“Forever Marilyn” is one step closer to planting her feet in the middle of Museum Way after a decision by the Palm Springs Planning Commission on Wednesday.

The 4-0 vote sets the stage for the city to allow the 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe to permanently remain in its place despite years of pushback. It represents a win for PS Resorts, a hotel industry group which owns the statue and has advocated for its placement, while providing a setback for the Committee to Relocate Marilyn, a group of residents who have sued the city in an attempt to force the statue to be moved.

Without making any comments, commissioners voted to recommend the city council vacate the portion of Museum Way on which “Forever Marilyn” stands.

In a memo to the commission, the Engineering Services Department said “Forever Marilyn”‘s placement on Museum Way fell in line with the city’s general plan.

Members of the Board of Directors for PS Resorts did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The vote is the latest in a series of actions the city has taken to ensure the statue can legally stay in place. In December, the council voted 4-1 in favor of amending the Downtown Palm Springs Specific Plan in regards to Museum Way, opening the door to keeping the “Forever Marilyn” statue in its current location permanently.

The action was in part an attempt to counteract one of the arguments in the lawsuit against the city, which claimed Palm Springs could not close a public street without holding a public hearing. The city initially sidestepped this requirement by saying the street closure was temporary. However, a 4th District Court of Appeal ruling in 2023 stated that while cities can close roads for as long as a few weeks, a multi-year closure was not allowed.

The lawsuit is still moving through the court system, but a vote by city council could nullify the need for any further developments.

“Because CReMa‘s current lawsuit is based on the theory that the City’s temporary vacation of this street was not permitted under the California Vehicle Code, this permanent vacation under the California Streets and Highways Code would render the substance of their current lawsuit moot,” City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger wrote in an email to The Desert Sun.

Still, lawyers representing CReMa sent the planning commission a letter prior to the meeting arguing the statue does not, in fact, conform to the city’s general plan, and an environmental review is necessary before the statue can be legally placed.

“The official street vacation process is what should have been done back in 2021 prior to the statue being installed,” said Trina Turk, a Palm Springs business owner who helped found CReMA. “It’s sort of like they’re going backwards to do what they should have done several years ago.”

She said deficiencies in the application to the planning commission provided grounds for future legal action, adding she would have to consult with her attorneys if the city moved forward with the street vacation process. A GoFundMe page hosted by he group has raised $112,930.

“All we want is the statue to be moved off museum way,” she added. “We recognize that it’s a valid tourist attraction, but being architectural preservationists, we believe that the placement in front of the museum is inappropriate and also illegal.”

The matter will next be taken up by the city council at a future meeting.

This story includes previous reporting by Desert Sun journalist Paul Albani-Burgio.

Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: ‘Forever Marilyn’ gets closer to permanently staying on Museum Way