Mayor Evans:

• Small businesses are the life blood of La Quinta and account for about 70% of the roughly 580 brick-and-mortar businesses in the City. These are locally owned businesses, most of them unique not only to La Quinta but the Coachella Valley.

• The City Council’s quick action in 2020 to appropriate $2 million from the City’s Economic Disaster reserve fund to assist small businesses with paying their rent, mortgages and utility bills, along with relaxed al fresco rules to allow restaurants to add or expand outdoor dining areas, is why the City lost no small businesses during the pandemic.

• Businesses that closed in La Quinta included Steinmart and Souplantation – both part of large corporations that went bankrupt or closed businesses nationwide. Both of those buildings have new tenants with plans to open soon.

• The City’s overall vacancy rate is 6.6% compared with similar markets where the vacancy rate averages 11% to 15%.

• The retail along the Highway 111 corridor, which accounts for about 75% of the City’s sales tax revenues, currently has a 5.5% vacancy rate.

  Councilmember Peña:

• Kids Clubhouse

• Cosmoprof Beauty Store

• Jamba Juice – Sprouts Shopping Center

• Rapport To Go Furniture Warehouse

• Crumbl Cookies – Trader Joe’s Shopping Center next to Fresh Juice

• WDC Kitchen & Bath Center – former Mor Furniture building

• Panera Drive-Thru

• Welbehealth Pace Center – former Laser Oasis building on Dune Palms

• Cookie Co.

• Hampton Inn – behind Nissan Dealership

• Longhorn Steakhouse – former Souplantation building

• El Patio La Quinta (restaurant) – former Okura Location

  Councilmember Radi:

July 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the number of Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) rose, along with the complaints from neighbors.

In response, between August 2020 and April 2021, the City Council raised fees and fines and stiffened penalties for those who didn’t comply with the City’s rules.

No new STVR permits have been issued by the City since August 4, 2020, except in areas where they are allowed by HOAs and such zoning as Tourist Commercial.

In addition, STVR permits were made non-transferable, so when a property is sold, the STVR use is permanently terminated.

Since January 2021:

• There has been a 23.63% drop in STVR permits in residential areas where they would be banned under Measure A – down from 1,037 in January 2021 to 792 as of June 30, 2022.

• STVR complaints citywide have dropped 70% from 672 in the first half of 2021 to 200 in the first half of 2022. Of the 200 complaints, 137 occurred during the festival season (March-May 2022), and complaints from STVRs operating illegally without permits were the majority at 66%.

• Citations have dropped 71% from 163 in the first half of 2021 to 47 in the first half of 2022.

• 71%, or 32 of the 45, citations issued in the first half of 2022 were for administrative matters: operating without a permit or license; failure to display STVR permit on listings; failure to report or remit TOT; and incorrect or omitted occupancy limit on advertised listings. Such administrative citations did not cause disruptions to the community.

  Councilmember Radi:

Should Measure A pass in the November 8 election, the initiative would phase-out and ban Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) in residential neighborhoods by the end of December 2024, except where exempted by current zoning codes.

An independent study on the fiscal impacts of Measure A shows that the ban could have the following 10-year average impacts on businesses and workers:

• 445 fewer jobs driven by STVRs in the City.

• $100 million less in local business sales.

  Mayor Pro Tem Fitzpatrick:

La Quinta’s two-mile stretch of Highway 111, home to hundreds of restaurants and retailers large and small, generates more than 75% of the City’s sales tax revenues.

To ensure the corridor’s economic resilience, which is essential to La Quinta’s future:

• The City is in the process of incorporating its Highway 111 Corridor Vision Plan into a revised Specific Plan zoning tool, which will guide development to make the corridor into an attractive, walkable and diverse mixed-use district.

• The primary goals of this process are to update and streamline the existing zoning into a single, flexible zoning document that meets the economic needs of the development community.

• The new Specific Plan will reduce land-use restrictions for growth, prepare market-based examples of viable, market-based building types, and update the environmental assessment to streamline future development.

• The Specific Plan will include connection points to the CV Link, which will run along the north side of the Highway 111 corridor, to enhance your experience while visiting, shopping, and dining along Highway 111. It will promote recreation activities offered in La Quinta – a regional trail for bicyclists, walkers, joggers, and golf cart users.

    Councilmembers Peña, Radi and Sanchez:

• Dune Palms Road Bridge: Construction of an all-weather access bridge over the Coachella valley stormwater channel. Construction will begin this fall and take approximately 18-24 months to complete.
  

The City has quite a few road rehabilitation improvement projects with some being more intensive than others.

• Highway 111 at Jefferson Street intersection improvement: Fixing the road and the drivability of this intersection is a joint project with the City of Indio which has primary jurisdiction. Work is expected to begin in early December, after Ironman, and be completed by the end of the year.

• Jefferson Street slurry seal project: This basically means we are applying a protective thin layer over the street, from Indio Boulevard to Avenue 50, in partnership with the City of Indio.

Our repaving projects include:

• Dune Palms (Fred Waring to Miles)

• Avenue 50 (Washington Street to Eisenhower Drive)

• Fred Waring Drive (from Washington Street to Adams Street)

• Moon River Drive (Ave 50 to DSUSD ROW)

• Avenue 52 (Madison Street to Monroe Street)

    Councilmembers Peña, Radi and Sanchez:

Landscape renovations: We are excited to announce that we are coming to the end of our five-year landscape improvement projects. Our remaining projects, which are funded by Measure G, are located at the housing developments of:

• Desert Pride, Sierra Del Rey/Marbella, and Cactus Flower.

Fritz Burns Park improvements: Our first phase is preparing a master plan which proposes new amenities, additional parking and improved design of the Fritz Burns Park and includes extensive community outreach.

X Park: This $4.6 million park with multiple bowls, pump track, modern street course, stairs, rails and ledges, and a pro shop is completed and open for use by skateboarders, BMXers, and other extreme sports enthusiasts of all skill levels and abilities. The competition level facility, on Dune Palms Road across from the high school, has been called “One of the best parks built” by legendary pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk. 

ADA Improvements: We are using our Community Development Block Grant Funds this year to replace curb ramps in the Village area with ADA compliant ramps and any necessary sidewalk repairs.

  Councilmember Sanchez:

Anyone who has driven out to SilverRock has seen construction of our much-anticipated TALUS La Quinta spa and resort at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains is well underway.

The City’s “crown jewel,” being developed by The Robert Green Co. at the foot of the breathtaking Santa Rosa Mountains, will have everything needed to nourish the body, mind and soul.

TALUS will include:

• 134-room Montage luxury hotel, expected to open in late 2023.

• 200-room Pendry lifestyle luxury hotel, slated for completion in July 2024.

• A shared events and conference center, scheduled to open with the Montage hotel.

• The hotels will each include spa and fitness centers and pools.

• A lazy river is also planned for the Pendry.

• New golf clubhouse is nearing completion.

The resort will also include 29 Montage-branded single-family homes and 55 Pendry-branded condominiums, all of which can be used as Short-Term Vacation Rentals managed on property by the hotel operators.