Proposed surf park in California desert is rejected by La Quinta City Council
A group of residents, activists and environmental organizations from California led an attempt early last month to get a special permit to develop a surf park in the town of La Quinta in Riverside County.
The proposal will be heard at a public meeting at 6 p.m. April 16 at the La Quinta City Hall, 225 W. E Street, La Quinta. It is an opportunity for citizens to share views, comment on the proposal and make known their concerns on the surf industry.
The La Quinta city council unanimously in its meeting on Monday night approved the ordinance that will allow the project. The council also voted in favor of an additional amendment to the ordinance that makes it possible for the project to be carried out under the current city ordinances.
The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, also known as the Board and later as the Water Board, is the governing body for water resource development and regulation in the state. The board has the power to approve permits for the construction of water resource facilities.
The board approved a permit for a proposed surf industry park in 2014. The project, the San Diego State University Surf Beach Study Project, will be a 1,500-space parking lot where several hundred surfers will be free to use for recreational purposes.
Currently, the La Quinta Unified School District has a surf park at the La Quinta Municipal Beach and the city would like to see another, larger one.
In its meeting Monday night, the council voted in favor of a similar amendment to the city’s Zoning Ordinance that makes it possible to approve the project as long as all the state environmental review requirements are met.
The proposal will give a permit to the San Diego Surf Company. It is the third permit the company has requested from the state’s water board.
In its lawsuit, the developer, the San Diego Surf Company, had sought a permit to build a project similar to the San Diego State study. The first permit expired in January 2015, and the second did not renew its permit last year. The company appealed the denial of the application to the water board.
On April 19, the water board ruled that the San Diego
