Palm Springs officials consider canopy amnesty

Palm Springs officials on Wednesday continued to consider a sweeping new policy that potentially would give amnesty to hundreds of residents with canopy structures in their yards and driveways. Planning staff conservatively estimates there are at least 200 canopies across the city, typically used for shaded parking, pool covers and other uses, that violate city zoning code or don't have the proper permits.

Members of the commission took up the issue at a study session Wednesday. Commissioners Jon Caffery, Tracy Conrad and Leslie Munger did not attend the meeting. The commission began in October shaping a new policy and procedures that would legalize many of the existing canopies.

Each canopy has its own set of circumstances, and city planners hope to provide a policy that would provide a solution to 85 percent to 95 percent of the canopies, Palm Springs Director of Planning Services Craig Ewing said.

But it likely will take a while to ensure that such a policy is fair to all applicants, he said. Ewing didn't know when the commission would pass something along to the City Council for final approval.

Amnesty could be available to canopies that stray too close to the property line under the residential setback standards, but any canopies that violate state building codes and pose potential health and safety threats would have to be fixed or removed, Ewing said.

On Wednesday, the four commission members present said they'd like the amnesty policy to cover any canopies erected up to the day the new ordinance eventually takes effect. They also called for a one-year period to allow canopy owners to come forward to apply for amnesty.

The amnesty policy also could apply to illegally constructed gazebos, the commissioners said.

Commissioner Doug Hudson did not want to see amnesty for owners using canopies for shaded parking because they were using their garages for storage instead. Other commissioners agreed.

They also opted for a 400-square-foot maximum area per canopy, and that canopies could receive amnesty even if they violated setbacks — but as long as they were no closer than one foot to the property line.

Ewing said city staff plans to survey the city to give commissioners more details on how many canopies are out there.

“There was confusion in the community. There wasn't bad faith, necessarily,” commissioner Doug Donenfeld said. “We've just begun to scratch the surface on this.”