Harik: beautiful views of the mountains, and I
[00:17:43] Council Member Harik: we, you know, to maintain those and
[00:17:45] Council Member Harik: protect those, I think, is critical.
[00:17:48] Speaker: Absolutely. Thank you.
[00:17:52] Facilitator: Council member to stand.
[00:17:54] Council Member: Yes. Uh, thank you. This is a great
[00:17:56] Council Member: report that was put together. And I
[00:17:59] Council Member: didn't really even think about
[00:18:02] Council Member: development sites as being a part of the
[00:18:07] Council Member: of the views that we're trying to
[00:18:10] Council Member: protect. But I think it's a good
[00:18:12] Council Member: idea. I just want to make sure, though,
[00:18:15] Council Member: that we're not going to create rigid
[00:18:18] Council Member: standards that might negatively affect a
[00:18:22] Council Member: potential project. I agree with
[00:18:24] Council Member: Council member Harik. El Paso, there's going
[00:18:28] Council Member: to hopefully be some development on the
[00:18:30] Council Member: west end, for example, and we do want to
[00:18:32] Council Member: protect the mountain views,
[00:18:34] Council Member: um, but when you talk about different
[00:18:36] Council Member: development sites,
[00:18:38] Council Member: uh, again, I don't want to have rigid
[00:18:42] Council Member: standards in place that might negatively
[00:18:46] Council Member: affect a development project. And for
[00:18:48] Council Member: example, Desert Willow, I think just about
[00:18:51] Council Member: any developer wants to take advantage of
[00:18:53] Council Member: the views, but I wouldn't want, um, a
[00:18:59] Council Member: policy written that might take away the
[00:19:03] Council Member: choice of a developer
[00:19:06] Council Member: in terms of, so, in my opinion, it
[00:19:09] Council Member: would depend on the development site
[00:19:11] Council Member: you would be writing regulations
[00:19:15] Council Member: for.
[00:19:16] Speaker: Sure, that makes a lot of sense. Thank
[00:19:18] Speaker: you.
[00:19:21] Council Member: Okay. Did I ask a question?
[00:19:23] Council Member: I'm just kidding.
[00:19:23] Speaker: Oh my gosh.
[00:19:24] Facilitator: Mayor Petta. Mayor Pro Tem, go
[00:19:26] Facilitator: ahead.
[00:19:27] Mayor Pro Tem: Highway 74 is a scenic highway. I've
[00:19:30] Mayor Pro Tem: seen that designation. What does that
[00:19:32] Mayor Pro Tem: mean? Uh, could you inform me?
[00:19:35] Speaker: Yeah. Um, so the state sets up
[00:19:38] Speaker: particular highways, um, based on a set of
[00:19:41] Speaker: like criteria that now I'm losing my
[00:19:44] Speaker: thought on, but I know them. Uh, it'll
[00:19:46] Speaker: come to me in a second. There are
[00:19:49] Speaker: particular criteria that they identify
[00:19:51] Speaker: to make them scenic corridors, and I
[00:19:52] Speaker: think as a result of that, there are
[00:19:54] Speaker: protections that come into play about, um,
[00:19:57] Speaker: like where buildings can be built and
[00:19:59] Speaker: like the setbacks that are required in
[00:20:01] Speaker: it. Um, like if you think of Mulholland in Los Angeles, like there are definitely requirements that make sure that the buildings can't, you know, exceed the ridge line and that they're built in particular ways that protect views. Um, so that particular designation, there are requirements that are assigned to it to preserve it, but I couldn't tell you all of them off the top of my head, but I'm happy to send you something.
[00:20:25] Speaker: I'd like to learn more. So, yeah, effectively those restrictions are found in state law. Is that correct?
[00:20:36] Speaker: I believe so, but I'm going to let someone who knows law a little bit more say that. Um, but yeah, I know that there are particular requirements about development and the impact of development on the actual view from the scenic highway that I can say with confidence.
[00:20:56] Speaker: Thank you again for the presentation. Oh yeah, go ahead.
[00:21:00] Speaker: Oh, I beg your pardon, Council Member Marino.
[00:21:03] Council Member Marino: Thank you, Mayor. I only caught bits and pieces of what Council Member Nestande was saying, so I'm not sure if it's the same question or not. Um, but as I'm looking at some of this undeveloped area, it makes me wonder if any policy that we create with what we're protecting in views could then have somebody say, "I don't want this built here," because the city has officially designated these as views and now I don't want X, Y, and Z. So, does this specifically address, like you said, driving from the street or in other areas? Would this prevent housing from going up if a developer is afraid of having issues with residents or customers feeling that the view of the mountains is favored over their business? I'm not sure if I'm making sense.
[00:22:02] Speaker: No, I think I'm understanding your point. I think part of this exercise is to offer recommendations and not necessarily come up with the policy that would dictate that. Um, we can offer a recommendation that would say, you know, to hinder heights or things like that if we think that's appropriate. I don't think that's appropriate, and I think I'm hearing that that's not appropriate. Um, off the top of my head, the ideas we were talking about when we were at some of these sites were like roof pitches and roof colors that blend a little bit more in that particular area, orienting buildings so that, you know, you're maximizing views and public spaces, introducing more public spaces within these developments that are facing mountains so that you can appreciate them a little bit more. I think these are recommendations that we would offer. None of this would be put into policy. I think that's the next step that staff will come up and bring to you to say that, 'Hey, out of these recommendations, we think we want to do this.' So, we're strictly in recommendations. So, nothing I would say would impact anything.
[00:23:00] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:23:02] Speaker: Perfect. Council member Hornik.
[00:23:04] Council Member Hornik: Thank you. And I think on the slide that it says 'What is a view?' covers that fairly reasonably, telling us what we're trying to do here today. And you did make it clear this is not about setting policy today, but giving you guidelines as we go forward. Um, though I hear what's being said, I would prefer to have some very clear guidelines for any developer and for the team at the City of Palm Desert who is working with the developer. When it becomes ambiguous, that's where we have problems. And I think having very clear guidelines in place that protect those views for everyone in the city and all of our guests, visitors, and our residents is important. We've made some mistakes on the mountains in the past and allowed some building that has really hurt them forever, and that's not something we want to do, and we have to protect it for everyone. Um, as you mentioned, if we have clear guidelines, an architect or someone developing with a development, or who's working with the development, can look at the orientation of a building, look at the articulation in the architecture, look at the aesthetics, and still allow for the views and accommodate them. The height is an issue. It's a very real issue because we've seen what has happened with other of our cities in this valley when they ignored the height, and they've lost the charm and the character of their community. So, I think we need to look at it very closely. If someone comes with a development that is outside the guidelines as set forth, and we have clear guidelines that everybody can work with, then they can come in and say, 'Well, we're looking at this. Is there some exception to this specific issue?' But when what we offer is a policy loaded with exceptions, we offer confusion and we don't let people know what they're walking into. So, I think we have to be very, very clear with what we're asking. It's not fair to put the planning team, the permitting team, everybody in this, you know, a quagmire of questions, and it's not fair to the developers either. Let's go forward very clearly so that everybody knows how we choose to go forward, how we choose to protect the character of Palm Desert for everyone.
[00:25:42] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:25:44] Speaker: All right. Actually, I do have a question as well. So, um, I just want to make sure, maybe this question for staff, but this map was included in our packet of the, it was a map tour. I suppose this is the route that you took with Carlos.
[00:25:58] Speaker: Absolutely.
[00:25:59] Speaker: City. Okay. So, I noticed like it didn't include 111 east to west, but obviously it's different than what we're going to um
[00:26:07] Speaker: consider moving forward. That map is different. This is just what you drove. Okay. I just want to clarify that.
[00:26:12] Speaker: Yes. Those are the places we got to visit as part of our site tour. And
[00:26:15] Speaker: Perfect.
[00:26:16] Speaker: None of that is set in stone as being the places. So,
[00:26:18] Speaker: All right. Perfect. And second, this is, well, I guess it's a question for you. You have some experience in this field. What I noticed in some of the photos that were taken throughout the city, what was blocking some of the views were trees, which, um, of course, we're in Arbish City, USA, and we don't want to cut down trees. But I suppose it would be up to the council to decide how important if views supersede trees or if trees supersede views. In your experience, have cities actually gone to the length of cutting down trees to enhance views?
[00:26:51] Speaker: In my experience, which is not that much compared to if I had my boss drawn here, in my experience, absolutely not. I think the shade is significantly more important than the views, unfortunately, for this exercise. Um, I think that's something we want to take into consideration as we offer these recommendations, though, is that like if you have a corridor view, you have buildings that would be hindering that view, but also, you know, the landscaping. And if we can do some research, I think part of our recommendations that we'll provide is, you know, looking to see what other cities do as well. So, we'll do that due diligence, and as we pose ideas, we want to make sure we compare it to, you know, what other cities have done and try to figure out if that's successful. But, um, trees is an important thing that we were talking about because, yeah, it blocks views in the corridors.
[00:27:39] Speaker: Okay. So, building heights and trees would all be considered, it sounds like. And, uh, I think we have a question from Council Member.
[00:27:45] Speaker: Well, it could be a comment question. So, okay, so, and this might be for staff. So, I'm on the same page with Council Member Hornik on protecting our views. I think it's very important, and height restriction is also important. I'm a little confused, though, because we already do have height restrictions in place depending on where we are in the City of Palm Desert. And so now, is this, are we potentially going to be changing the height restrictions in different locations? Because my point is about development sites as opposed to development that's already developed, like driving down the street and you can see the mountains or we have our parks and the open space. It's the future development, and I view El Po as separate and don't compare it to maybe other parts of potential development. So, I wouldn't want a one-size-fits-all, and I don't think that's what we're looking to do.
[00:28:55] Speaker: Am I okay? Yeah.
[00:28:57] Speaker: And this would be an exercise in defining those views so that as development takes place, we can integrate the council's vision of the views into those projects.
[00:29:06] Speaker: So, are we going to be potentially changing current height restrictions that are in place?
[00:29:13] Speaker: I'll ask Carlos to add on to this.
[00:29:17] Carlos: Yeah. So, I think right now how heights are done is through zoning, right? So, through different zoning designations that you have different development standards. Um, again, what we're going to get is different recommendations of what we could do. What I've seen some other cities do is they'll name specific streets and saying on these streets you're going to be set back this amount, so it's a layer on top of the zoning per se if we want to protect it in that way. Um, or if it's just certain considerations in different types of projects. So, it's not necessarily that we're going to change, you know, the height standard across zoning designations out of this. It's going to be a recommendation of maybe on these certain sites, we could look at this is what
[00:30:03] Speaker: would what this is what would uh we would need from a high perspective to protect our view. And it would just be a recommendation. And it could be very site specific or corridor view in general. And that's just one component, you know, whether it's a hard standard or, you know, as Amy mentioned, other things that we could explore is how your roofs, you know, whether it's a pitch roof versus flat roof or the color palette and things like that where, hey, we're not limiting your height, but we're just making sure that you're designing it in a way um that blends better with the background. But it but yeah, it it it wouldn't be about when this exercise is done, we're making wholesale changes to height um for private development. It's about recommendations that would come. And if there's any targeted areas where we want to say you can still develop on your site, you can still meet all all of the, you know, density and square footage that you want to meet on on that site. We just ask that, you know, you step it back a little bit or you reduce height in this way and maybe make it up on another part of the site.
[00:31:06] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:31:07] Speaker: Any other comments from my colleagues?
[00:31:10] Speaker: Council member Mareno. All good.
[00:31:12] Speaker: I appreciated the the um the mentioning that it could be taken on an individual basis. Um but I would be concerned about doing something like designating which streets or which aren't in terms of um creating an extra layer of complexity with all of the overlay districts. Um so I'm wondering if that can be part of um the discussion in the in the future.
[00:31:39] Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. I think if one of the recommendations ends up being to produce some sort of view related overlay, I think we would do our due diligence and learn about how all the other overlays work and see if there would be any conflict by doing such a thing as part of our research.
[00:31:55] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:31:57] Speaker: Okay, good. Well, um I do want to close by saying I agree with Council Member Hornik that I I think San Pablo ought to be included in the uh in the study for sure. That's a good
[00:32:06] Speaker: good addition there.
[00:32:08] Speaker: May I May I circle back and try to just briefly address Mayor Prom's question about the scenic highways? It's a state law authorized um it's authorized by state law but managed by Caltrans. So you're probably going to see Caltrans regulations.
[00:32:22] Speaker: Okay. Very good.
[00:32:23] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:32:25] Speaker: All right. Well, thank you very much for the report. I guess staff has clear direction what we're looking for and uh thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
[00:32:33] Speaker: Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it.
[00:32:35] Speaker: You bet. Okay. Well, that concludes study session for today. I now call to order the closed session of the Palm Desert City Council. And we'll open up for public comment for closed session items only. This time has been set aside for members of the public to address the city council on items contained only in the closed session agenda within the three-minute time limit. I don't see any blue cards. Are there any online comments?
[00:32:57] Speaker: No. online comments.
[00:32:58] Speaker: Okay, then we shall retire to close session.