Palm Desert committee recommends accepting historic survey that found 142 eligible resources

Palm Desert’s Historic Preservation Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the City Council accept the city’s first citywide historic resources survey, which found 142 resources that appear eligible for local designation.

Architectural Resources Group surveyed properties built through 1980. The 142 include 134 individual properties, five historic districts and three non-building resources: the Gillette Ranch date palms, the Palm Village Inn palm trees and planting features in Silver Spur Ranch.

Most of the individually eligible resources are single-family homes and small apartment or condominium complexes, according to the report. The districts are Birdie Way and Feather Trail in Silver Spur Ranch, Goldflower Street, Shadowcliff Colony and a four-house district on Yucca Tree Drive.

The survey does not designate anything. If the council accepts it, the eligible properties would be added to the city’s informational Palm Desert Inventory, not the official Palm Desert Register. Under the city’s ordinance, formal designation requires owner consent and review by the committee and council.

Surveyors worked only from public streets, which limited what they could assess. An additional 37 resources may be eligible but could not be evaluated: 23 individual properties, 13 districts and one non-building resource. Many were hidden by tall fences or hedges, or sit in gated communities.

The unevaluated districts include College of the Desert, gated country clubs, condominium developments and mobile home parks. The report says more research and outreach would be needed to confirm their condition.

Four other properties are exceptionally significant to the city but lack enough historic integrity to qualify for designation, the report says, after changes in use, materials and openings. They are the Desert Magazine Building, the Edith Eddy Ward Residence/Sun and Shadows Hotel Apartments, the former Twin Palms Lodge on Shadow Mountain Drive and the former Johnny Bash’s Club House on Highway 111. The report says they may warrant special consideration in local planning or commemoration.

The consultants also recommended updating the survey every five years, telling owners about incentives such as the Mills Act, making the city’s register and inventory easier to find online, and studying changes to the preservation ordinance.

The committee then voted 6-0 to recommend that the council approve its 2027 work plan. It lists four priorities: committee member education and training, community education and outreach, a review of the historic designation process and a new application review checklist.

Carlos Flores of the city’s Development Services Department said the designation review will look at the possibility of a tiered system, as well as certificates of appropriateness. He said staff can handle all four priorities without asking the council for significant budget and would return to the council if that changes.

Accessibility rules for public documents could complicate the outreach and application work, Flores said.

“There’s just a very, very, very strict set of guidelines on anything that we publicly provide, whether it’s on our website or even via email,” he noted, adding that staff would give the committee regular progress updates if the council approves the plan.