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<br />June 2004 <br /> <br />Mayor Miguel Pulido <br />and members of the Santa Ana City Council <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92702 <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Pulido and members of the City Council; <br /> <br />I understand that on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 the Santa Ana City Council will vote on the proposed One Broadway <br />Plaza. I also understand that construction of this 37-story structure provides for the re-opening of Tenth Street <br />between Main Street and Sycamore and this street would be subject to use by many cars each day. <br /> <br />My child is a student at Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) and must cross that section of Tenth <br />Street several times a day. I am writing to express my concern for the safety ofOCHSA students if Tenth Street is <br />re.opened and to ask that you instead move to abandon Tenth Street to OCHSA. <br /> <br />As the council noted in Resolution Number 2000-059, the closure of Tenth Street is necessary to protect the <br />students attending OCHSA. This resolution was passed when fewer cars used Tenth Street each day. Opening <br />Tenth Street, with no more protection for students than a crosswalk, endangers more than 1,300 OCHSA students, <br />including my child. In resolution 2000-059, you found: <br /> <br />(I) Tenth Street is not necessary to provide access to abutting property; <br /> <br />(2) Tenth Street divides the OCHSA campus; and <br /> <br />(3) Closinl! Tenth Street is necessary to Droted the students. <br /> <br />All three of those factors remain true today. Tenth Street is not necessary to provide access to the abutting <br />property, even with the proposed One Broadway Plaza project. It is merely a convenience for the project and <br />access is available on other streets. Tenth Street still divides the school and closing Tenth Street remains <br />necessary to protect students. In fact, OCHSA has grown from 800 to 1,300 students since the time of that <br />resolution. The risk now is even greater than it was in 2000. It is clear that OCHSA is succeeding and is here to <br />stay. Therefore, the City should not only leave Tenth Street closed, the street should be abandoned so that the <br />school can use it for much needed open space. This should be done regardless of whether the project is approved <br />or rejected. <br /> <br />At a meeting with OCHSA parents on June 15, 2004, Mr. Michael Harrah, the developer of the project, stated that <br />student safety has always been a high priority. Mr. Harrah believes that opening Tenth Street is not essential to <br />the One Broadway Plaza project. He agreed that leaving Tenth Street closed should be reviewed very closely. <br />After listening to all of the parent's concerns that opening Tenth Street would create a potentially dangerous <br />situation for OCHSA students, Mr. Harrah promised to contact the City and request the abandonment of Tenth <br />Street to OCSHA, rather than reopening Tenth Street as part of the project. I am writing to request that you <br />support this request and make the abandonment of Tenth Street to OCHSA a staff priority and a required part of <br />the project. <br /> <br />No amount of time or money is worth risking the life of a single child. <br /> <br />Please support the parent's and developer's request in reviewing the abandonment of Tenth Street and keep our <br />children safe. <br /> <br />Regards, <br /> <br /> <br />F1wtf <br /> <br />75F-106 <br />