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<br /> <br />Ordinance No. NS-XXX <br />Page 1 of 27 <br /> <br /> <br />ORDINANCE NO. NS-XXXX <br /> <br />ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT NO. 2025-01 AND <br />ORDINANCE AMENDMENT NO. 2025-01– AN ORDINANCE <br />OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA <br />AMENDING PORTIONS OF CHAPTER 41 (ZONING) AND <br />CHAPTER 8 (BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES) OF THE <br />SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO GROUP <br />HOMES AND LAND USE DEFINITIONS, REGULATING <br />SUCH USES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE DISABLED AND <br />FINDING THE ACTION TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE <br />CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) <br />UNDER STATE CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15061(B)(3), <br />15061(C)(2), 15060(C)(3), AND/OR 15301(C) <br /> <br /> <br />THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA HEREBY ORDAINS AS <br />FOLLOWS: <br /> <br />Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines <br />and declares as follows: <br /> <br />A. Under the California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, the City has been granted <br />broad police powers to preserve the residential character of residential <br />neighborhoods, which powers have been recognized by both the California <br />Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court, the latter of which has stated <br />that, “It is within the power of the legislature to determine that the community <br />should be beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well as clean, well-balanced as <br />well as carefully patrolled” (Berman v. Parker (1954) 348 U.S. 26, 33). <br /> <br />B. Courts have held that cities have the right to regulate both the number of people <br />who may reside in a residence and the manner in which the residence is used as <br />long as such regulations do not unfairly discriminate or impair an individual’s rights <br />of privacy and association (see, e.g., City of Santa Barbara v. Adamson (1980) 27 <br />Cal.3d 123, 131–34; Ewing v. City of Carmel-By-The-Sea (1991) 234 Cal.App.3d <br />1579, 1595–98). <br /> <br />C. The Federal Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988 (“FHAA”) and the California <br />Fair Employment Housing Act (“FEHA”) prohibit enforcement of zoning ordin ances <br />that would on their face or otherwise have the effect of discriminating against equal <br />housing opportunities for the disabled. <br /> <br />D. A core purpose of the FHAA, FEHA , and California’s Lanterman Developmental <br />Disabilities Services Act (“Lanterman Act”) is to provide a broader range of housing <br />opportunities to the disabled; to free the disabled, to the extent possible, from <br />institutional style living; and to ensure that disabled persons have the opportunity <br />to live in normal residential surroundings and use and enjoy a dwelling in a manner <br />similar to the way a dwelling is enjoyed by the non -disabled.