Ask City Hall

Dear Akaminsky,

Thank you for reaching out to share your thoughts about bike lanes in Palm Desert. We appreciate your interest in enhancing mobility options in our city.

Currently, sections of both Monterey Avenue and Cook Street do have bike lanes, and our City’s General Plan guides the development of multimodal streets, identifying areas where bike lanes can be incorporated. For example, portions of Cook Street are planned for future bike lane enhancements, while Monterey Avenue is primarily designed for vehicular traffic due to existing space constraints.

Adding bike lanes often depends on the availability of right-of-way, which is already fully utilized in many areas of Monterey Avenue. However, as new projects or opportunities arise, the City remains committed to evaluating ways to expand our bike-friendly infrastructure.

The City is holding two virtual meetings in December to discuss adding bike lanes. Please attend one of the sessions if you have the time: December 3, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. or December 5, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Use the link, www.palmdesert.gov/bike to access the Zoom video. 

Thank you again for your input. If you have additional suggestions or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best, 

City of Palm Desert

Thank you for your suggestion regarding the overseeding schedule of our dog parks. We understand the importance of keeping our parks accessible for residents and their furry friends.

In the past, we have tried staggering the overseeding of our dog parks to keep at least one park open at all times. Unfortunately, this approach presented several challenges. Keeping one park open while another is being overseeded led to overcrowding and excessive wear and tear on the open park. This increased usage resulted in degraded turf conditions, making it difficult to maintain a quality environment for all park users.

Moreover, waiting a month to overseed a second park resulted in less-than-ideal turf conditions. Parks tend to be busier in November, and the cooler temperatures during that time make it difficult for the turf to germinate properly. This often leads to uneven turf growth and maintenance issues.

Based on our experiences and practices observed in other cities, we’ve found that closing all dog parks simultaneously for overseeding is the most effective method. This approach ensures consistent turf quality across all parks and minimizes the negative effects of overcrowding. We also experimented with skipping overseeding one year, but when the Bermuda grass went dormant, the result was a muddy, unusable surface.

We appreciate your understanding as we work to maintain safe, healthy, and enjoyable spaces for everyone. 

Dear LuckyLee,

Thank you for your message and for bringing this matter to our attention.

Our traffic team conducted a sight distance assessment study today, September 4, 2024, at the intersection of Dick Kelly Drive and Dinah Shore Drive. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the no right turn on red restriction from northbound Dick Kelly onto eastbound Dinah Shore should remain in place or be lifted.

The study followed the sight distance guidelines outlined in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) “Green Book,” which is the national standard used by public agencies across the country. For a road like Dinah Shore, where the posted speed limit is 45 mph, AASHTO recommends a minimum sight distance of 430 feet for safe right-turn maneuvering.

Our team measured the sight distance at this intersection and found it to be approximately 360 feet—short of the required 430 feet. This limited sight distance is primarily due to the presence of new buildings on the southwest corner of the intersection. Given these findings, and in the interest of maintaining safe and sustainable traffic conditions, our traffic team recommends keeping the no right turn on red restriction in place.

We appreciate your input and encourage you to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns.

Best, 

City of Palm Desert

Hi Wanda C., 

We're glad to hear you are looking forward to the new North Palm Desert Park. The park's design includes paths of connectivity, which will lead two and from neighboring communities. However, these paths will be incorporated only at the park site, not beyond its borders. It will take approximately 10 minutes to walk from the new park to the Rembrandt Parkway entrance of the Gallery. 

For a schematic design to see these pathways of the park, please click here. 

Best, 

Ryland Penta

Hi Tompun70, 

The City's General Plan discourages the construction of new gated communities except in the Rural or Resort General Plan designations. However, there is not technically a ban. 

Best, 

Ryland Penta

Hi Len, 

The lot to the northeast corner of Desert Willow Drive and Country Club Drive is the staging area for the construction of DSRT Surf, a project located near the Desert Willow Golf Resort clubhouse. Construction for DSRT Surf is scheduled to take 18 months, so you'll see regular and ongoing activity at that lot. For more information about the DSRT Surf project, please go to this page and select the tab for DSRT Surf. 

Best, 

Ryland Penta

Hi Gary, 

The Public Art staff of our Special Programs team can help get you in contact with Lori. Just email PublicArt@palmdesert.gov and explain your request; someone will get back to you shortly. 

Best, 

Ryland Penta

Hi Dzeigler, 

Our Emergency Services Coordinator, Mindy Esqueda, is the best resource for this question. I've forwarded your message to her, and she will reach out to you shortly. 

Best, 

Ryland Penta

Dear Basip1,

Since the inception of the City’s Short-Term Ordinance in 2012, the City’s ordinance has evolved so that owner(s) are eligible to apply for a short-term rental permit. There is no cap on the number of permits issued by the City. The City’s goal is to maintain and offer a quality of life for full-time owners and to those owners who wish to rent their property as a short-term rental. However, back in 2017 and 2020, the City began receiving a high volume of calls about short-term violations. Before the City Council made amendments to the ordinance in those years, the city formed a subcommittee to solicit input and recommendations. The committee comprised of public members who supported and opposed short-term rentals. Council meetings were held to hear the public’s input. After careful consideration, the City Council decided to place restrictions on R1 and R2 in 2017 by requiring “on-site owners.” Then in 2020, this restriction was added to the PR Zone. The exception to the PR Zone is that if the property is in an HOA community and they allow short-term rental, you are not required to be an “on-site owner.” 

The City is supportive of its residents supplementing their income. The City continues to allow owners to obtain a permit so long as the requirements are met. If the permit was denied for your property, the City would like the opportunity to investigate your concerns and see if a resolution can be made so that you can re-apply for a permit. The City addresses every individual property case by case and provides an explanation of denial or revocation. Providing an accurate response without knowing your property address is more challenging. If you would like to discuss your property and the ability to apply for a short-term rental permit, staff can be reached at 760-862-6905 or email strpermit@palmdesert.gov, where staff awaits to assist you.

Happy New Year, 

Foremost, I hope you enjoyed using Engage Palm Desert and found it informative. City Hall employees are adding content to this website daily, so make sure to check back for the newest information about our city. 

Currently, the City does not plan to underground utilities in Council District One. There is only one active district for undergrounding and it is called Tamarisk UUD. I've included a link to the City of Palm Desert Utility Undergrounding Master Plan (also known as the UUMP). This document provides a step-by-step guide to creating a district for undergrounding utilities. 

If you have further questions about this process, please feel free to reach out to Ryan Gaylor at rgayler@cityofpalmdesert.org.

Best, 

Ryland Penta