Council OKs Upscale Hotel Agreement

The developers of a proposed upscale boutique hotel off El Paseo will have five years to break ground on the project, with an option to extend the deadline, according to a new agreement approved today.

In a 3-2 vote, the Palm Desert City Council gave another round of approval to the agreement, with Mayor Jean Benson and Councilwoman Cindy Finerty opposing.

The project will go before one more vote on Oct. 13 before it will be given final approval.

“I’m opposed to it because of the location of it,’’ Benson said, adding that she does not believe it belongs on Highway 74.

Finerty said she was troubled by the project's violation of the city's height ordinance.

"The developer wants to build a portion of the hotel at 60 feet. That’s 25 feet more than what our development allows,” she said.

She said that the council should not allow the project to violate the ordinance.

“I’m further troubled by why certain council members and our staff continue to vote against the very ordinances that were created over many years. Councils long before this council came up with these ordinances and as a result of these ordinances have built a great city,” Finerty said.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Spiegel said every hotel in the city exceeds the height limit ordinance.

“This project would be profitable both to the city and to the residents,’’ Spiegel said.

Councilwoman Jan Harnik said she supports the project.

"What we do want to do is to start when it is the best time to be started,'' she said.

But she said she was disappointed by apparent forgeries on a petition with signatures opposing the project.

"As a Palm Desert community member I find it very disappointing,'' she said.

Councilman Bill Kroonen said he supported the project.

“This is an unusual agreement. It appears to be that it is tighter and more restrictive and more oriented to the needs of the city than any other development agreement that has come along,” Kroonen said.

Council members agreed to the terms of the development agreement, which require PDH Partners to invest an additional $750,000 in the property to extend the deadline another five.

That’s a revision from the last development agreement on the five-acre property, which gave them 10 years to break ground on the hotel or lose its zoning entitlements, according to a city staff report.

The new agreement also requires the city be notified if the project is sold to another developer.

The new version also adds a list of more than a dozen upscale hotel companies that can be brought in, including Montage, Park Hyatt, Waldorf Astoria and Trump.