Item 27 - Appeal Application Nos. 2020-03 and 2020-04 - Central Pointe Mixed-Use Development

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Shawn Smallwood, PhD 31o8 Finch Street Davis, CA 95616 Selena Kelaher, Associate Planner City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza, M-20 Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Central Pointe Mixed -Use Dear Ms. Kelaher, 5 November 2020 I write to comment on the 26 October 2020 Staff Report prepared for the proposed Central Pointe Mixed -Use project, which I understand would convert 8.03 acres of open space to 644 residential units and 15,130 sf of commercial floor space at 18oi East Fourth Street. In support of my comments, I reviewed the 2007 Programmatic EIR (City of Santa Ana 2007) and the 2018 Supplemental EIR (City of Santa Ana 2018), upon both of which the Staff Report relies. The two 8-story buildings would protrude 86 feet into the aerohabitat of many birds. Given the recent trend of increasing use of structural glass on the fagades of new buildings, given the Staff Report's depictions of abundant glass in the proposed buildings, and given the emerging scientific understanding of the magnitude and implications of bird -window collision mortality, the impacts analysis and mitigation measures upon which the Staff Report relies are inadequate. I write to comment on potential project impacts to birds, and particularly to special -status species of birds, that would be caused by the abundant use of glass in the project. My qualifications for preparing expert comments are the following. I hold a Ph.D. degree in Ecology from University of California at Davis, where I subsequently worked for four years as a post -graduate researcher in the Department of Agronomy and Range Sciences. My research has been on animal density and distribution, habitat selection, habitat restoration, interactions between wildlife and human infrastructure and activities, and conservation of rare and endangered species. I perform research on wildlife mortality caused by wind turbines, electric distribution lines, agricultural practices, and road traffic, among other human activities and structures. I authored numerous papers on special -status species issues. I served as Chair of the Conservation Affairs Committee for The Wildlife Society — Western Section. I am a member of The Wildlife Society and the Raptor Research Foundation, and I've been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Sacramento. I was Associate Editor of wildlife biology's premier scientific journal, The Journal of Wildlife Management, as well as of Biological Conservation, and I was on the Editorial Board of Environmental Management. I have performed wildlife surveys in California for thirty-three years, including at many proposed project sites. My CV is attached.