Rancho Mirage may annex land near Agua Caliente casino for future homes, shops
Rancho Mirage officials are looking to annex land just west of the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa off Ramon Road for the potential development of shops, restaurants and hundreds of homes, eyeing the area as key to the city's growth.
The 257 acres of land just west of Bob Hope Drive — bound by Ramon Road to the north and Dinah Shore Drive to the south — are within the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation. The land is part of a parcel known as “Section 24,” the rest of which was annexed by the city in 2017 and developed into Del Webb Rancho Mirage, a 55-plus community.
The city’s planning commission took initial steps to annex the land Thursday, supporting the tribe’s 2015 site plan that allows for more than 3 million square feet of shops, restaurants, offices or hotels, as well as up to 1,206 homes.
The commission also voted to support the tribe’s environmental impact statement, along with a mixed-use zoning change for the site. The land is currently in Rancho Mirage’s county-designated "sphere of influence," meaning the city affects what happens there it but it's not yet within city limits.
The matter now heads to the city council for a final vote.
The votes are a necessary step in the city’s annexation process with Riverside County’s Local Agency Formation Commission. There’s no current timeline for when LAFCO might consider the city’s application, city spokesperson Gabe Codding told The Desert Sun.
No specific development has been proposed for the site so far, Planning Manager Ben Torres told the commission Thursday.
Most of the 257 acres are on tribal trust land, meaning Agua Caliente's Tribal Council would have the final say on any detailed proposals. Plans for about 40 acres of "allottee land" would instead go through the city council if the annexation gains approval.
The tribe’s overall plan, which gained approval from the Coachella Valley Water District in 2014, includes eight areas with designated uses, such as resort, retail and multifamily residential, that could be developed in phases.
The planning commission largely cheered the move. Commissioner Mark Curran said he supported incorporating the land because it would give the city “a seat at the table” in deciding what will be developed there in the future.
Commissioner Murray Bryant said the area is one of two “gateways” into Rancho Mirage coming from Interstate 10, making it crucial. Cotino, the Disney-backed development with about 300 homes planned for its first phase, is also emerging on 617 acres of land just a few blocks south along Bob Hope Drive.
“With the Cotino development, people will be using that, also to get into the heart of the city, to The River, to Eisenhower Medical Center, so the development of that (area) is very significant,” Bryant said.
Dan Malcolm, the Agua Caliente tribe’s planning director, reiterated there are no plans “at this time or in the foreseeable future” for the land, adding it’s a crucial portion of the tribal reservation.
“The tribe is very deliberate about what it wants to do there,” Malcolm told the planning commission. “That's why it's taken its time, and so there are no plans right now.”
If annexed into Rancho Mirage, the 257-acre parcel would join a small number of remaining areas open for new large-scale projects in the city, with most of its land already developed.
Along with Cotino, the council recently approved zoning changes for 35 acres of land off Monterey Avenue that allow for up to 400 homes, retail space and a hotel. No specific proposal had been brought for that land as of July.
Immediately east of the land the city may annex, across Bob Hope Drive, city plans also exist for a 268-acre parcel next to the casino, known as “Section 19.”
The city council adopted a Section 19 plan in 2010, allowing for potentially more than 3 million square feet of commercial space, 580 hotel rooms and up to 1,899 homes. In past years, city councilmembers have touted the land as a future commercial center in Rancho Mirage.
But its development remains theoretical for now: There are no active projects or ones under consideration currently for the Section 19 land, according to Codding.
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: Rancho Mirage eyes development on land near Agua Caliente casino
