The Idyllwild Arts Academy is in the midst of revising its current campus master plan. Riverside County Planning Department has scheduled a hearing on the proposed changes for 1:30 p.m., July 9 at the Desert Permit Assistance Center in Palm Desert.
“The primary reason for the current revision is the relocation of the proposed Performing Arts Complex and Health Center,” said Jon Millhouse, IAA marketing manager, in an email. “Both projects were previously entitled [approved], however the sites have been relocated. The latest revision proposes 17 new structures; however, there are 16 proposed (already approved) structures that are being deleted from the plan.”
The new facility would be a fourth summer cabin, according to Laura Sherman, IAA’s project manger.
“[It will be located] in the children’s area. And each [cabin] is a 900-square-foot dorm unit,” she wrote in a separate email. “Three of these cabins were already approved and a fourth is included in this plot plan revision.”
Although the notice implies significant new parking is being proposed, Sherman explained that all but five new spaces for the health center had been included and approved in prior revisions.
Although the plan describes major changes to the campus in the future, Millhouse stressed that all new construction is dependent upon securing funding. The school does not have a capital program.
“The majority of the proposed improvements, many of which were established on the 1996 plan, have no proposed building schedule,” he said.
During the next few years, the only construction explicitly scheduled is for the health center and some faculty housing, according to Millhouse.
The planning hearing will be at the Desert Permit Assistance Center, 38-686 El Cerrito Road, Palm Desert.