City commission delays medical office conversion of former church over design clash

The Palm Desert Architectural Review Commission voted Tuesday to continue its review of a proposal to convert a former church at 72700 Fred Waring Drive into a medical office building, directing the applicant to revise several design elements before returning to the commission.

The plans call for renovating and expanding the vacant former church building from 7,469 square feet to approximately 9,325 square feet for use as a medical office for DIG LLC Medical Center.

Though city staff had recommended approval, commissioners raised concerns about the design of a new entrance proposed for the east elevation.

“I think that new entrance that you’re proposing looks like it belongs on a different building, not this one,” one commissioner said.

Commissioners also objected to a raised parapet proposed at the north end of the building, along with the stone-clad column and standing-seam metal roof proposed at the south end.

After a question was raised regarding whether the project had been evaluated against the city’s historic preservation ordinance, staff said the building appears on the city’s survey of potentially historic resources but is not a certified historic designation.

“If it was certified, then they would be required to go through that certificate of appropriateness process for the historic preservation aspect of it,” a staff member said. “But since it’s not designated and it’s not a recognized certified list by the city, then it does not have to go through that process.”

Commissioners also raised concerns that the proposed landscaping around the building would not match the older, existing plantings across the rest of the parking lot.

The commission’s continuance directed the applicant to revise the east entrance, the north-end parapet design, the stone-clad element at the south end and its integration with the standing-seam roof, and the landscape plan for greater consistency with the rest of the site, including reconsidering the proposed use of the slipper plant, before the project returns for further design review.