Palm Springs committee approves landscape plans for Serena Park housing project

The Palm Springs Architectural Review Committee (ARC) approved common area landscape designs on Monday for the Serena Park project, the latest incremental step forward for the long-stalled housing development at the site of the former Palm Springs Country Club. 

The Palm Springs City Council first approved a preliminary Planned Development District for Serena Park in 2016. The Tentative Tract Map approved at the time included 286 residential lots and common open space, on about 126 acres west of the Whitewater Flood Plain and east of North Farrell Drive. The project plans include a private park that will be open to the public. 

Earlier this year, the project gained new momentum when the council approved a proposal from master developer SunCal to subdivide the area into seven parcels for sale to individual builders. SunCal took possession of the property in August 2024, after years of delays under previous developers. 

This week, SunCal brought plans for common area landscapes before the ARC. SunCal submitted three applications for common area landscaping in the southern portion of the project, across three of the seven total parcels. The idea is that installing the landscaping could help facilitate the sale of the parcels to builders. 

Committee members were mostly tasked with ensuring the plans in front of them this week conform with the preliminary plans approved a decade ago, with the understanding that “an exact comparison” of the final proposed landscapes with the preliminary landscaping “is not possible” due to the changes to the project over the years, according to the city’s staff report. 

Instead, the committee’s focus was on “the general characteristics of the common area landscape design, not specific plant placement or specific quantities of trees and plants or species,” according to the city’s staff report. 

Proposed trees for both the preliminary and final landscape designs include a wide variety of drought-tolerant shade trees, with the 2025 tree list now reflecting trees that are better suited for the windy site conditions, according to the staff report. 

One key change to the site’s common areas is the relocation of the “spine road” running through the center of the development, rather than along the edge, which in turn moved around the specific location of some of the landscaped common areas. 

Other changes that could impact future visitors to the public park include swapping out plans for two tennis courts in favor of three pickleball courts, as well as relocating certain amenities such as play structures and dog parks. 

ARC members unanimously approved the final Planned Development District applications for the common area landscaping in the three parcels. SunCal hopes to begin planting before high summer temperatures hit, according to the staff report. 

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