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A City With a Vision

By Gayl Biondi

Seen Right: New playground equipment at Veterans Park is an example of park improvements being made throughout the city.
Photo by Robin Carroll

Coachella is a city with a vision. The former farming hamlet has grown in a measured, thoughtful way from a modest 2.5 square miles to 32 square miles and a population of nearly 40,000. It is the fastest-growing city in the Coachella Valley, and in the top 20 fastest-growing cities in California. Coachella is a stable, year-round family community offering jobs in manufacturing, processing, education, construction, and entertainment. One of the engines driving Coachella’s growth is the old real estate buzzword — location.

All roads lead to Coachella. Its placement at the confluence of Interstate 10 and California Highway 86 makes Coachella an integral transportation hub with a market reach to 25 million people and growing from Los Angeles to Phoenix to Mexicali. Riverside County’s expansion of nearby Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport and the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership’s pursuit of business relationships along NAFTA Highway 86 into northern Mexico’s business parks put Coachella squarely in the driver’s seat.

The city’s blueprint for growth — its General Plan — is being updated with a revised housing element and several smart growth and “green building” principles. City planners and community leaders see it as an opportunity to address issues such as jobs/housing balance, pedestrian circulation in the downtown corridor, multi-modal transportation resources, and reduction of greenhouse gases. A visioning process in the late 1990s led to the formation of a 4,500-acre Commercial Entertainment District.

The plan envisions commercial and entertainment uses that could include hotels, golf courses, a sports complex, theme park, equestrian center, and New Urban sustainable neighborhoods. The district will offer a unique opportunity for town building over the next two decades that capitalizes on the city’s gateway location within the Coachella Valley. The American Planning Association’s Inland Empire section liked Coachella’s vision so well that it gave the city its Comprehensive Planning Award for small jurisdictions. The plan subsequently received an Award of Merit at the statewide level, placing second in its category. The award will be presented to the city at the annual Planning Association conference in October.

Plans for the redevelopment of downtown Coachella into a unified, pedestrian-friendly Pueblo Viejo (Old Town) that celebrates its historic agriculture roots are also beginning to take shape. The city is considering various options for a new city hall in the downtown corridor near other community centers, such as the public library and senior center.

Elsewhere within city limits, nearly 1,700 acres are zoned for clean industry, with available parcels ranging in size from one to 250 acres. Williams Mechanical Inc. is relocating its Palm Desert corporate headquarters to a 38,400-square-foot facility on Enterprise Way in the Rancho Coachella Business Park. Fulton Distributing broke ground on its new 66,368-squarefoot office and distribution facility nearby in February and expects to take occupancy later this year. Founded locally in 1950, the wholesaler of paper goods and janitorial supplies was purchased in 2000 by three former corporate executives. Throughout the negotiating process, the partners found Coachella to be business-friendly and responsive.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Southern California expects to complete the 61,512-square-foot Phase One of their 92,100- square-foot distribution center on Industrial Way in 2008, bringing approximately 100 jobs. Ondrell Girtley manages Coca-Cola’s current sales center in Cathedral City and looks forward to moving into the new Coachella facility. “We’ve outgrown our location and, even though we’ve had a great relationship with Cathedral City, logistics studies demonstrated to us that we needed to move east. In Coachella, we found a friendly, inviting, open, and cooperative business atmosphere and good location with access to Interstate 10. It’s the perfect place for us to build an expanded sales center,” says Girtley.

Adding to the value of an investment in Coachella are employer/employee incentive programs offered by the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone and the Desert Communities Empowerment Zone. The Enterprise Zone recently received a new 15-year extension designation, ensuring its ability to continue providing value-added reasons to do business in and around Coachella. Businesses and residents also enjoy competitive electricity costs from Imperial Irrigation District, a consumer-owned provider, and high-quality water and sewer services through a municipal water and wastewater system.

Retail is booming everywhere you look in Coachella. The Coachella Gateway Center boasts 198,000 square feet of shopping and is anchored by Food 4 Less. Jackson Square, now leasing its second phase, will encompass 136,452 square feet over 19 acres and is anchored by an Albertsons/Sav-On Drug “combo store.” Additional tenants include Bank of America, Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Mario’s Restaurant.

Coming on line in the near future to add to the mix are Plaza Harrison, with 24,000 square feet; Van Buren Plaza, offering 50,832 square feet of commercial space on 7.19 acres, including a Fresh & Easy Market from the United Kingdom’s retail giant, Tesco; and Van Buren Village, to be anchored by a 39,690-square-foot Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and a Longs Drugs. Name-brand businesses that open here often find their Coachella location to be No. 1 in sales, thanks to willing consumers with a pent-up demand for their products.

At the southeast end of the valley, College of the Desert’s proposed East Valley Campus will be perched along South Highway 86 Parkway, between Avenue 60 and Avenue 62, on the southern border of Coachella’s sphere of influence. The campus will certainly anchor that portion of Coachella’s future growth and development, not only in residential housing, but also in retail and commercial activities.

With new businesses continuing to relocate to Coachella, sales tax revenue is up — to more than $2.4 million in the last fiscal year. Funds are being invested in infrastructure and community services such as parks, recreation, and public safety, making the community more self-sufficient as time goes on. The Police Department added six officers and updated the Coachella substation to optimize its community-oriented policing strategy. The city hired a full-time Parks and Recreation Manager to identify needs and look for resource-sharing opportunities with schools, where early intervention can encourage physical activity to discourage health problems for children and their families.

An extensive $6.5 million capital improvement project is underway to enhance several of the city’s public parks. Bagdouma Park is in line to receive new landscaping, a walking trail, playground, spray park and renovations to its sports fields. Dateland Park, which shares a parking lot with Bobbie Duke Middle School and a Boys & Girls Club facility, is set to be the site of Coachella’s first skate park, along with a new playground, spray park, and walking trail.

The city and the Coachella Chamber of Commerce continue to nurture and develop activities ranging from a weekly street fair to a fledgling Latino Film Festival to spotlight their youthful population. Coachella Valley Parks and Recreation sponsors free concerts and movies at Veteran’s Park.

Mayor Eduardo Garcia personifies the youth and enthusiasm of Coachella’s citizenry, whose median age is 26. “Coachella has the youngest population in the Coachella Valley. That energy is what’s driving policymakers to reinvest in the older parts of our community with new parks and public facilities, as well as develop our commercial and retail core to keep our tax revenues in our city and provide our residents with more choices,” says Mayor Garcia.

With its sights set squarely on a bright and prosperous future, the Coachella City Council and staff continue to build a solid foundation through sound planning and resource development. The groundwork being laid today will enhance and improve the lives of the people who live and work here for generations to come.

Mayor Eduardo Garcia Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Villarreal Courtesy City of Coachella	Council Members Steven Hernandez Richard Macknicki Gilbert Ramirez Jr.	Year Incorporated 1946 Population 38,486	Median Household Income $34,800
		Prado by Rilington Homes is one of many new residential developments in Coachella. Photo by Andrea Carranza
		Architect’s rendering of the new 61,000-sq.-ft. Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Southern California to open in 2008. Courtesy Cadiz Cadiz Architects
		Fulton Distributing, a 66,368-sq.-ft. office and distribution facility opening later this year. Photo by Robin Carroll
		Coachella is an active agriculture business center for growers, harvesters, processors, shippers and produce brokers. Photo by Robin Carroll
		Jackson Square, a 136,452-square-foot retail center on 19 acres, providing new shopping for residents. Photo by Robin Carroll
		Starbucks coffee recently opened their second location in Coachella. Photo by Robin Carroll