Needles council adopts updated general plan and mitigated negative declaration after debate over Elks parcel and cell-tower rules

The Needles City Council on March 14 adopted a resolution approving the Land Use and Transportation Element of the city’s general plan update and the associated mitigated negative declaration (SCH 2022120053), moving a multi-year planning process closer to final adoption.

Staff and PlaceWorks consultant Colin outlined outreach and key edits: expansion of the downtown core to D Street, refinements to the land-use map to clean up inconsistencies, parking and street-design adjustments to increase downtown parking capacity, multimodal and transportation policies, and updates to the density bonus language to align with state law. Staff said the resolution would meet a grant deadline tied to transportation funding.

The most contested local issue was a single parcel at Lily Hill owned by the Elks Lodge. Councilors and several residents debated three possible designations: keep the current multifamily designation (which would not allow a tower), rezone commercial (towers possible through discretionary hearings), or designate as public facilities (which staff said could allow towers administratively and would make the lodge an existing nonconforming use). Property owners and neighbors raised concerns about notice and visual impacts; Tim Terrell told the council that rezoning the parcel to public facility would allow the lodge to 'walk into City Hall tomorrow, pull a building permit, and there is nothing any of us can do.' Gail Brodbeck, the lodge’s chair, said the Elks are a nonprofit with long local charitable history and argued the parcel can accommodate the proposed tower and activities.

Councilors wrestled with that concern and directed staff to craft ordinance language that would: recognize the Elks Lodge’s existing use, prohibit cannabis uses on the parcel, allow the lodge to continue as a nonconforming use, and require planning-commission or conditional-use review for any tower application so that neighbors have public hearings. Council voted to adopt the general-plan resolution that night and instructed staff to reflect the council’s direction in the ordinance for the second reading.

Why it matters: The general plan sets long-term land-use policy and guides decisions about where housing, manufacturing, commercial activity and public facilities may locate. The council’s direction on the Elks parcel will determine whether a future tower can be approved administratively or must go through public hearings.

What’s next: The resolution is effective now; the ordinance that implements permitted uses and zoning changes requires a second reading and will incorporate the council’s direction on the Elks parcel and tower permitting before returning for final action.