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Habitat <br />for Humanity® <br />of Orange County <br />Dear Mayor and City Council, <br />Habitat for Humanity of Orange County <br />2200 Ritchey Street <br />Santa Ana, CA 92705 <br />(714)434-6200 Fax: (714) 434-1222 <br />Website: www.habitatoc.org <br />My name is Sharon Ellis, and I am the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. I am in strong <br />support of reducing the $15 per square foot Housing Opportunity Ordinance fee to $5 for ALL Projects - <br />both proposed and entitled - and giving the entitled projects a year to be eligible for the reduced fee. Due to <br />the pandemic and the fact that not ONE development has pulled a permit under the current $15-dollar fee, <br />now is the time to give all projects the staff proposed $5 option - especially projects that are so close to <br />construction. <br />Further, mandating any type of labor can have significant consequences on the cost and viability of a <br />project, especially for a non-profit builder like Habitat OC which uses charity donations and grants to <br />subsidize the cost of construction. In no way am I opposed to skilled or union labor, but these decisions <br />should be made by the applicant and not mandated as a blanket policy by the City. <br />As a member of the Santa Ana community with the location of our corporate office, 30 Habitat homes with <br />2 more on the way, and a member of the Building Industry Association, I thank you for bringing this topic <br />forward and considering the positive impacts reducing this regulation will have on my industry and the <br />residents of Santa Ana. <br />Thank you, <br />Sharon Ellis <br />