75F - ONE BROADWAY PLAZA - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

July 1, 2004 City Clerk 20 Civic Center Plaza, 8th Floor PO Box 1988-M30 Santa Ana, CA 92702 To Whom It May Concern, I understand that on Tuesday, July 6,2004, the Santa Ana City Council will vote on the proposed One Broadway Plaza. I also understand that construction of this 37-story structure provides for the re-opening of Tenth Street between Main Street and Sycamore and this street would be subject to use by many cars each day. My child is a student at Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) and must cross that section of Tenth Street several times a day. I am writing to express my concern for the safety ofOCHSA students if Tenth Street is re-opened and to ask that you instead move to abandon Tenth Street to OCHSA. As the council noted in resolution Number 2000-059, the closure of Tenth Street is necessary to protect the students attending OCHSA. This resolution was passed when fewer cars used Tenth Street each day. Opening Tenth Street, with no more protection for students than a crosswalk, endangers more than 1,300 OCHSA students, including my child. In resolution 2000-059, you found: 1: Tenth Street is not necessary to provide access to abutting property; 2: Tenth Street divides the OCHSA campus; and 3: Closinl! Tenth Street is necessary to protect the students. All three ofthose factors remain true today. Tenth Street is not necessary to provide access to the abutting property, even with the proposed One Broadway Plaza project. It is merely a convenience for the project and access is available on other streets. Tenth Street still divides the school and closing Tenth Street remains necessary to protect students. In fact, OCHSA has grown from 800 to 1,300 students since the time of that resolution. The risk now is even greater than it was in 2000. It is clear that OCHSA is succeeding and is here to stay. Therefore, the City should not only leave Tenth Street closed, the street should be abandoned so that the school can use it for much needed open space. This should be done regardless of whether the project is approved or rejected. At a meeting with OCHSA parents on June 15, 2004, Mr. Michael Harrah, the developer of the project, stated that student safety has always been a high priority. Mr. Harrah believes that opening Tenth Street is not essential to the One Broadway Plaza project. He agreed that leaving Tenth Street closed should be reviewed very closely. After listening to all ofthe parent's concerns that opening Tenth Street would create a potentially 75F-114