Planning Commission takes next step in Escena development expansion

The Palm Springs Planning Commission voted 3-1 Tuesday to approve two tentative tract maps and a development plan amendment clearing the way for as many as 303 new homes, including a 150-unit apartment complex, on the last undeveloped land within the Escena community.

The commission received four dozen emailed comments and three members of the Escena Community Associations spoke at the meeting.

Commissioners had continued the project at a Feb. 24 hearing, asking the developer to reconsider the location of the planned apartments and to strengthen the density commitment. SunCal returned with the same site plan, keeping the 150 apartment units on a 6-acre parcel with access from Artisan Way rather than moving them to the development’s corner.

The action approves splitting 9.16 acres into 75 single-family lots, and splitting 2.28 acres into 19 lots, both within Escena’s Planning Area 1, known as the “Resort Village.”

Commissioners also approved an amendment to Planned Development District, tying those maps to a broader “PA-1 Master Plan” that commits the site to an eventual 59 additional single-family lots and a 150-unit apartment complex, for an overall density of 16.8 dwelling units per acre.

Nick Pappas, representing owner EMP2 LLC, doing business as SunCal, told commissioners the 25-acre parcel at Gene Autry Trail and Vista Chino Road is the last piece of the two-decade-old master plan still awaiting development.

“Completing this final phase is important not just for SunCal, but for the Escena community, who have waited a long time to see their master plan finished,” Pappas said.

Commissioner Robert Rotman cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing the plan crowds too much traffic onto too little street.

“You have 150 units dumping out in that small space,” Rotman said. “You’re talking about a big traffic issue, and so I don’t think this is a good solution.”

A traffic scoping analysis included in the staff report found the current residential proposal would generate less traffic than a hotel resort originally studied for the site in 2003, when the City Council adopted the master plan’s environmental review.

Representatives of the Escena Community Association who spoke at the meeting said they are not seeking to block the apartments, “We support this project. We support the apartments. We support the housing density the state is requiring, and we want construction to begin as soon as possible,” association board member Tim Mathias told the commission.

Mathias asked the commission to require SunCal to keep working toward a separate gated entrance on Artisan Way so the apartment site would not fall inside the association’s boundaries.

“I understand that you’re not here to solve HOA governance…it’s not your job,” he said. But if the lot planned for the apartments is annexed into the HOA, he said, those issues “don’t disappear just because of tonight’s vote. They still must be resolved,” before construction can begin.

Mathias said their board president, Rich Gordon, met with SunCal on Tuesday and that SunCal said they want to continue working to get a separate access route for the development.

“If that alternative succeeds, and Lot Four remains outside…many of the governance issues simply disappear,” he said.

The approval does not authorize construction of any homes or apartments; those unit-specific plans will require separate future approvals.

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