Coachella Sphere of Influence Sustainability Project

Once a small farming town, Coachella is currently the sixth fastest growing city in California. In partnership with Compass Blueprint, Coachella was able plan for this new growth and shape a vision for it's future.  Located in the Eastern Coachella Valley within Riverside County, the city is poised to double in size through annexation which will significantly increase it's sphere of influence. Coachella is in a position to define a new image and a new reality for itself.

Goals

• Create livable neighborhoods in new developments and manage long-term population growth in the old city boundaries and the newly annexed areas
• Develop plan to upgrade transportation routes in newly annexed areas including highways, rail lines and the airport
  
• Resolve imbalances between new residents and new employment by creating new economic opportunities
  
• Create various commercial districts to provide employment and activity clusters
  
• Create a new and cohesive image for the City of Coachella

This Compass Blueprint project was the first step in evaluating key planning issues and proposing appropriate and creative physical, policy, economic, and social solutions. The recommendations report is a summary of the work completed for the project, and provides design concepts for circulation and land use within the study areas as well as policy recommendations. The report presents: Regional and site-specific background information for the City of Coachella and the selected study areas; Summary of the strategic framework session and the City's perspective with regard to growth; Synopsis of guiding principles for growth; Circulation and land use concepts that integrate the various focus areas of the City; and Implementation principles and recommendations for managing and directing incremental growth over the next 20 years.

Through a strategic framework session, it became apparent that the City envisions itself becoming a balanced community with opportunities for all segments of society to live, work, play, and learn. This Demonstration Project provided planning tools for the City to achieve this vision and assist with General Plan update efforts.

Results

• Study Area: comprised of 8,474 acres, with a build-out population of 250,000 residents and 115,000 jobs
• Land use recommendations with implementation strategies
• Provided design concepts for circulation—expand road capacity by adding more lanes on major
• Create clusters of new residential and employment to shorten commute times and reduce burden on transportation infrastructure. Plan for future public transportation.
• Develop six distinct districts within the downtown area. This would include the Airport, Entertainment, Village, Downtown, Education and Ave 62 districts. Each district will have specific attributes, such a walking esplanade in the Village District, to meet its specific needs.
• Expand road capacity by adding more lanes on major routes through town. Expand runway lengths at the airport
• Create conservation policies to reduce the demand for water and other limited resources

Update

The Sphere of Influence Study was presented to the City Council after completion as an informational item.  The study had two important and influential effects in the City of Coachella, the first was to point the way towards a downtown area specific plan, which became the goal of a subsequent Compass Blueprint Demo Project, and the second was to reevaluate the pattern of residential development.  The City of Coachella was able to demonstrate to the community of Thermal, located to the south, that the city could grow the industrial job base in a way that would be sensitive to the environmental concerns of regional neighbors.