the desert sun
Get ready to catch a wave in Palm Desert: Council OKs surf resort at Desert Willow
A near-$200 million “world-class” surf resort won unanimous approval from the Palm Desert City Council on Thursday, making way for development of a project that includes a 5.5-acre wave lagoon, hotel and residential villas at Desert Willow Golf Resort. The vote came at the end of a two-hour public hearing that prompted comments from about 15 people — all but three in favor of DSRT Surf resort. Opponents were concerned with water usage as well as issues involving traffic, noise and lighting, which officials said were addressed in the plan presented by Desert Wave Ventures LLC, the project’s environmental impact report and Coachella Valley Water District’s approval.
“Palm Desert has long been a leader in environmental sensitivity and when Desert Willow was first constructed the universal use of gray water to sustain the golf course was sufficiently innovative that the golf course appeared on the cover of the Smithsonian magazine,” Councilwoman Kathleen Kelly said.
“This project comes to us with so much thoughtfulness in the plan for water utilization, mitigation of light and noise factors that it truly represents a bold next chapter in Palm Desert’s respect for environmental concerns,” Kelly said.
Proponents said the project brings economic opportunities not only to Palm Desert, but also the Coachella Valley as a whole as a year-round destination. The project is expected to create more than 400 jobs, while also inspiring more development – hotels, restaurants and homes.
It also adds to the active, healthy lifestyle of many valley residents and tourists, many said. “This is an economic game-changer,” Mayor Pro Tem Gina Nestande said.
Among those supporting the project is a group of Desert Mirage High School students from Mecca who are members of a surf club started by Desert Mirage teacher Krysten Gonda. Gonda said she fell in love with the sport four years ago when she surfed for the first time while vacationing in Costa Rica. She wanted her students to experience the same and started East Valley Board Riders, taking them to Huntington Beach to learn to surf.
“The moment we all caught our first wave, it took our breath away,” said Camila Rodriguez, a senior at Desert Mirage and club president, who grew up in Mecca.
“I cannot lie, it was a struggle the first few thousand times,” she joked. “But when I finally caught it, it was like an ‘Oh, my god,’ moment. And after that day, I just kept thinking about how incredible it would be to have that experience close to us. ”The sport has gone from an activity the students knew about but never experienced to a way of life, Rodriguez said.
UNIQUE PROJECT
DSRT Surf is one of at least three such projects planned in the Coachella Valley. The largest is the Thermal Beach Club, which would include a 21-acre surf lagoon with wave-making technology. The project is planned for vacant land between Avenues 64 and 66 by Polk Street in the unincorporated community of Thermal.
The project has been approved by the Riverside County Planning Commission and is expected to be heard by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Developers say DSRT Surf will be the first of its kind not only in the Coachella Valley, but North America, using technology that was developed in Spain. Desert Wave Ventures LLC plans to build a 14.6-acre resort, with a 5.5-acre surf lagoon as its centerpiece, on 17.69 acres of vacant property it will purchase from the city of Palm Desert at the appraised value of just over $2 million. Under the purchase agreement, the developer would have 12 months to close escrow on the land, with options for two six-month extensions to 24 months. The city may agree to a third extension, if developers seek it, but are not obligated, Wayne Olson, senior analyst with the city’s economic development department.
Developers plan to subdivide the property into five parcels. Build-out will be in two phases, starting with the surf lagoon and center and all infrastructure and support facilities necessary for the build-out of the entire project.
“We’re very excited,” said Doug Sheres, a partner of Desert Wave Ventures, who said the project has been more than two years in the making.
- Surf lagoon with restaurants, bars, sand beach area, stage/amphitheater, sports courts for volleyball and other activities, as well as a boardwalk/pier, pools, cabanas and associated amenities.
- Up to two separate hotel operators with no more than 350 hotel rooms total and up to 88 residential villas. Hotel operators have not been named.
- Solar panels, planned to go on the surf center roof, are expected to generate 1.7 million kilowatt hours per year of electricity. The hotels and villas will also be encouraged to include solar panels to further reduce total project electricity use of about 20 million kilowatt hours per year.
- 130 parking spaces are to be created for the surf lagoon, to be shared with Desert Willow, for 1.5 parking spaces per anticipated surf user. For special events, added parking can be accommodated off-site at a city-controlled parcel adjacent to the Ralphs shopping center, about a half-mile south of the project site.
- Waves will be powered by The Wavegarden Cove, an engineering company based near San Sebastian in northern Spain.
“This is a disservice to the residents of Palm Desert and, really, the Coachella Valley,” he said. Middleton said he was also concerned about the environmental impact and doesn’t think the economic benefit to the community will be as great as projected.
As a mitigating factor for water, Desert Wave Ventures LLC will reduce the amount of turf at Desert Willow by about 1 million square feet, Eric Ceja, principal planner for the city.
Anticipated water usage and sources:
The Turf for Surf program will mitigate more than all of the surf lagoon water use. The total project’s net water use when the Turf for Surf program is deducted will be 19.1 million gallons, or 58.5 acre-feet of water per year. In addition, the lagoon will drain into golf course lakes about one-third of its water every year.
Daily backwash from the surf lagoon and resort pools will go into subsurface dry wells that recharge into the aquifer. Annual draining of the lagoon for maintenance will be to golf course detention basins and/or lakes. Sheres said the company is comprised of long-term committed environmentalists, all of whom have worked in Southern California — and around the world — to conserve the oceans, water and other aspects of the environment.
“The core people who started this project are all surfers,” Sheres said.
“We wanted to build something that felt natural, that kind of pays homage to the ocean as much as it could,” he said.
Ian Osur, a Montecito community resident, also questioned the hours of a nightclub planned at the lagoon that would be open until 2 a.m. on weekends, saying the noise would interfere with the quality of life of nearby residents.
Ceja said there would be amplified music at the nightclub but it would be indoors.
“We’ve been able to show there would be no impact to the surrounding area,” Ceja said.
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