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meeting on August 27th but I am hopeful that you will have an opportunity to read this email prior <br />to making and decisions. I also hope that you closely consider the thoughts, needs, and desires of <br />the surrounding community, Draft EIR, the Planning Department Staff, and the Developer as well as <br />the needs of the City of Santa Ana as whole. <br /> <br />I am a resident of Santa Ana and have no affiliation to the developer other than I have discussed <br />this project at length with him so that I fully understand it and he hears my thoughts on it. I initially <br />sent him a scathing list of things that were wrong with his project after the Sunshine Ordinance <br />Meeting. To my surprise, he spoke to me and took some of my thoughts into consideration…not <br />all, but some. Some were not remotely reasonable while others still should maybe even be <br />considered now. <br /> <br />There is a fair amount of public opposition to this project, however do not believe that those who <br />are most vocal speak for everyone. I for one was previously very opposed to this project. <br />However, the more that I learn about it and also the needs of our city, the more I become in favor <br />it. I am not alone in this thought process. Even though the most vocal crowd will be opposed, rest <br />assured that there are a fair number of residents in the area who are in favor of this type of <br />development for a variety of reasons. There are some that are even afraid to speak up because <br />they do not want to be viewed as not being neighborly or they once opposed it and now are <br />neutral or even in support of it when weighing the alternatives. The North Santa Ana Preservation <br />Alliance (NSAPA) does not speak for everyone in our end of town. There are a lot of folks who even <br />despite being opposed to the project on their survey are now saying, "Let's make this project the <br />best we can for our community." <br /> <br />I would like to address what I believe to be the main opposition: <br /> <br />The Developer Is Not Listening to Us! <br />You will likely hear folks say that the Developer is not listening to NSAPA. This is simply not true. <br />Yes, it is still a residential development, which they are opposed to, however the Developer has <br />made significant changes to the project based upon community feedback during council meetings, <br />neighborhood meetings, direct discussions, etc… Some of these changes may be considered minor <br />while others are quite extensive and likely changed the economics of the project for the <br />Developer. For example: <br />· There is no longer an egress on Edgewood which will significantly reduce cut through <br />traffic. This looks to have been in response to the community concern about cut through <br />traffic in PS. Now for a resident of 2525 to leave through PS, it will be very difficult <br />requiring at least one U-Turn and a left turn and the traffic lights associated with such. <br />· They increased the set back against the back wall. This is not required by code by the <br />way. This was in response to the community being concerned about the project being too <br />close to residential back yards. <br />· They are doing a "stair step" on the levels in the back of the project- from 3 to 4 to 5 <br />stories. Again, this appears to have been in response to the community being concerned <br />about the project looking into their backyards.