City of Palm Desert/Adopted 3.15.04 Comprehensive General Plan/Community Design Element COMMUNITY DESIGN ELEMENT PURPOSE The purpose of the Community Design Element is to set forth fundamental concepts and principles that will assure the highest possible quality of life, guiding and directing the physical design and development of the City of Palm Desert. In this regard, the element is intended to encourage creativity and design excellence in community design and development, which results in a community that is attractive, cohesive and in harmony with the natural setting and surrounding communities. Furthermore, the Community Design Element proposes design concepts and principles that enhance the community’s functional characteristics, to create a more livable, efficient and sustainable city. The Community Design Element helps the City examine current patterns of development, and identifies the City's challenges, resources, and opportunities for enhanced community design. The element also sets forth a land use and conservation ethic that is integral to protecting the City's most important and valuable characteristics. The goals, policies and programs bring together the principals of other elements into an overall set of qualitative guidelines that help enhance community connectivity, preserve the natural environment and improve the quality of living for all residents and visitors. They provide guidance to enhance the appearance of existing and new commercial and industrial development, residential neighborhoods, streets, public facilities, and parks and open spaces. The element is also intended to promote a more sustainable and healthy community. BACKGROUND The Community Design Element is interactive with and responsive to several other elements of the General Plan, including Land Use, Circulation, Open Space and Conservation, Parks and Recreation, and Arts and Culture. The Community Design Element addresses the fundamental issues of these other elements and combines these ideas in a single element. The Community Design Element is effective when the management of land use, traffic, community safety and appearance, and environmental systems promotes continuity, uniqueness and a special sense of place. On a more basic level, the Community Design Element reflects sensitivity to community quality, environmental integrity and a desire to preserve the best qualities of this resort residential community, while addressing the more practical and functional needs of it’s residents, businesses and visitors. The state of California recognizes the necessity of standards in community design and development in Government Code and regulations. Government Code Section 65302 states that, “the General Plan shall consist of a statement of development policies and shall include diagram or diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards and plan proposals.” Government Code Section 65302(a) addresses standards that affect population density and building intensity. Mandates for the preservation of open space lands are set forth in Government Code sections 66477 and 65470. Community Design Element III-135 City of Palm Desert/Adopted 3.15.04 Comprehensive General Plan/Community Design Element State legislation also reinforces the adoption of community design standards. The 1990 California Legislature enactment of Assembly Bill 325, the Water Conservation In Landscaping Act, recognizes the state’s responsibility in mitigating the effects of urbanization on its finite water resources, and the potential savings from water conserving landscape practices. In accordance with the act, the City has adopted a water conserving landscape ordinance, which meets conservation targets and addresses community design concerns. Water conservation in landscape design is having a profound effect on community design. By implementing the essential goals and policies of the Community Design Element the City confirms its support for sustaining and enhancing the quality of life and the built environment in the City. In addition to staff-level implementation of community design standards, the Architectural Review Board Commission, Planning Commission and City Council review and approve public and private development design proposals. Environmentally and aesthetically sensitive design is essential to the preservation and enhancement of the character and values of the community. Controlling the type and intensity of land uses, managing transportation, flood control facilities, and protecting community open space and conservation areas must compliment both the built and natural environments. The Resort Community: A Tale of Two Cities Not all segments of the community will measure quality of life by the same yardstick. Developments and neighborhoods in Palm Desert can be divided into two types, A) residential and hotel resorts that serve the tourist, vacation and second home markets, and B) developments and neighborhoods that are geared to the City's permanent population. Many of the needs and community design issues of each differ, while others are common concerns of all facets of the community. Vacationers and Seasonal Residents Residential resorts and vacation-oriented developments serve seasonal residents (snow birds) and short-term visitors. These developments range from gated golf course communities to timeshare and hotel-based resorts typically with their own golf and other recreational amenities. Seasonal residents and visitors to these developments are focused on vacationing and relaxation in a tranquil and largely self-contained environment, and do not typically involve themselves in the full range of community activities. Therefore, the internal relationships within these developments are more important than their relationship to some of the City's commercial districts, institutions, parks and open space, and other public facilities. Seasonal residents in the destination resort communities are typically less interested in engaging in the external neighborhoods of the general community. Nonetheless, the quality, attractiveness and safety of the community have a direct effect on the desirability of Palm Desert as a destination second home and tourist resort. Permanent Resident Community Permanent residents benefit from the full range of commercial, institutional and recreational services and opportunities available in the City. These include the many services and uses enjoyed by the City's vacationers and seasonal residents, including fine dining, specialty retail, entertainment, golf and other recreational amenities. Community Design Element III-136 City of Palm Desert/Adopted 3.15.04 Comprehensive General Plan/Community Design Element Permanent residents are the core of the community and typically live in neighborhoods where knowing and interacting with neighbors is the essence of a tight-knit community. Ideally, permanent residents, including families with children, should have a reasonable expectation of safe and convenient access to parks, shopping and other community services and amenities without the need to travel great distances or to rely primarily on the arterial roadway network. Community Design and Quality of Life The essential purpose or goal of effective community design is to assure the highest possible quality of life for the City's residents, whether part- or full-time, and for those who come to visit and vacation here. Community design issues encompass all aspects of the City, including its residential and commercial neighborhoods. Properly designed and integrated neighborhoods include a diverse cross section of the community and provide convenient opportunities for social interaction between residents. They are also small enough and have a sufficient level of interconnectivity to retain a distinct neighborhood identity. Creating and sustaining distinct neighborhoods is essential to the concept of community. In general terms, quality of life can be addressed by assuring the following: • An integrated community with a full range of housing, shopping and commercial services, work places, schools, parks and open space, and civic and institutional facilities essential to the daily life of the residents • A land use pattern that efficiently distributes homes, employment centers, parks, schools and other institutions, shopping and services • A logical and efficient hierarchy of streets that are part of a connected network, which disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination • A distributed system of physical and service infrastructure that provides for the efficient delivery of utilities and public services SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DESIGN The concept of sustainable communities has only emerged fully in the last decade and sustainability still has many definitions and meanings. From an economist's perspective, sustainable community design is a means of ensuring the maintenance of our standard of living and quality of life. From an ecological perspective, sustainability involves a holistic view of the physical environment that includes not only humanity but also the physical and ecological context in which we are embedded. The sustainable community is integrated with its environment in a manner that optimizes its maintenance over time. Major elements of the sustainable community include environmental health, energy efficiency, land use relationships and efficiencies, resource use and management, and efficient traffic and circulation. Economic vitality is also a primary component of sustainable