The proposed project involves a Specific Plan Amendment to The Centre at La Quinta Specific Plan to increase the allowable floor area ratio for a new three-story, 125-room Hampton Inn hotel, with a reception area, outdoor pool and patio, and a dog lot, on a 2.8-acre vacant site at the southwest corner of La Quinta Drive and Auto Centre Drive.
Ganddini Group prepared a combined air quality, greenhouse gas, and energy impact analysis in support of the project’s environmental review with the City of La Quinta. The study evaluated regional and localized construction and operational emissions, carbon monoxide hotspot potential, odor impacts, and consistency with the Basin Air Quality Management Plan, along with a project-specific greenhouse gas emissions inventory and an energy demand and efficiency assessment. Because the project is an amendment to an existing Specific Plan, the analysis also compared the proposed hotel’s impacts directly against those previously evaluated and approved for the site under the Specific Plan’s own environmental review.
The study found that construction and operational air quality, greenhouse gas, and energy impacts would all be less than significant. Consistent with the mitigation program carried over from the underlying Specific Plan, the project is required to use Tier 3 or better certified off-road construction equipment above 150 horsepower during site preparation and grading; no operational mitigation was required.
The project’s Specific Plan Amendment and Site Development Permit were approved by the La Quinta City Council in January 2024.