75A - PH - EIR -1584 E SANTA CLARA AVE

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♦. • • Via` `§ February 27, 2014 Mayor Miguel A. Pulido and Members of the City Council City of Santa Ana Post Office Box 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: Sexlinger Orchard and Farmhouse Proiect EIR Dear Mayor Pulido and Members of the City Council: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP 650 Town Center Drive, 4th Floor Costa Mesa, CA 92626 -1993 714.513.5100 main 714.513.5130 main fax www.sheppardmullin.com 714,424.2821 direct drosentlial@sheppardmullin.com File Number: 0010- 174415 This letter is submitted on behalf of the Old Orchard Conservancy ( "Conservancy') in opposition to certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report ( "EIR ") for the Sexlinger Orchard Project ( "Project "). The Conservancy has participated actively in hearings on the Project since demolition of the historic Orchard was originally proposed. In accordance with the last City Council hearing on this matter, the Conservancy made a multi - million dollar offer ( "Conservancy Offer ") to purchase the property in 2013. The Project proponents summarily rejected the Conservancy Offer. The Project currently proposes to retain the historic Farmhouse on site, but to demolish more than 95 percent of the equally historic Orchard. Except for approximately 10 trees, the Orchard will be replaced by 22 new homes with new landscaping. This letter summarizes and explains the continued defects in the proposed Project and the EIR, which require them to be returned to staff for analysis of a true preservation alternative like the 50 -50 Alternative proposed by the Conservancy. 1. The Proiect Has A Significant Unmitigated Impact On The Historic Orchard. The Sexlinger Orchard and Farmhouse are designated together as a "Key" historic resource for the purposes of CEQA. Demolition of more than 95% of the Orchard clearly has a significant and unmitigated impact under CEQA. The Project does not address whether the handful of trees in the yard of an under quarter -acre lot will be enough to self - pollinate (they will not), or whether it will function as an Orchard. A single row of trees does not preserve either the Orchard or the agricultural setting of the Farmhouse. The conclusion that retention of 10 trees maintains the "character" of the Orchard is patently unreasonable historically, biologically and visually, as well as being contradicted by the EIR itself. Put another way, a single row of trees on a 10,000 acre lot would never be eligible for designation as an historic resource under the City Code or CEQA. 2. The EIR Must Evaluate An Orchard Preservation Alternative. The EIR tries to avoid the need for a true Orchard Preservation Alternative by inaccurately concluding the 10 -tree 75A -171