As part of Disney’s Cotino, Rancho Mirage council signs off on plan for nearly 200 homes
Plans are moving forward for Cotino, Disney’s mixed-use development in Rancho Mirage, after councilmembers unanimously supported the location of about 10% of the roughly 1,700 homes charted for the community.
The Rancho Mirage City Council approved a subdivision of the project that includes 187 single-family homes by a 4-0 vote, with councilmember Steve Downs absent, during its meeting Thursday.
Disney announced it was joining the project, which has been led by DMB Development, in February. Cotino will be the first Storyliving by Disney development — with the location selected in part due to Walt Disney's connection to the Coachella Valley.
More: Want to live in a Disney house? New development in Rancho Mirage promises 'magic'
More: Developer breaks ground on Cotino, Disney's Storyliving master-planned community in Rancho Mirage
The 618-acre project, also known as the Section 31 development, is slated to include a 24-acre swimmable lagoon and a resort hotel on vacant land, located off Bob Hope Drive, between Frank Sinatra and Gerald Ford drives, and across from the entrance to Sunnylands Center and Gardens.
Cotino will offer a mix of homes, including estates, single-family homes and condominiums, as well as a 55-plus community, along with a town center with shops and restaurants. All homes are planned for full-time residents.
The development has been largely embraced by city officials. During a groundbreaking ceremony in April held alongside officials from Disney and DMB Development, Mayor Charles Townsend said Cotino will be “one of the most significant master-planned projects in Rancho Mirage’s history.”
Home sales are expected to start in early 2023, with the first residents expected to move in in early 2024, according to a Disney official.
City manager defends water use
Despite city officials' support for Cotino, its water use has drawn criticism from some valley residents, who argue the 24-acre lagoon is inappropriate for the California desert, especially with the state in a severe drought.
Alena Callimanis, a La Quinta resident who has questioned the viability of other water projects in the valley, urged the council Thursday to do an additional environmental study of the project, arguing the impact report approved in 2019 greatly underestimates the lagoon’s evaporation rate.
“There is no question that, with the Colorado River Basin in the critical water storage shortage it has, you need to recalculate this,” Callimanis said. “If the Colorado River gets cut, you're not going to get water in, so you're going to have to use our drinking aquifer.”
Callimanis also said she spoke with an official from Coachella Valley Water District — which previously approved plans for Section 31 — who agreed that the original report’s evaporation rate estimate was too low.
However, after her comments, City Manager Isaiah Hagerman said Rancho Mirage officials reached out to the same CVWD official and that the conversation had been misrepresented by Callimanis.
“The water assessment analysis, as part of the environmental impact report, is accurate and still stands and is still relevant, so the comments that are being associated with the CVWD staff member are not accurate,” Hagerman said.
The only other comment on the project Thursday came from Julio Flores, a representative of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, who encouraged the council to require developers to hire from the local workforce for construction jobs on projects such as Cotino.
Councilmembers said nothing further following public comment.
The "tentative tract map" approved by the council Tuesday reflects “Phase 1B” and “Phase 1C” of the project. “Phase 1A,” which includes plans for 327 residential lots, was approved by the council in April 2020.
The specific plan for Section 31, which was approved in December 2019, allows for the development of a mixed-use community that includes resort hotels, a mixed-use town center and residential neighborhoods.
Although the specific plan outlining what's allowed in the development has already been approved, Cotino must still go through an application process for components of the plan just like any other project, according to city officials.
Previous reporting from staff writer Sherry Barkas was used in this report.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com or on Twitter @tomcoulter_.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Part of Disney’s Cotino gets Rancho Mirage City Council approval
