The Palmwood Estates project would have created a huge resort and golf complex in the Coachella Valley near the popular Joshua Tree State Park. The Coachella Valley provides critical habitat for several endangered species, and the Palmwood area specifically serves as a wildlife corridor, linking different parks together. The construction of the Palmwood project would have seriously threatened the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.
In 2007 the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club filed a CEQA suit over the City of Desert Hot Springs’ approval of the environmentally damaging project. The environmental groups alleged that the EIR failed to analyze the greenhouse gas emissions and threats to wildlife. After the court sided with the petitioners, the development plan was eventually dropped and a third of the land was sold to the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission.
Photo Credit: Trip Advisor