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Dwight and Lowell Schroeder <br />2332 Old Grand Street <br />Santa Ana, CA 9275 -6963. <br />714 -547 -3104 <br />February 26, 2013 <br />City Council of the City of Santa Ana. <br />City Hall <br />Sexlinger Farmhouse and Orchard <br />EIR No. 2011 -01; Variance No. 2012 -04; Tentative Tract Map No. 2012 -02. <br />Dear Councilmembers. <br />791R 2.6 Rtl 2: 56 <br />Our family has had a long term association with the City of Santa Ana beginning in 1880 when <br />our grandfather first bought farmland in and adjacent to the city. Ultimately, the family farm of 25 acres <br />has been incorporated into the city. We have lived all of our 87 and 88 years on portions of this farm <br />and still maintain a small acreage of orange and avocado trees at our homes along Old Grand Street. We <br />feel that we have a perspective on development within the city that may be of some value in evaluating <br />the subject development. Our family has known and been friends of the Sexlinger family since their <br />arrival to their site in 1914. In her later years, we helped Martha Sexlinger with some of the work of <br />maintaining her grove. Based upon this background, we would like to make various observations that <br />are intended to assist you in evaluating the issues that you are to decide. <br />1. Martha Sexlinger's intent. During the various previous discussions, some have questioned what <br />Martha's intent was in donating her property to the two Lutheran schools. Her intent can best be <br />described in a generational perspective. It was a common practice among her generation to be very <br />loyal to and supportive of their church. Starting in the 1950's and later, she witnessed her neighbors <br />selling the orange groves for replacement with housing. She knew that many of her friends gave <br />generously to their church and she would be of the same mind. That is, she felt that by donating the <br />land to two of her church's schools, she could avoid the complication of selling to a developer and then <br />donating funds to her church. There is no doubt that she envisioned that her property would be <br />developed as had her neighbor's property, but that the schools would be the beneficiary of the sale. It <br />seems only proper that her wished be respected. <br />2. Effect of designating the property as "Historic ". When the City Council adopted the designation of <br />"historic" to this property, several consequences resulted. The most significant effect was that the land <br />owner would be required to maintain and preserve the property, without modification, in its prior use as <br />a commercial enterprise for the production and sale of oranges. The historic production of oranges <br />involved many adjuncts to the individual groves. These include the SAVI system for delivering irrigation <br />water and farm cooperatives such as Santiago Orange Growers Association to harvest, process and sell <br />the fruit. There are no such agencies still available in the Santa Ana area. In fact the property today does <br />not have a means of irrigation. It is amazing that the trees have survived so far. To be truly historic, the <br />property would need a flood irrigation system, a means to cultivate the soil for weed control and to <br />provide access for harvest processes and also to provide irrigation furrows. <br />It has been noted that the property today has only about half of the trees that once filled the <br />property. The fact that the trees have been identified as being grafted onto sour or lemon rootstock <br />75A -165 <br />