By Leslie Andrews

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA- In a session lasting two and a half hours, the Twentynine Palms City Council voted to improve a five year implementation plan, which would consider projects for further review.

The original plan was adopted in 1993 and the eniment domain plan expired in 2004. The city has 23 more years to invest in a new plan. So far, the agency has accomplished the Historical Plaza, the Downtown Specific Plan, the National Park Drive, the Downtown Infrastructure and Land Acquisition. Within the next five years, the city will pay $1.9 million to the school district and the water district for economic development projects. Also, there will be investments made in affordable housing.

City staff has also researched getting grants for the community.

Also, the expectation of completing the historis plaza is set for June of 2010. The city recieved a final agreement that allows them to move forward with the improvements.

There will also be no costs to implement the five-year plan.

Also approved was an ordinance related to abandoned property, which had a unanimous vote, as was a policy setting codes concerning commercial trash bins on residential lots. However, the code proposal regarding cargo containers and the telecommunications code was returned to the Planning Commission for reconsideration and modification.

Frank Thomas, who owns an auto wrecking yard in Twentynine Palms, spoke against some of the segments of the code proposal. “I appreciate the language about portable containers. I do agree with the need for setback requirements. What I do not agree with that you must have approval by the planning commission on an industrial piece of property,” he said.

Councilmembers felt that Thomas’s concerns were legit and that more study is required before an approval could be made.