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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExplore Refuge Action Plan 20240703 FinalDel Webb Explore Palm Desert (Refuge Specific Plan) New Action Plan 7/10/2024 Immediate Measures Taken to Reduce Neighborhood Impacts and Address Concerns •Stepped Up PM10/Dust Control Measures •New Communication Plan with Neighbors •Plan to address Damage Complaints •Strict Enforcement of Construction Hours •Revised Construction Access Plan •Revised Construction Staging Area •Addressing of Neighbor Questions •Details Provided Below Daily dust control measures per PM10 Requirements: •Daily watering all active areas being graded and disturbed. This includes cut/fill areas and access routes. •PM10 spray inactive areas that have been completed or remain inactive for more than 72 hours •Maintenance of construction entrances. Clean as needed. •Daily City inspections •Weekly MSA Consulting inspections Daily PM10 Measures & Additional Measures (Water Trucks, Water Spray, Water Towers): Additional Dust Mitigation Steps Added Above and Beyond Standard Requirements •More frequent spray and respray with 6 month green colored polymer Envirotec. •Added two 4,000 gallon water trucks that are working after hours and weekends. Monday –Friday 5:30am-8pm and Saturday & Sunday 6am-8pm. •Temporary fencing with wind screen installed on south and southeasterly pads to help trap PM10 debris. •Street sweep as needed on Julie Drive and Gerald Ford Drive •Pulte will commence all permanent perimeter walls upon approval of plans and certification of pads. Daily PM10 Measures & Additional Measures –Continued (Polymer Spray, Street Cleaning, & Additional Fencing): New Communication Plan with Neighbors Pulte will established two forms of communication for neighboring residents: •For non-emergency concerns, residents may send an email to DWEXPLORELAND@pultegroup.com for any inquiries or concerns. A resident’s inquiry via email should expect a response within 2 business days •For emergency or urgent matters, Pulte has provided residents with a 24-hour call center at 1-877-724-6593. The call center will accept calls 24 hours a day allowing resident to share their concern as well as establish record of an issue or incident. The call center will make immediate contact with Pulte personnel who will then respond to each call as quickly as possible. Emergency calls will be prioritized and addressed immediately. Non-emergency calls should expect a return call by end of the next business day. New Plan to Help with any Damage to Neighbors’ Properties (pools, walls, drainage, etc.)? Upon receiving call from a neighboring resident, Pulte will investigate claims of property damage directly with the resident and address any necessary reparations resulting from Pulte’s construction operations. For example, Pulte has already met with Monique Bond and retained a pool cleaning company to complete cleanup at Pulte’s cost. Pulte will coordinate with each call on a case by case basis. This effort is intended to address damage resulting from Pulte’s operations and not typical Coachella Valley conditions. Steps to Better Enforce Construction Hours City of Palm Desert approved hours are posted as such: October 1 through April 30th –Monday through Friday 7:00am to 5:30pm May 1 through September 30th –Monday through Friday 5:30am to 7:00pm & Saturday 8am-5pm Pulte Homes has communicated the City’s permitted work hours schedule to all subcontractors and is insisting on strict compliance. Pulte will continue to monitor to insure all workers comply with the City’s approved work schedules. Please report any violations to 1-877-724-6593 Revised Construction Access Plan All routine construction traffic in and out of the project will ingress/egress off Gerald Ford. Due to both efficiencies and safety concerns, we would like to keep the export trucking to access the site via Julie Lane and exit onto Gerald Ford as originally agreed upon with the City via the approved addendum to the PM10 plan (see attached PM 10 plan). The remaining export operation (trucking) is currently scheduled to resume on July 8 and anticipated to be complete by July 19. Once the trucking operation for export is complete, this access would be closed to construction traffic and opened upon completion of the design improvements. To insure no early arrival, we commit to have a monitor staged at Julie Lane and Portola in early morning hours to prohibit trucks to enter Julie Lane until city approved work hours. Revised Construction Staging Area Construction staging for equipment, water tanks, material and parking will be established to try and keep a reasonable separation from neighboring homes. As construction progresses, staging location will vary but in the near term (by 7/5/24), Construction staging will be located in the general vicinity shown on image below. As construction progresses and staging requires relocation Pulte will coordinate with City inspector to establish an acceptable location Perimeter Wall Heights and Stability Pulte is currently evaluating the condition of the existing perimeter wall along the southern and eastern boundaries and will repair any damage caused by project operations. At the request of a few residents, Pulte will consider supplemental measures to stabilize and potentially increase the height of certain wall segments in coordination with the adjacent homeowners if circumstances warrant. Grading Benches for Walls: 1.The primary reasons to grade a bench for a wall is to cover the concrete footing and provide stability for the wall. 2.A secondary reason to provide a bench at the base of a wall is for maintenance reasons.In situations where you have 2-to-1 slopes (steep slopes), a bench (or a flat surface) at the top can be beneficial depending on the type of ground surface or planting Del Webb Explore –Project Timeline Currently, Del Webb Explore is in rough grading phase of development which is anticipated to reach completion the end of July 2024. Based upon timing of remaining approvals & construction cycle times Pulte forecasts Land Development operations to be substantially complete in spring of 2025. And, with real estate market predictions, Pulte forecasts sales and construction of Explore’s 332 homes to start as early as December 2024 and continue into spring of 2027. Drainage and Flood Control Improvements •As explained by the City’s engineering consultant Tim Jonasson, approximately 2/3 of the project site drained to the south and east in the natural, pre-development condition (see Slide 18). •Mr. Jonasson also explained that the approved grading and hydrology plans require storm water and drainage from all developed lots and streets drain to the north to the retention basin adjacent to Gerald Ford Drive. •The only water that will reach the open space buffer along the southern and eastern boundaries is rainfall landing directly on that limited area, which is a small fraction of pre-development flows. Drainage and Flood Control Improvements Continued: •In the existing condition (pre-development), approximately 38.9 acres drain to the southeast corner. •Per the City Drainage Ordinance, the Engineer is to review the impacts of the 100-year, 24-hour storm. When reviewing those impacts, it’s clear that Retention Basin A and Retention Basin B generate little to no ponding depth (red boxed and highlighted on the attached). However, as a conservative measure, MSA reviews all storms, i.e., the 1-, 3-, 6-, and 24-hour storms. In the proposed condition (post-development), approximately 2.4 acres drain to the south and southeast retention basins. These 2.4 acres represent approximately 0.14 acre-feet of runoff in the 100-year storm, 1-hour storm. Additionally, these retention basins don’t receive any runoff from residential lots or streets. As discussed in the neighborhood meeting, this project sits on the top of the blow sand ridgeline. There are several hundred feet of blow sand below the surface and percolation tests performed, prior to development, recorded percolation rates around 50 inches per hour. A 100-year storm will drop 4 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. The existing soil has the capacity to infiltrate storms much larger than the 100-year storm. When reviewing the maximum capacity of these retention basins (maximum capacity defined as, ‘depth equal to the lowest adjacent pad elevation’), we find both Basin A and B have the equivalent capacity to hold a 500 year storm. A 500-year storm is roughly 1.6 times the rainfall in a 100-year storm. Drainage and Flood Control Improvements Continued: •Using a straight comparison, the proposed drainage condition reduces the tributary area to the south and southeast corner by 36.5 acres or 94 percent. These calculations are not typically required by the City and are not included in the hydrology report, but are provided to further clarify our drainage approach. •The method used to grade and drain the project protects the existing and proposed residents, and reduces the flood risk of existing residences along the south and east sides by redirecting the runoff to north. Elevation of Finished Pads Along Southern and Eastern Perimeter of Project. •The pad elevations were approved with the Specific Plan in 2022, and the lot elevations along the southern or eastern perimeter have never been raised since. •All final pad elevations were confirmed in the grading plans recently approved by the City in Spring 2024. •The lots along the southern and southeastern perimeter have been certified by the project engineer to conform to the approved pad elevations, and those pad certifications have been delivered to the City and are available for public review. Elevation of Finished Pads Along Southern and Eastern Perimeter of Project -Continued: 1.The key tie-in elevation for this project is Julie Lane. 2.With the Julie Lane elevation established (approximately 288.0), MSA designed streets at minimum slope (0.5%) to keep the streets and pad elevation as low as practical.0.5% slope is the minimum allowable street slope in the City of Palm Desert. 3.There is approximately 2,500 linear feet from the Julie Lane intersection to the southeast corner of the project. 4.Pad elevations are set a little more than a foot above the top of curb adjacent to the lot.Pad elevations are set as low as practical while still providing flood protection and positive slope to the streets. Resident concern checklist: Monique Bond•Concern: Sand in pool. Action: Pulte met with resident on 7/1/24 and has hired a pool company to clean pool and filters. Linda Candler and Charles Cronenweth•Concern: Pad Elevation and Slope. Action: Pulte Engineer (MSA) provided approved pad elevation and approved 2:1 slope. Along with line of sight exhibit. Jana and Peter Koroczynsky•Concern: Pad Elevation. Action: Pulte Engineer -MSA Consulting provided approved pad elevation information to resident. MSA is also verifying resident pad elevation. Certified pads have been provided to City to post on website for residents to verify our pads.•Concern: Slope. Action: Pulte Engineer provided plan information regarding approved 2:1 slope.•Concern: Drainage. Action: Pulte Engineer has provided approved drainage information to resident.•Concern: Pulte not allowing private surveyors to check pads. Action: Pulte has granted access for private surveyors to access for pad verification. Eglert Gutierrez and Maria Torres•Concern: Line of Sight. Action: Pulte and Engineer currently discussing response. We will respond by 7/4. Liz Bower•Concern: Pad Elevation. Action: Pulte Engineer providing approved pad elevation information. Offered to confirm their pad elevation. Questions Regarding Sight-line and Privacy: 1.MSA Provided a Site Line Analysis along the southern boundary where pads are roughly 10’ above neighbor lots. 2.Study indicates that a 6’ individual cannot view the rear yard of neighbors 3.Neighbor provided image indicating 6’ individual could see over and down to neighbors yard. 4.Pulte refutes the assertion. The average eye-line is 4”-5” below the top of head. An individual 6’ or shorter would be looking directly into the wall. 5.Pulte asserts that, in general, individuals 6’4” and shorter would be restricted from viewing Neighbor’s lots. 6.See Section on the following slide Questions Regarding Sight-line and Privacy: Additional Steps to Address Neighbor Concerns •Certain homeowners have requested confirmation of their pad elevations and the adjacent project pad elevations. Pulte’s surveyors and engineers at MSA are conducting the requested verifications and communicating directly with the homeowners. •Pulte will allow homeowners to hire their own surveyor/engineer to confirm this information, who will be given permission to access the project site and verify pad elevations (subject to appropriate safety and insurance arrangements). Why can’t Pulte and City explore lowering those elevations? Pulte did explore lowering the pad elevations with our Civil Engineer and the existing graded condition would not allow this to happen without significant impacts to the existing residents and the Pulte project. These impacts include: •Directing potential storm flows toward the neighboring properties; and •Substantial extension of the timeline to complete the grading and land development improvements. Addition Landscaping Along Open Space Buffer Pulte will work with the City and the project landscape architect to provide additional landscaping in the buffer areas to soften views toward the new homes. Pulte will also provide a community meeting with the residents along the southern and eastern boundaries to review the enhanced buffer landscape plan.