A hotly contested surf resort in La Quinta, proposed to include a private-use 16.6-acre, 18-million-gallon wave basin, is headed to the city council on Tuesday for what could be initial approval.
The Coral Mountain Resort, a master-planned community that would include 600 custom homes, a hotel, and indoor and outdoor spa amenities, received the La Quinta Planning Commission’s recommendation for approval on April 26, in two split votes.
If approved by the city council, city staff estimate that at build-out, the resort could bring La Quinta an estimated $1.9 million per year in transient occupancy taxes from the hotel and short-term vacation rentals. That would cover the estimated $1.6 million in annual costs for providing public safety and other government services to the area, according to Danny Castro, design and development director for the city. His assessment was in the staff report included with Tuesday’s council agenda.
The project is to be built in phases, so the actual costs and revenue are dependent on which portions of the project are constructed in any given year, Castro said.
If only the residential portions of the project are built, costs to the city will be high, and revenue low — assuming limited transient occupancy taxes generation from vacation rentals without the hotel, he said.
The Coral Mountain Resort property is within an area of south La Quinta known as the Thermal Redevelopment Project Area, which the city annexed several years ago and includes Trilogy, Andalusia and portions of PGA West.
Under state guidelines, 100% of the property tax from that land must be used to retire a long-term debt of the former county redevelopment project. The earliest La Quinta would begin receiving property taxes is 2033, officials say.
Coral Mountain could potentially be the only property in that area producing direct revenue to the city, and that could only happen if the council approves a zoning amendment that allows tourist commercial zoning for the project.
Wrong place, wrong time, opponents say
The proposed development has stirred opposition from nearby residents since it was first announced in early 2020, sparking the formation of a citizens group called La Quinta Residents for Responsible Development.
Opponents say Coral Mountain Resort, which requires zoning, general and specific plan amendments, is the wrong project for the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Opponents list a variety of reasons they are against the project, planned for the southwest corner of Avenue 58 and Madison Street, including concerns for lighting from the wave basin, noise and increased traffic.
A request for a zoning change, to include tourist commercial for the hotel and resort component as well as short-term vacation rentals, has also drawn opposition.
But the loudest concern is water use by the wave basin.
Project developers have said that the wave basin will use about 13% of the 958 acre-feet of water that Coachella Valley Water District estimates Coral Mountain Resort would use annually at build-out.
In September, city council members participated with planning commissioners in a joint study session on the findings of the environmental impact report, where they asked questions of staff and heard input from the public and developer, but did not take official action or indicate how they might vote on the project.
Opponents have appeared before the council many times over the past several months to voice their concerns and urge council members to deny the project when the time comes.
Council members also attended a nighttime light demonstration at the proposed project site in November.
Other surf projects in the works
La Quinta is one of several locations in and around the Coachella Valley where a surf resort or large water feature is planned.
DSRT Surf in Palm Desert would include a 5.5-acre surf lagoon that would be open to the public. The former Wet ‘N’ Wild water park in Palm Springs is slated to become a surf park that would also be open to the public. Thermal Beach Club surf park resort, which would include a 20-acre surf lagoon, was approved last year by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
The projects differ from each other in various ways, mostly in that they each use a different wave technology.
Each of the surf projects has been approved by the respective water agencies, though none have been built. Coachella Valley Water District, which would administer water for the Coral Mountain Resort, stated in the environmental impact report that the project’s total domestic water demand for indoor and outdoor use will be about 958 acre-feet per year, well under the 1,200 acre-feet per year allowed by CVWD.
In contrast, the gated housing community with 750 homes and an 18-hole golf course originally planned for that property would have used about 1,058.4 acre-feet per year. A project with no water amenities or golf would use about 906.6 acre-feet per year, according to the findings of the environmental impact report.
Regardless of what the data may show water usage to be, opponents say climate change and California’s ongoing drought make for bad timing for this project.
State-mandated water restrictions
La Quinta council members will consider this project just weeks after the State Water Resources Control Board told shopping centers, churches, homeowners’ associations and other businesses and institutions they must stop watering ornamental turf.
In the Coachella Valley, Mission Springs Water District, which serves Desert Hot Springs, last week adopted a water usage contingency plan that, among other things, prohibits outdoor water use during daylight hours, except for leak checks or with an agency-approved conservation alternative plan.
Earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Californians to reduce their water use by 15% compared to 2020.
John Gamlin, president of CM Wave Development LLC, has said the Coral Mountain Resort’s wave basin will use 10% to 15% less water than a golf course.
“The reality is that timing of our project does not have any negative impact on future water supplies and water availability to existing users, and is not correlated to any water use restrictions imposed by the water agencies during a drought cycle,” Gamlin told The Desert Sun.
“Concerns about water are natural — and reasonable — and can be allayed by taking the time to learn about the extensive long-term planning performed by the water agencies in the valley, much as the Coral Mountain team has,” Gamlin said.
The wave basin is one component of a health and wellness resort that will provide several options for outdoor activities, including a rope line and a hiking trail that will be open to the public through a partnership with the Desert Recreation District.
The primary goal with the project, Gamlin has said, is to diversify recreational amenities that draw visitors to La Quinta, and the valley by offering something different.
Build-out of the multi-phased project would take about 23 years with the wave basin and a portion of the hotel and resort built in phase one — in about three to five years, as outlined in a proposed development agreement with the city.
The wave basin would use technology designed by world champion pro surfer Kelly Slater.
The groundwater basin is sustainable over a 20-year planning horizon per CVWD’s Groundwater Management Plan filed with the State Department of Water Resources, Gamlin said.
“The facility has onsite filtration and disinfection that allows the use of non-potable source water, contrary to the frequent misstatement that it is ‘required by law to use potable drinking water,’” Gamlin said.
Opponents don’t feel they have been heard
The three planning commission meetings on Coral Mountain Resort brought dozens of residents to speak, most against the project.
The most persistent opponents have been the founders and members of La Quinta Residents for Responsible Development, or LQRRD, a group formed by nearby residents of Andalusia, Trilogy and other housing communities near the Coral Mountain Resort property.
Formed about a year ago, LQRRD hired an attorney and started a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $250,000 to help with legal fees and land-use consultants. As of Friday, $77,542 had been raised.
They also spearheaded a “Say No to Coral Mountain Resort” petition drive on surveymonkey.com, which they say has picked up more than 2,000 signatures from throughout the Coachella Valley.
One of the group’s representatives, Alena Callimanis, has spoken regularly over the past year to the planning commission and council members during public comment periods for items not on the agenda, urging them not to approve the project, mostly over concerns about water usage.
A surf park does not belong in the desert, especially during a drought, Callimanis, a Trilogy resident with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics, has said.
On Tuesday, she and others with LQRRD will urge the council to not approve the surf resort, but instead OK a residential community with no golf course.
There is plenty of hiking and biking already in the area, and nothing special in the Coral Mountain Resort would be added as far as the “wellness” aspect developers are touting, Callimanis along with LQRRD members Carolyn Winnor and Derek Wong wrote Thursday in a joint statement to The Desert Sun.
“The optics of approving a wave basin or a golf course or a lagoon in light of the extreme drought and the extreme conservation measures facing the rest of California is just mind-boggling,” they said.
They also don’t feel that city staff or commissioners adequately addressed their concerns for traffic, noise and lighting, which the EIR found would have little to no significant impact on the surrounding communities.
“Noise was never tested on-site to address our concerns about noise echoing off Coral Mountain or noise carried during the quiet evenings, not just noise by the wave and wave machinery, the focus of the responses, but by wave warning horns which by law can be up to 95 decibels, jet skis, crowds, music, loud-speaker announcements, etc.,” they said.
It’s about data, not emotions
The planning commission’s votes on the project were not unanimous. A recommendation for approval by the city council came on a 4-3 vote. In a separate 5-2 vote, commissioners recommended approval of the environmental impact report.
Voting on the project followed three hours-long public hearings that brought dozens of residents to the meetings to speak, most of them against the project.
Among those who voted for the project was Commissioner Mary Caldwell, who said she wrestled with herself a long time before deciding how to vote.
Everyone who spoke for and against the project, “made me think a lot more and my brain’s been arguing back and forth for months now, which is a good thing because when you argue with yourself you really force yourself to figure out what is it you’re trying to do,” Caldwell said before casting her votes on April 26.
“One thing I’ve learned with this is it’s not an emotional exercise. It’s not a political exercise. It follows very rigid state guidelines, and you may or may not like what their findings are, but they are the findings,” Caldwell said.
“The way I came down on that is that I trust the city. I trust (consulting planner) Nicole (Sauviat Criste) and her team, and I really trust local experts who have been looking at these data for a long, long time,” she said.
Caldwell said she understands the water concerns. Having had a ranch at one point, she said there were times when her family had to choose between taking a shower or watering the vineyards.
“So, I understand that need. But by the same token, I think … that the amount of water that the wave basin will take is minuscule compared to the whole project.”
Water concerns cannot be dismissed
Excusing the wave basin because its water usage is a small portion in comparison to the overall project is wrong, Commissioner Michael Proctor said in voting against the project.
“CVWD’s prediction that we’re going to have enough water for our lifetimes, whatever that means, based on years of modeling — modeling being the current word for guessing — is also specious,” Proctor said.
“At some point, as responsible inhabitants of this globe, we have to say how are we going to use this resource? Wave parks have to be considerably down the list for uses for a resource we know … is a diminishing quantity. So, if we don’t at least say, let’s not use it in one way but let’s use it in another way that’s more responsible, then I’m not sure who will.”
Meeting details and how to participate
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 4 p.m. The council has a full agenda, with the Coral Mountain Resort public hearing scheduled to start any time after 5 p.m.
People can attend in person at City Hall, 78-495 Calle Tampico, or livestream the meeting at Laquinta.12milesout.com.
Instructions for commenting in person, by writing or via Zoom are outlined on the agenda, which is available on the city’s website, laquintaca.gov.
The environmental impact report for Coral Mountain Resort is on the city’s website, laquintaca.gov/cmresort.
This article includes some past reporting on state and local water issues by Desert Sun staff writers Janet Wilson and Erin Rode.
Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherryBarkas
