75A - PH - EIR 1584 E SANTA CLARA AVE

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17, 2012 letter from The Old Orchard Conservancy, p. 5 [ "The 2012 RDEIR does not consider the feasibility of utilizing the Orchard for commercial citrus production, either in its entirety or as a part of a broader mitigation effort.. .. Further study may demonstrate citrus growing operation on the Property to be feasible, revenue - neutral, or even profitable, endeavor that could support a private, a non -profit Urban Garden or similar education project. The profits of a citrus - growing operation could be used to fund ongoing maintenance and repair of the Farmhouse or the construction of a small -scale museum. "]; January 7, 2013 letter from the Old Orchard Conservancy [ "The Conservancy is prepared to argue an economically viable and self- sustaining commercial citrus operation is possible at the Sexlinger Site which could be cost - neutral to the land owners. "].) A fundamental problem with those proposals is that a commercial orchard use is currently illegal on the site, as is a museum use. The property is in a Single - Family Residence (R -1) district. R -1 districts do not permit or conditionally permit commercial agricultural uses and/or museums (other than museums owned and operated by a university). (See SAMC 41 -232 [permitted uses], 41 -232.5 [conditionally permitted uses].) The former agricultural use on the property was a grandfathered legal non - conforming use. However, the commercial orchard operations (indeed, all operations on the site) have been discontinued for several years, and the City Code deems a non - conforming use to be abandoned if the use is suspended for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months, any subsequent use must conform in every respect to the provisions of the Santa Ana Zoning Code. (SAMC 41 -683.) Thus, while the proposed project requires no zone change and is consistent with existing City laws, the proposed commercial operation of the Sexlinger Property would violate City zoning laws under the zoning designation that governs the site. 4. The Selection and Application of Project Objectives. The project objectives selected by the City have been criticized in the public comment process as having been (1) drawn too narrowly, and (2) misstated and misapplied to the project's alternatives. Those claims are addressed in turn below. The following four project objectives were carefully chosen by City staff to: (1) provide for the current and future "move up" housing needs for the City; (2) provide land uses that are consistent with the existing General Plan Land Use Element designation and zoning designation of LR -7 and R -1, respectively; (3) provide land uses that are similar to surrounding uses in character and visually cohesive with the area; and (4) prevent further dilapidation of the site, discourage vandalism, break -ins, and unauthorized use of the site. These objectives all flow from either critical City -wide or super - regional policy documents and directives, or from common sense land use planning and management concepts. For example, the "move up" housing objective is grounded in an analysis completed by the Southern California Association of Governments. That analysis indicates that the City needs to add 3,393 residential units for the period between 2006 and 2014 to meet the regional need assigned to the City for new housing construction. The need for additional housing is driven, in part, by a projected 10,500 job increase in Santa Ana during that same time period. The -10- 75A-96