Members of the Indian Cove neighborhood group Say No to Ofland met on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 to discuss the plans submitted to the City of Twentynine Palms by the developers of the Ofland luxury hotel and restaurant complex on December 10, 2024. The group reaffirmed  their resistance to the project after reviewing plan alterations which the developers promoted as Ofland having “listened” to the community via a postcard mailing in December 2024. 

Say No to Ofland sees themselves as "Pro 29." Their opposition to the project is based on the view of the City as outlined in the 2012 General Plan as promoting " high quality of life while preserving the City’s desert, small-town feel', encouraging "high quality development compatible with the Joshua Tree National Park...and City’s desert, small-town character," and preserving "the desert environment and its natural and cultural resources for future generations."

The Ofland development plans were acquired by Public Information Request on January 19, 2025. Revisions to the original Ofland (formally named Yonder) proposal include a reduction in the number of cabins from 130 to 100, and an overall 38% reduction in the scale of support buildings such as lodges, a restaurant, back of house and employee housing. Despite those reductions, the commercial project is still 43% larger than the current residential zoning allows. The entrance, which was a point of contention for those living along a City-required extension of Lear between Highway 62 and Sullivan, has been moved so it’s closer to Highway 62. However, a second entrance off of Lear and Sullivan that would route traffic through the Indian Cove neighborhood to Indian Cove Road (and to Joshua Tree National Park) remains. A traffic study predicts an increase of 850 vehicle trips per day over current neighborhood traffic. 

Also still in the plan is an 20-foot high outdoor movie screen which received heated criticism from residents in neighboring homes at Ofland meetings, and a stargazing area. While Dark Sky lighting is promised, still missing is modeling of the effect of 105 buildings and associated lighting on the night sky visible to the neighborhood and visitors to the Indian Cove Campground.

Say No to Ofland Executive Committee member Rich Good kicked the meeting off:

We are not anti-growth - we are Pro 29 and pro meaningful development that benefits our city, its residents and its landscape.

The proposed Ofland development here in Indian Cove is an issue for our neighborhood because it crosses many lines that affect us all, some directly and some indirectly. The Ofland resort doesn’t appear to have been planned with any due care or attention to the very city it proposes to benefit. On the contrary, the deeper you look at the plan, the thinner its disguise as a back-to-nature camping resort becomes, and the more apparent its intent as an opportunistic money grab is exposed. As an organization from Houston Texas it's unsurprising that the leadership is not really in tune with the high desert of California and how its community and wildlife are affected by developments such as these. That’s where, as a community, it's important that we question such a bold development and stand up for our rights as neighborhood residents before it's too late. Once Ofland is built there’s no going back. It, and its side effects will simply be a part of daily life in Indian Cove.

Say No to Ofland believes that the Ofland luxury hotel and restaurant complex would better benefit the City of Twentynine Palms if located in commercial zoning on the eastern side of town. Instead it's proposed on the west side of town and includes a restaurant open from 6am to 10pm and retail, compromising the potential benefit to Twentynine Palms businesses promoted by the developer. Further the project is located on prime residential real estate needed for housing that's also an environmentally sensitive wildlife corridor. 

Several Twentynine Palms residents appear to agree that the project is ill suited to its proposed location.

The group tallied responses to a (date) Facebook post authored by Twentynine Palms City Councilmember Octavious Scott which read “There's a project in the works to develop 100 cabins in the Indian Cove neighborhood for tourists called Ofland. I'd like to get the community's feedback. Currently that area is zoned residential. Should the city change the zoning to allow this development." Out of 159 participants in the discussion, just 11 were in favor of the Ofland project while 118 voice opposition. The remaining comments asked questions or didn’t take a position.

Say No to Ofland has also distributed a Change.org petition that has garnered 780 verified signatures to date.

A list of questions about the project was sent by the group to Luke Searcy, head of development for Ofland Hotels. The list included inquires about the project layout including how traffic through the neighborhood would be controlled; environmental impacts and committing to a full environmental impact report; explaining potential pay and benefits and discrepancies in the number of jobs offered; and details on city revenue benefits.

Searcy declined to answer to the neighborhood group, writing that Ofland would update its online FAQ “so that it’s accessible to everyone.” Searcy's addressing of responses to "everyone" rather than the Indian Cove neighborhood most affected reiterates the “divide and conquer” strategy mentioned by the Ofland representative when the project was first announced in November 2023. 

Image: Desert tortoise on the border of the parcel currently in escrow to Ofland.