CORRESPONDENCE - #37 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 20, Item 2: I am glad to see that an amnesty program will be implemented so as to not criminalize unpermitted units which might lead to displacement of families and residents in the city. I learned recently that in the 1980s Santa Ana attempted to implement an agressive code enforcement program which threatened to displace mostly lower income Mexican families at the time. I am glad to see that we are attempting to learn from mistakes of the past. Page 32, Item 33: It is applaudable that the City will implement the necessary framework and administrative infrastructure necessary to enforce the RSO and JCEO. Since the enactment of the two ordinances, tenants and landlords in Santa Ana must rely upon expensive, slow, and inaccessible court processes to seek remedy in tenant -landlord disputes. Local enforcement and administration has been discussed by community groups previously and policy recommendations have been submitted to the public record leading up to the enactment of the RSO and JCEO. Page 33, Item 34: While it is applaudable that the city aims to assist first time homebuyers with down payments on a mortgage, it is still a loan which many in Santa Ana may struggle to make payments on. While I understand that any outstanding balance is forgiven after 40 years of on time payments, and that the intent of making it a zero interest loan is to ensure sustainability of the funds, there needs to be a coupling of this program with incentives of current property owners to sell current units at or below market rates to those who qualify for the first time homebuyer loans or to community based organizations focused on permanent housing affordability such as a CLT. $120,000 will continue to constitute a smaller and smaller percentage of the sales prices if/as inventory remains low in Santa Ana and thus prices perpetually increasing. Page 36, Item 43: It is applaudable that the city aims to increase the supply of units by streamlining the ADU process. However, there is still no incentive to ensure that already dense neighborhoods aren't made even more dense while others increase the number of properties with Historical protections thus remaining as lower density neighborhoods in perpetuity. Landlords of properties in the historically highly dense Lacy neighborhoods and French Park neighborhoods are now utilizing streamlined ADU processes to increase housing supply at the expense of parking and green space while rents of already existing units continue to increase without a similar increase in quality (nay - a decrease at that with the loss of parking and green space).