Northern Palm Springs residents, local leaders discuss COD’s West Valley campus
Residents gathered in the northern part of Palm Springs Tuesday as the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association held a community meeting. One of the hot topics, the long-awaited College of the Desert West Valley campus.
The college's Palm Springs campus has been in the works since 2004, however, there is still nothing to show for it. The campus was originally going to be in the Desert Highland Gateway Estate neighborhood after the city donated land to the college in 2010. However, the planned location changed and now the college plans to sell the land to a residential developer.
The city filed a lawsuit against the college on Monday regarding planning records and a smaller campus size than was originally envisioned.
"Eleven years later, COD officials have presented a dramatically reduced campus and now appear to be ready to build a campus of just 114,000 square feet that would not open until 2027 - 28. By that time, nearly 20 years will have passed since COD first voted in 2007 to select Palm Springs for its West Valley campus," said Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton.
Among those in attendance for Tuesday's meeting was Scott Nevin, a Palm Springs resident and city council candidate who believes there’s no excuse for the delay.
“Like children who are in school and are in 7th or 8th grade now will possibly get a chance to go to a campus here in palm springs but for years the opportunity has been lost and it’s disgraceful,” Nevins said.
He explained that millions of taxpayer dollars have gone into the development of the West Valley campus and believes that it needs to be built, the way residents voted for years ago.
“It’s another bait and switch from College of the Desert. Now it’s a smaller scale and it’s not the training hotel that we thought it was going to be. No, the voters approved the money years ago and then approved it again. And so, we should be getting what we deserve at that’s what I’ll fight for,” Nevins said.
On the other hand, Bea Gonzalez, a member of COD's Board of Trustees, said its a project the school has valued for years.
“I’m looking forward to breaking ground on that project,” Gonzalez said.
She said it’s a misconception that the funding is solely for the West Valley campus.
“This bond was for the entire Coachella Valley. It was not ever meant for 60%, almost a billion dollars, specifically located to one place. So you know, that’s the other thing. So again, it’s not that we don’t want to build a campus or we don’t care about the needs, no that’s not it,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says there’s more to the plans than what meets the eye.
"I don’t know the difference between what we’re doing now, which I know, we’ve added more information than has ever been added to the agenda. So obviously, they have their agenda so you know, there’s not a whole lot we can do about that,” Gonzalez said.
The COD Board of Trustees will discuss the campus’ progress on Thursday.
Check Out Some of Our Coverage on the Controversy Surrounding the West Valley Campus:
