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

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Mayor Miguel A. Pulido and Members of the City Council February 27, 2014 Page 4 9. The Conservancy Has Been Frustrated By The City's Delay In Processing The Project. The Conservancy has asked the City to consider a true preservation alternative since the first hearings on the Project. The DEIR issued in 2011 failed to acknowledge that the Sexlinger Orchard and Farmhouse was an historic resource, although documentation was submitted in support of this finding. After the City Council designated the Orchard and Farmhouse as a "Key" historic resource in 2012, the DEIR was revised to consider and reject preservation of one -half acre of the Orchard and relocation of the Farmhouse. The DEIR was continued to allow discussion of purchase, culminating in the owners' rejection of the Conservancy's multi- million dollar offer in mid -2013. Between July and December 2013, the DEIR was revised again at the owners' request to reduce the proposed preservation area to less than one - quarter acre with no Farmhouse relocation. At no point during this entire multi -year process was any alternative considered that preserved any significant part of the Orchard, even though the 50 -50 Alternative was proposed by the Conservancy, to both the owners and City staff, well in advance of the 2013 DEIR revisions. The Project has been delayed because the property owners refused to acknowledge the significance of the historic resource, refused to consider preservation once it was designated, and then refused to consider preservation of more than 5 percent of the Orchard. For more than three years, the Conservancy has had one simple request: for the City to add an alternative to the EIR that preserves a substantial portion of the Orchard (with its prime soils) and the Farmhouse in place. If this alternative is economically feasible and environmentally superior, then it must be approved. If this alternative is not economically or environmentally feasible, then it can be rejected. It is a question of evidence to support the City's findings — has the City considered an alternative that minimizes impacts to the historic resource, serves the interests of the community and provides adequate returns to the property owners. Despite having circulated the EIR three times, the City has refused to conduct this basic analysis, which is at the heart of CEQA. Very truly yours, Deborah M. Rosenthal, AICP for SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON Ll_P cc: Ms. Jeannie Gillett SMRH:418131688.1 75A -174