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Page 2 of 2 <br />how the City could effectively increase parkland including raising its parkland standard to 3 <br />acres per 1,000 residents, which is recommended for a City the size of Santa Ana, and a <br />No -Net -Loss of Open Space Policy that would ensure that any open space land lost to <br />development that is not 100% affordable, would be replaced at a 1-to-1 ratio. The October 6th <br />letter is included with this letter. One important thing to note is that the October 6th letter <br />provides an inaccurate figure for the City's current and projected parkland deficit. The City <br />revised the City's current and projected parkland deficit figures after the letter was sent. <br />The October 6th letter also provided policy language for a No -Net -Loss of Open Space Policy <br />("the Policy") that would not only help preserve the City's existing parkland, but actually create <br />more parkland through the preservation and repurposing of the City's current open space land. <br />By the City's own admission at the Planning Commission meetings on September 13, 2021 and <br />November 8, 2021, the City's parkland is so acute that it feels there is no way of increasing the <br />supply of parkland to a proper level. This is true if the City only uses its existing parkland to <br />address its parkland deficit as the City currently proposes to do in the General Plan. However, <br />the Policy language the Coalition provided proposes that open space, not just parkland, is <br />preserved so that it can be repurposed as publicly accessible parkland. This open space land <br />includes properties like the Willowick Golf Course. The Policy the Coalition proposes is a viable <br />solution for addressing the City's park deficit. <br />Other Environmental Justice Concerns <br />In addition to concerns over the General Plan not addressing the City's current and future <br />parkland deficit, the Coalition would also like to acknowledge that there are other EJ issues the <br />City's General Plan does not adequately address. Community groups like Orange County <br />Environmental Justice, Madison Park Neighborhood Association, Santa Ana Active <br />Transportation, the Kennedy Commission, and Thrive Santa Ana have raised concerns over the <br />fact that the General Plan policies will not solve issues over air quality, lead contamination of <br />soil, mobility, and the intensification of development in the City's proposed 5 Focus Areas that <br />will likely facilitate the displacement of current residents. The City claims it has done extensive <br />community outreach over the last year. While there were multiple EJ forums and an EJ survey <br />where residents and community groups raised the concerns mentioned in this letter, the City's <br />General Plan does not fully, or even majorly, address them. The Coalition believes that true <br />community engagement is not just about how many opportunities for community input the City <br />hosts, but a true effort to address the input residents provide. <br />For all the reasons stated in this letter we ask that the Council not adopt the General Plan <br />being proposed tonight and instead direct Staff to work with residents and community <br />groups to develop policies that actually address community needs, including the <br />No -Net -Loss of Open Space Policy. <br />Please contact Cynthia Guerra at cguerra@riseupwillowick.org if you have any questions. <br />Sincerely, <br />The Rise Up Willowick Coalition <br />