Architectural Review Committee tackles four major projects, sends two back to the drawing board

The Palm Springs Architectural Review Committee (ARC) addressed four significant development proposals during its Monday meeting, approving two projects while sending two back to developers for substantial redesigns.

The committee’s most contentious decision involved a nearly 5,000-square-foot hillside home near the city’s only designated historic ruins, located at the western terminus of Santa Rosa Drive.

Attorney Robert Bernheimer, representing adjacent condominium owners, noted in a written comment that the proposed home would “tower over” neighbors because the building pad sits seven feet higher than surrounding properties. He noted the perimeter wall alone would stand 11 feet taller than adjacent grade levels.

Neighbors also raised concerns about bighorn sheep that frequent the site and potential impacts to the ruins, a Class 1 historic resource. 

The committee voted unanimously to have the project re-studied, with a focus on more accurate drawings based on the survey and field measurements, more consideration of the effects of water runoff, and a reduction in square footage.

The committee also voted to re-study plans for a proposed 90,000-square-foot storage facility with 41 RV parking spaces to be located at the southeast corner of North Gene Autry Trail and District Center Drive on property currently owned by Grit Development. The project will also include a caretaker’s apartment and customer service office.

The committee voted 5-to-1 to force the project to be re-studied, with members expressing concerns that the design resembles a generic office building rather than reflecting the city’s architectural character.

When the planning commission approved a major development permit for the project, they requested the developer add elements like windows to break up the long walls of the building

ARC Chair Lance O’Donnell took issue with those recommendations and the updated design. He said that the windows on a building used only for storage exist only to hide the industrial building and pretend it’s an office building.

“It is a building on a 60-mile-an-hour highway that would rarely ever see a pedestrian walk by,” O’Donnell said. “[The building] is a Mr. Potato Head. Everyone’s putting little ears on this thing and other little decorative features, and it really doesn’t want to be that in the city of Palm Springs.”

The committee did vote to approve a massive warehouse development proposed by First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. for a 96-acre site at the southwest corner of North Indian Canyon Drive and 18th Avenue. The project includes two buildings totaling more than 1.9 million square feet of warehouse space.

Building 1 measures 1,500,000 square feet with 258 truck docks and 929 parking spaces. Building 2 totals about 390,000 square feet with 42 truck docks and 302 parking spaces. The Planning Commission had previously approved the project and recommended the ARC review landscaping, lighting, and wall details.

Committee members praised the project’s compatibility with the surrounding industrial area and its use of desert-appropriate materials and colors.

“Overall, I think the building does a pretty good job of trying to hide what it is – which is just enormous and almost beyond comprehension,” said O’Donnell. “When you talk about acres of building, it’s yeah, it’s mind boggling.”

The committee also approved the Sun Community Federal Credit Union drive-through facility that had been continued from a previous meeting. After extended discussion about design elements, the committee approved the project with modifications, with two committee members voting against approval.

The nearly 3,000-square-foot auxiliary facility will be constructed at the southeast corner of East Ramon Road and South Calle Santa Cruz. The committee required the applicant to use wood siding instead of blue accent walls and to address staff recommendations on landscaping and mechanical equipment screening.

---