Palm Desert Adopts University Neighborhood Specific Plan

At their regular meeting on December 8, the Palm Desert City Council unanimously approved the University Neighborhood Specific Plan, and its adoption became final on January 2017.  The Plan area is part of the larger University District, in the northerly part of town adjacent to Interstate 10, adjacent to the growing Palm Desert branch campus of California State University at San Bernardino.  This area is one of two areas  - the other being the 111 Corridor/City Center in the southerly part of town - in which the newly adopted General Plan prioritizes transformational change to a walkable, mixed-use urban environment.  Most of the University Neighborhood area is currently vacant, except for some framework streets that were built to serve conventional suburban housing tracts that were not built due to the recession.  Those properties, along with 170 acre city-owned parcel, were replanned as a walkable, mixed-type traditional neighborhood and center, with a mix of housing types targeted to faculty, staff, students and older residents looking for an amenity-rich living environment.  The City will be issuing a request for proposals to developers in the coming months.