Some of us travel in the winter time in our fancy RV's & 5th Wheel Trailers... Bad news...The City of Palm Desert is forcing the sale of the 5 Star***** RV & Golf Resort to a develper from San Diego. They feel that the land is wasted on the Snowbirds and they can make more money on the housing. I know this park and it has HIGH standards. When is enough is enough. I like good development too, but when are we over steping the rights of the land owners. Some people who have been coming down for years say it is a sad day. They will try other parks next year in Indio & Desert Hot Springs...but it will never be the same.
Please post your coments... We'd like to hear them on this.
David
When Emerald Desert RV Park and Golf Resort in Palm Desert closed for good a year ago this week, it devastated the close-knit community of RV enthusiasts who came to the park every year.
"It was disheartening to us," recalled Elbert Davis of Twin Falls, Idaho, who had been coming to the park with his wife, Sue, since 2003. "We were told we had to get out of here; the bulldozers were coming."
Known for its green lawns, friendly staff and resort-like amenities - pool, tennis courts and 9-hole golf course - the 80-acre facility was sold in 2005. The new owner, San Diego development firm Taylor Morrison, planned to replace the park with a residential development called Spanish Walk.
But the drop in new home sales in the Coachella Valley has left Spanish Walk in a state of semi-suspended development, giving a second life to Emerald Desert and the small convoy of park regulars who, like the Davises, quickly returned.
"It's a really choice place," Davis said, sitting with his wife in the couple's rig last week. "As long as (it's) open, we'll come."
Representatives from Taylor Morrison were unavailable for comment Monday.
The company owns about 48 acres of the original site at 75-600 Gerald Ford Drive, with Emerald Desert, in a somewhat scaled-back version, on the remaining 32 acres.
Original plans for Spanish Walk included 711 single-family houses and a 106-unit apartment complex. A handful of houses have been built, and the apartment complex could break ground in the next two to three months.
"We have plans in plan check, and the city is reviewing them," said Taylor Grant, regional vice president for Western National Group, the Irvine company building the apartments.
That project will not affect Emerald Desert, which is running with 240 RV spaces instead of its former 760, and a golf course whittled down to two practice holes, said Neil Brandom, a principal in Brooks Street, the Newport Beach developer that owns the park.
"The housing market has caused the project to unfold slower than initially projected," Brandom said, referring to Spanish Walk.
Emerald Desert "will probably operate as an RV park until the market comes back or something else happens," he said.
Sandra Mitchell, general manager of the park, said she has reservations for 2009.
"I put everything back together again like Humpty Dumpty," Mitchell said.
Ted and Muffie Clark of Walnut Creek, park regulars since 1995, are among those who have reserved space for next year.
The appeal? It's "the amenities, just the fact that it's centrally located," Ted Clark said.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Don