Coral Mountain is back in La Quinta — but without controversial surfing wave basin

A year after the La Quinta City Council rejected the proposed Coral Mountain development, the project is back for a second chance. This time, though, the plans are missing a hotly debated wave basin for surfers.

Coral Mountain's developers are now seeking approval for an 18-hole golf course, as well as 150 more homes than previously proposed, on 387 acres of vacant land at the southwest corner of Avenue 58 and Madison Street.

In total, the new project’s projected demand for water is about 30% higher than the previous proposal, according to estimates by the Coachella Valley Water District, whose board signed off Tuesday on parts of the new Coral Mountain's water usage plans.

The plans were reworked after the city council unanimously rejected the development last year, citing concerns over major zoning changes that would have been required for the wave basin. The vote also came after strong opposition from neighboring communities, who criticized the project’s water usage, as well as its potential impacts on traffic, noise and light pollution.

The new Coral Mountain likely won’t require the same zoning changes as before to gain city approval. In a statement to The Desert Sun, lead developer John Gamlin noted the revised proposal is “consistent with the existing Specific Plans approvals and General Plan land use designations for the property, per Council direction."

“We look forward to presenting a high-quality project to the City in the coming months,” Gamlin said.

The proposal for the large swath of land was first announced in 2020 by Meriwether Companies and Big Sky Wave Developments, who teamed up as CM Wave Development LLC to buy the land. At the time, project developers touted bringing “the largest, rideable open-barrel, human-made wave in the world” to La Quinta.

The latest version of the project instead calls for a 12-acre recreational lake, a “championship length” 18-hole golf course and sports and golf clubs with restaurants. The revised plan also includes 750 homes — the amount approved in initial plans for the land — and 60,000 square feet of commercial building space.

The new water supply assessment, part of its environmental review, was approved by the Coachella Valley Water District’s Board of Directors on Tuesday morning. The board approved the water assessment for the project’s wave basin in 2020.

The assessment approved Tuesday outlines a total water demand of 1,220 acre-feet of water per year, while the version that would have included the surf park had an estimated water use of roughly 940 acre-feet annually. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough to serve at least two households for a year.

Zoe Rodriguez del Rey, CVWD’s water resources manager, told the board that the project represents 2.5% of the district’s projected increases in water demand between now and 2045.

“Therefore, we arrive at the conclusion that there are sufficient supplies to serve this project,” she said.

Rodriguez del Rey also noted the board’s approval of the water supply assessment “does not in any way constitute support for the project,” adding it will still need to meet the district’s water-use efficiency and landscaping standards in a separate process.

For the golf course’s water estimate, CVWD officials used a calculation from their landscaping ordinance, which limits the total turf area of a course to four irrigated acres per golf hole, along with no more than ten acres of irrigated turf for practice areas.

The board heard from one resident, Alena Callimanis, during the meeting Tuesday. Callimanis, who previously led a citizens group opposed to the surf park proposal, questioned the water calculations, and she encouraged a links-style golf course, which use less water by leaving more of the landscape natural, for the development.

“I'd like to see what a links-style golf course will save us in water, because you see that it's significantly higher for this new project than it was for the Coral Mountain project (last year),” Callimanis said. “I think that’s very much your right to ask.”

The board of directors unanimously approved the water supply assessment. CVWD Board President John Powell noted the water district’s current landscaping rules — adopted in 2019 — means the golf course would be using “significantly less turf” than most golf courses built in the past.

With the CVWD board’s vote this week, it’s unclear when the proposal will head to city hall. Danny Castro, the city’s design and development director, confirmed that new plans were in the works, but said no dates have been set for any public hearings.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coral Mountain is back in La Quinta — without controversial wave basin