Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout7 - COMBINED PUBLIC COMMENTS May 1, 2019 Mr. Ali Pezeshkpour Senior Planner, Planning Division Planning & Building Agency, M20 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 Dear Mr. Pezeshkpour: As the president of the Jack Fisher Park Neighborhood Association, I and my fellow board members would like to urge you and the City of Santa Ana to support Centennial Real Estate’s efforts to transform and improve MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is updated, enhanced, and improved, so it can once again serve as a major shopping destination for all Santa Ana’s residents and our greater community. Centennial’s vision of providing updated dining, entertainment, and shopping opportunities will go a long way toward restoring MainPlace Mall’s luster. Their proposed incorporation of our community’s cultural elements and our local arts into the project will also help highlight and honor Santa Ana’s rich history and heritage. Once complete, the project will also provide important new sales and property tax dollars for the City of Santa Ana to assist their effort to provide important public safety, public infrastructure, city service programs and projects to our community. I am excited about Centennial’s improvement plans for MainPlace Mall and am enthused that they are working hard to restore its luster. Thank you for your support of their effort. Sincerely, Ryan Martin President, Jack Fisher Park Neighborhood Association Santa Ana, CA 92706 April 26, 2019 Mr. Ali Pezeshkpour Senior Planner, Planning Division Planning & Building Agency, M20 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 Dear Mr. Pezeshkpour: I would like to urge you and the City of Santa Ana to support Centennial Real Estate’s efforts to transform and improve MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is updated, enhanced, and improved, so it can once again serve as a major shopping destination for all Santa Ana’s residents and our greater community. Centennial’s vision of providing updated dining, entertainment, and shopping opportunities will go a long way toward restoring MainPlace Mall’s luster. Their proposed incorporation of our community’s cultural elements and our local arts into the project will also help highlight and honor Santa Ana’s rich history and heritage. Once complete, the project will also provide important new sales and property tax dollars for the City of Santa Ana to assist their effort to provide important public safety, public infrastructure, city service programs and projects to our community. I am excited about Centennial’s improvement plans for MainPlace Mall and am enthused that they are working hard to restore its luster. Thank you for your support of their effort. Sincerely, Michael Ekstrom Santa Ana, CA 92706 OCTax: Fighting to make taxes fair, understandable, cost-effective and good for the economy! P.O. Box 5881, Orange, CA 92863 phone (714) 289-1092 • www.octax.org April 25, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman Planning Commission City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Dear Mr. McLoughlin: The Orange County Taxpayers Association recognizes that a thriving business community is essential to providing municipalities with the tax revenue necessary to provide essential public safety services and infrastructure repairs and improvements. To that end, it is heartening to see that the new owners of MainPlace Mall, Centennial Real Estat e, have chosen to invest in Santa Ana and Orange County. It is clear that this type of investment must be encouraged so Santa Ana is able to balance its budget. Santa Ana’s spending strategy should not rest on the backs of the residents. Since the City already chose to support an increase of its sales tax, it should facilitate the process for businesses who wish to create economic revenue in the City. Therefore, I encourage you to support the application of Centennial Real Estate as proposed in its application. This will allow for the economic growth the city needs and will be paid for by the patrons who choose to visit the revitalized mall. Sincerely, Carolyn Cavecche President and CEO Orange County Taxpayers Association 1631 W. Sunflower Ave #C-35, Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 541-5353 April 26, 2019 Mr. Ali Pezeshkpour Senior Planner, Planning Division Planning & Building Agency, M20 City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 Dear Mr. Pezeshkpour: I would like to urge you and the City of Santa Ana to support Centennial Real Estate’s efforts to transform and improve MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is updated, enhanced, and improved, so it can once again serve as a major shopping destination for our community, and continue to serve as an important economic engine and job creator for our city. Centennial’s vision of providing updated dining, entertainment, and shopping opportunities will go a long way toward restoring MainPlace Mall’s luster. Their proposed incorporation of our community’s cultural elements and our local arts into the project will also help highlight and honor Santa Ana’s rich history and heritage. Once complete, the project will also provide important new sales and property tax dollars for the City of Santa Ana to assist their effort to provide important public safety, public infrastructure, city service programs and projects to our community. I am excited about Centennial’s improvement plans for MainPlace Mall and am enthused that they are working hard to restore its luster. Thank you for your support of their effort. Sincerely, David Elliott President/CEO Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce April 29, 2019 MR. ALI PEZESHKPOUR SENIOR PLANNER, PLANNING DIVISION PLANNING & BUILDING AGENCY, M20 CITY OF SANTA ANA 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA P.O. BOX 1988 SANTA ANA, CA 92702 Dear Mr. Pezeshkpour: I would like to urge you and the City of Santa Ana to support Centennial Real Estate’s efforts to transform and improve MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is updated, enhanced, and improved, so it can once again serve as a major shopping destination for our community, and continue to serve as an important economic engine and job creator for our city. Centennial’s vision of providing updated dining, entertainment, and shopping opportunities will go a long way toward restoring MainPlace Mall’s luster. Their proposed incorporation of our community’s cultural elements and our local arts into the project will also help highlight and honor Santa Ana’s rich history and heritage. Once complete, the project will also provide important new sales and property tax dollars for the City of Santa Ana to assist their effort to continue to provide effective, state of the art public safety services to the city’s residents and business community. I am excited about Centennial’s improvement plans for MainPlace Mall and am enthused that they are working hard to restore its luster. Thank you for your support of their effort. Sincerely, GERRY SERRANO PRESIDENT SANTA ANA POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION GS/RR SAPOA - Letter In Support Of MainPlace Mall Transformation Project 04-29-19 SANTA ANA POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION 1607 NORTH SYCAMORE  SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 92701-3513 [714] 836-1211 FAX [714] 836-6108 From:Mitre-Ramirez, Norma To:Bernal, Sarah; Magalona, Jocelyn Cc:Fregoso, Vince Subject:FW: MainPlace Transformation Project Date:Tuesday, May 07, 2019 8:26:15 AM Good Morning, The following communication pertaining to an item on the Planning Commission meeting, has been received for your review and consideration. Respectfully, Norma Mitre Acting Clerk of the Council City of Santa Ana | Clerk of the Council Office 20 Civic Center Plaza | Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-647-5237 | nmitre@santa-ana.org This email and any files or attachments transmitted with it may contain privileged or otherwise confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you may have received this communication in error, please advise the sender via reply email and immediately delete the email you received. From: Christina Dorsa-Smith <> Sent: Monday, May 6, 2019 8:13 PM To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org> Cc: Councilmember Jose Solorio <jsolorio@aol.com> Subject: MainPlace Transformation Project To the Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission, I am writing in support of the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project as proposed by Centennial Real Estate. I firmly believe that immediate action is needed to ensure the mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana's heritage and the rich history of the mall. The project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the City maintain a balanced budget to provide needed City services. I believe that failure to approve this project would result in further decline of this site and would be a huge mistake. Thank you for your consideration and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation project. Christina M. Dorsa-Smith Santa Ana, CA 9276 7 From:Pezeshkpour, Ali To:Bernal, Sarah Subject:FW: MainPlace Mall Transformation Project - May 13, 2019 PC hearing Date:Thursday, May 09, 2019 12:20:16 PM Attachments:PC ltr for may 13 2019 hearing.pdf Importance:High Please forward her email and attachment to PC, re: MainPlace. Thanks! May 2019 counter availability: 8:00-12:30 on the 7th, 10th, 14th, and 28th , and 12:30-4:00 on the 24th . Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP Senior Planner, Planning Division apezeshkpour@santa-ana.org City of Santa Ana Planning and Building Agency, M20 20 Civic Center Plaza | PO Box 1988 | Santa Ana, CA 92702 Phone: (714) 647-5882 | Fax: (714) 973-1461 |santa-ana.org/pb/planning-division From: Diane Fradkin [mailto:] Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2019 8:36 AM To: McLoughlin, Mark <mmcloughlin@santa-ana.org>; Alderete, Eric <ealderete@santa-ana.org>; Nguyen, Kenny <knguyen@santa-ana.org>; dbenavides@santa-ana.org; Contreras-Leo, Cynthia <ccontreras-leo@santa-ana.org>; Cano, Angie <acano@santa-ana.org>; Rivera, Felix <frivera@santa- ana.org> Cc: Clerk <clerk@santa-ana.org>; Thai, Minh <mthai@santa-ana.org>; Pezeshkpour, Ali <APezeshkpour@santa-ana.org>; Kelaher, Selena <skelaher@santa-ana.org>; Fregoso, Vince <VFregoso@santa-ana.org> Subject: MainPlace Mall Transformation Project - May 13, 2019 PC hearing Honorable Planning Commission Chairman & Commissioners: Attached please find my comment letter regarding the MainPlace Mall project. There are 3 items which I believe need additional attention: 1. Proposed Density/Uses & Traffic Mitigation 2. On-site park-like Open Space (as promised by the developer) 3. Park fees for the 1900 multi-family units be specifically directed to improvements and maintenance of Santiago Park Thank you for your attention to these matters. Sincerely, Diane Fradkin Diane Furtado Fradkin Santa Ana, CA 92706 May 9, 2019 Honorable Planning Commission City of Santa Ana PO Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 RE: MainPlace Mall Transformation Project Dear Chairman and Commissioners: This MainPlace Mall revitalization is a key to the sustainability of the City of Santa Ana and for that, I am grateful for Cenntenial Development investing in our City. We all recognize that most malls need to change with the times and therefore, this will be an exciting project to unfold. That being said, I have a few specific comments to make regarding the overall MainPlace Mall Project….. 1) Density/Traffic - Given the proposed additional uses such as multi-family residential, hotel, retail and office space, this is going to be a very dense and intense project beginning with the implementation of Phase 1 and continuing through Phases 2 and 3. This will add traffic trips to an already congested Main Street, 5 & 22 freeway on/off ramps and other nearby surface streets, particularly given the many multi-family units approved within a quarter mile of MainPlace Mall in both the Cities of Santa Ana and Orange. • Mitigation Plan – A potential idea to help offset the traffic issue due to the increase of density and uses at MainPlace Mall would be to add an electric Trolley Bus (just like the ones used in Laguna Beach in the summer) which would service the Main Street corridor in order to help mitigate the additional traffic driven by the re-purposing and build out of the Mall transformation project. It may be ideal to have the Trolley Bus run from the Santa Ana Train Station to DTSA and along Main Street, around the Mall and over to the Orange Circle. From a funding standpoint, OCTA could help the City of Santa Ana and perhaps include funding also from the City of Orange and of Page 2 City of Santa Ana Planning Commission May 9, 2019 course from the developer, Centennial. Planning Commission will likely receive many comments about the traffic impacts on Main Street due to the Mall project in addition to traffic generated from the other approved and newly constructed apartment units located in the area of Town and Country. This Trolley Bus could be a way to help assuage the community in regard to mitigating traffic and should be offered for free or at a very low cost. I understand this idea would involve other jurisdictions and organizations in a joint agreement; however, it has the potential to be a viable solution to an already impacted situation. 2) Open Space – The open space area as shown in the current Specific Plan does not seem to be large enough to accommodate the vision as stated by Cenntenial in previous meetings with the community in 2018 as well as at the special Planning Commission hearing on Feb 28, 2019. There was discussion about outdoor concerts, picnic areas and play areas. What’s shown is mostly a small concrete open space area with very little organic landscape such as grassy areas and trees. • Mitigation Plan – Due to the increase of the proposed additional uses to the MainPlace Mall as requested by Cenntenial, I would encourage you to request additional and contiguous on-site park-like open space as part of the Mall revitalization. This open space was talked about as part of the vision for the Food Hall (Old Nordstrom building). Please request Cenntenial to increase the park-like open space to at least triple (3xs) in size compared to what is currently depicted. 3) Park Fees & Use – Based on the proposed 1900 multi-family units in Phase 1, I would encourage you to request that the required in-lieu of park dedication fee go specifically to improvements and beautification of Santiago Park. • Mitigation Plan - As part of the Mall project, I would encourage you to incorporate in the Development Agreement (DA) between Cenntinial and the City of Santa Ana that an in-lieu park fee be paid to the City of Santa Ana Parks Department specifically for the improvement and maintenance of Santiago Park. The new residents of the 1900 multi-family units (along with the Mall and office employees) as part of the Mall Transformation Project, will utilize this nearby park as it is conveniently located to the project. As part of the DA, I would recommend that this fee be outlined as to specific Santiago Park improvements along with a park maintenance and patrol budget and corresponding timeline for completion of the park improvements in conjunction with the timing of the completion of the multi-family units, but prior to any occupancy of those units. With the upcoming hearing and associated decision which will impact the f uture of the City of Santa Ana, its citizens and the residents of Park Santiago, I hope that you have had the opportunity to review all the project materials and public comments and have taken to heart any concerns or recommendations by the community. Page 3 City of Santa Ana Planning Commission May 9, 2019 Thank you for your ongoing service to the City of Santa Ana. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Fradkin Diane Fradkin 27 year resident of Santa Ana cc: Minh Thai Ali Pezeshkpour Selena Kelaher Vince Fregoso Norma Mitre From:Mitre-Ramirez, Norma To:Bernal, Sarah Cc:Magalona, Jocelyn; Andril, Laura; Fregoso, Vince Subject:FW: Planning Commission Date:Wednesday, May 08, 2019 1:04:29 PM Good Morning, The following communication pertaining to an item on the Planning Commission meeting, has been received for your review and consideration. Kind Regards, Norma Mitre Assistant Clerk of the Council City of Santa Ana | Clerk of the Council Office 20 Civic Center Plaza | Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-647-5237 | nmitre@santa-ana.org This email and any files or attachments transmitted with it may contain privileged or otherwise confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you may have received this communication in error, please advise the sender via reply email and immediately delete the email you received. From: Barbara Russell <> Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 12:03 PM To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org> Subject: Planning Commission Santa Ana Planning Commission: Re: Main Place Redevelopment If the Planning Commission votes to approve the mixed use development at Main Place, I urge approval for the first phase only. This will allow time to show if the residential units can be successfully leased and occupied. A lot of people will not care to live within the blinking neon signs and lights of the property. Also given the large number of apartments currently in the building phase across the street (behind Barnes and Noble, as well as possibly 2525 N. Main St.), there will soon be a glut of rental units in the area and a significant increase in density of people, cars and traffic. Please keep in mind the impact on quality of life when weighing approval of revenue producing ventures. Yours truly, Barbara Russell Santa Ana, CA 92706 May 10, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman, Planning Commission City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 Dear Mr. McLouglin: As a longtime geographic neighbor of MainPlace Mall, with thousands of employees who regularly visit the center for dining, shopping, and entertainment, CHOC Children’s Hospital would like to urge you and the City of Santa Ana to support Centennial Real Estate’s efforts to transform and revitalize the Mall. We are pleased to see a vision that updates the facility and maintains the quality of life in our community. Additional housing will be of great benefit to our workforce and medical residents who would enjoy the opportunity to live adjacent to work, and the proposed hotel and expanded dining options would benefit our patients’ families and hospital visitors. CHOC Children’s Hospital is supportive of your effort to improve MainPlace Mall and looks forward to further updates on the project. Sincerely, Kimberly Chavalas Cripe President and Chief Executive Officer May 9, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman City of Santa Ana, Planning Commission 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Dear Planning Commission Members: I support the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project proposed by Centennial Real Estate. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana’s heritage and the rich history of our mall. Finally, this project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the city maintain a balanced budget to provide needed city services. Thank you for your consideration, and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project. David Brockmeier From: Christina Dorsa-Smith [mailto:d ] Sent: Friday, May 10, 2019 9:29 AM To: ecomments@santa-ana.org Cc: George Urch; Justin Glover; Steven Levin; Hon. Jose Solorio Subject: MainPlace Transformation Project To the Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission, The Morrison Park Neighborhood Association is in support of the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project as proposed by Centennial Real Estate. The MPNA Board firmly believes that immediate action is needed to ensure the mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana's heritage and the rich history of the mall. The project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the City maintain a balanced budget to provide needed City services. The MPNA board has been involved in meetings with Centennial Real Estate and has asked to be kept informed on any changes to the plans for improving this site. This communication is being sent to request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation project. Thank you for your consideration. Christina M. Dorsa-Smith MPNA President Santa Ana, CA 9276 7 From:Mitre-Ramirez, Norma To:Bernal, Sarah; Magalona, Jocelyn Cc:Fregoso, Vince; Orozco, Norma; Rojano, Michael; Lopez, Kenia Subject:FW: "Planning Commission": MainPlace Shoppingtown, LLC Monday May 13, 2019 at 5:30pm Date:Saturday, May 11, 2019 4:04:00 PM Hello Sarah and Jocelyn, The following communication pertaining to an items on Planning Commission meeting, has been received for your review and consideration. Respectfully, Norma Mitre Acting Clerk of the Council City of Santa Ana | Clerk of the Council Office 20 Civic Center Plaza | Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-647-5237 | nmitre@santa-ana.org This email and any files or attachments transmitted with it may contain privileged or otherwise confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you may have received this communication in error, please advise the sender via reply email and immediately delete the email you received. From: Andrew Tran <> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2019 6:27 PM To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org> Subject: "Planning Commission": MainPlace Shoppingtown, LLC Monday May 13, 2019 at 5:30pm Hi Sarah Bernal, Just wanted to voice my support for this proposed mixed-use development. When weighting the pros and cons, I believe there are more positives (attract more tourism to the City to spend more money, create more jobs, etc...) than negatives. Thank You, Andrew From:Lisa Ganz To:Bernal, Sarah Subject:Re: MAY 13, 2019 PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA PACKET Date:Saturday, May 11, 2019 7:53:38 AM Thank you for this information. Regarding item #7, I am in favor of the redevelopment of the mall, however strongly oppose the rezoning to accommodate 1900 apartments. This area is just too dense today and with the current high density plans/proposals already being considered nearby, adding more apartments will have a significant effect on traffic and services. The 5 Fwy and the Main St corridor cannot handle that traffic load. From: Bernal, Sarah <SBernal@santa-ana.org> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2019 3:04 PM Subject: MAY 13, 2019 PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA PACKET The agenda packet for the Planning Commission meeting on May 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers is now available for viewing. You can access the agenda by visiting: https://www.santa-ana.org/cc/city-meetings (located under Upcoming Events). If you wish to submit a comment on any item on the Agenda, please submit to eComments@santa-ana.org (reference Planning Commission) by 1:00 p.m. the day of the meeting; emails received after said time will be on file for public viewing the day after the meeting. Sarah Bernal Phone: 714-667-2732 City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702 City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates. P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you May 10, 2019 VIA EMAIL Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP City of Santa Ana Planning and Building Agency, M20 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 APezeshkpour@santa-ana.org Re: Addendum to the Fashion Square Commercial Center Final Environmental I mpact Report (SCH # 1983021103) for the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project Dear Mr. Pezeshkpour: This law firm represents the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters (Southwest Carpenters) and submits this letter on the above-referenced project on its behalf. Southwest Carpenters represents 50,000 union carpenters in six states, including in Southern California, and has a strong interest in reducing the environmental impacts of development projects, such as the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project (Project). On May 7, 2019, t he City of Santa Ana (City) has issued a nearly 3,000-page “addendum” to the 1983 Fashion Square Commercial Center Final Environmental Impact Report . The Project, which differs in most aspects from the 1983 project, includes a proposal to construct “1,900 residential units, 400 hotel rooms, 1,400,000 total square feet of commercial space, and up to 750,000 square feet of office space.” Project approvals include: • Creation of a new specific plan; • Adoption of a tentative parcel map to subdivide the Project site into ten parcels; • Amendment to the 1983 Environmental Impact Report ; and • Approval of a development agreement . The City’s Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the Project on May 13, 2019. As of this writing, the Planning Commission agenda has not bee n posted online, and it is unclear whether the Planning Commission intends to consider approval of the Project at this meeting. Southwest Carpenters requests the Planning Commission to continue its consideration of the Project for two or mo re months to allow members o f the public more than six days to digest this 3,000-page document , in addition to the original 1983 EIR and 1996 addendum. The City and Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP Re: MainPlace Mall Transformation Project EIR Addendum May 10, 2019 Page 2 the public will benefit from more time to process this massive amount of information. Furthermore, the City should provide ample time to provide responses to comments, so that members of the public may feel that their opinions have been heard and so that the City will provide a real opportunity and time to consider these comments. If the Planning Commission were to approve this Project just six days after the Project’s EIR addendum was released, it would indicate to members of the public that the City is hastily attempting to jam one of the City’s largest projects in recent memory through the approval process with the minimum possible amount of public involvement. In addition, it is clear the 1983 EIR is outdated, and the City cannot rely upon any information, facts, or analysis contained in this document in 2019. Reliance on any portion of a 36-year-old EIR released for an entirely different project and not based on up-to-date baseline conditions, facts, and modern scientific understanding of environmental impacts fails the informational purposes of CEQA. (Berkeley Keep Jets Over the Bay Committee v. Board of Port Com'rs (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1344, 1367 (“By using scientifically outdated information . . . the EIR was not a reasoned and good faith effo rt to inform decision makers and the public” of the environmental impacts of the project.).) The City must prepare release an entirely updated EIR designed specifically for the Project . The information in the 1983 EIR is outdated to the point of being mis-informational. Southwest Carpenters thanks the City for providing an opportunity to comment on the Addendum to the EIR. Pursuant to Section 21092.2 of the Public Resources Code and Section 65092 of t he Government Code, Southwest Carpenters requests notification of all CEQA actions and notices of any public hearings concerning this Project, including any action taken pursuant to California Planning and Zoning Law. In addition, pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21167(f), please provide a copy of each Notice of Determination issued by the City in connection with this Project and please add Southwest Carpenters to the list of interested parties in connection with this Project and direct all notices to my attention. Please send all notices by email or, if email is unavailable, by U.S. Mail to the following two addressees: Nicholas Whipps Ashley McCarroll Wittwer Parkin LLP 335 Spreckels Dr., Ste. H Aptos, CA 95003 nwhipps@wittwerparkin.com amccarroll@wittwerparkin.com Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP Re: MainPlace Mall Transformation Project EIR Addendum May 10, 2019 Page 3 Very truly yours, WITTWER PARKIN LLP Nicholas Whipps VIA E-MAIL AND HAND DELIVERY May 13, 2019 Commissioner Felix Rivera Commissioner Mark McLoughlin Commissioner Eric M. Alderete Commissioner Kenneth Nguyen Commissioner David Benavides Commissioner Cynthia Conteras-Leo Commissioner Angie Cano Planning Commission City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 eComments@santa-ana.org Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP Project Manager Planning and Building Agency City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 APezeshkpour@santa-ana.org Minh Thai, Executive Director City of Santa Ana Planning and Building Agency | M20 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92702 mthai@santa-ana.org Re: Comment on EIR Addendum for MainPlace Transformation Project Specific Plan Located at 2800 North Main Street (SCH NO. 1983021103); Environmental Review No. 2018-72, Amendment Application No. 2018-04 Honorable Members of the Planning Commission, Mr. Pezeshkpour, and Ms. Thai: I am writing on behalf of the Supporters’ Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (“SAFER”), a California non-profit organization with members living in the Santa Ana area, regarding the Addendum for the MainPlace Transformation Project Specific Plan located at 2800 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California (“Project”). We urge the Commission not to adopt a resolution recommending adopting an addendum to the EIR for the Fashion Square Commercial Center Project (SCH1983021103) and readoption of the MMRP. Instead, we urge the Commission to direct staff to prepare a new EIR for the MainPlace Transformation Project Specific Plan. NOT DISTRIBUTED - RECEIVED AFTER DEADLINE The City of Santa Ana is proposing to approve the Project without review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), Pub. Res. Code section 21000, et seq., based on the assertion that the Project is consistent with the 1983 Fashion Square Commercial Center Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (“1983 EIR”), which was certified in 1983. The City contends that under CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15164, no further environmental review is required. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project involves adoption of a specific plan to facilitate the redevelopment of the existing MainPlace Mall into a regional, mixed-use village with additional commercial, office, residential, and hotel projects. The Project involves 1,400,000 square feet of commercial, 750,000 square feet of office, 400 rooms of hotel, and 1,900 residential units. The Project site currently contains the 1,130,000 MainPlace Mall regional shopping center, three parking structures, and surface parking lots. The site is approximately 49 acres and is located northeast of the corner of Main Street and Main Place Drive. It is surrounded by the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway to the west, the Garden Grove (SR-22) Freeway to the north, Main Street and commercial and mixed-use land uses to the east, and Main Place Drive and commercial-office land uses to the south. A midrise office building is located adjacent to the site at 2700 North Main Street. A. LEGAL STANDARD CEQA contains a strong presumption in favor of requiring a lead agency to prepare an EIR. This presumption is reflected in the fair argument standard. Under that standard, a lead agency must prepare an EIR whenever substantial evidence in the whole record before the agency supports a fair argument that a project may have a significant effect on the environment. (Pub. Res. Code § 21082.2; Laurel Heights Improvement Ass’n v. Regents of the University of California (1993) (“Laurel Heights II”) 6 Cal. 4th 1112, 1123; No Oil, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1974) 13 Cal.3d 68, 75, 82; Quail Botanical Gardens v. City of Encinitas (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 1597, 1602.) The City relies on CEQA Guidelines § 15162 and 15164 to claim that no CEQA review is required. The court of appeal recently stated, “The addendum is the other side of the coin from the supplement to an EIR. This section provides an interpretation with a label and an explanation of the kind of document that does not need additional public review.” “It must be remembered that an addendum is prepared where ‘(2) Only minor technical changes or additions are necessary to make the EIR under consideration adequate under CEQA; and (3) The changes to the EIR made by the addendum do not raise important new issues about the significant effects on the environment.’ ([Guideline] 15164, subd. (a).) Save Our Heritage Organization v. City of San Diego , 28 Cal. App. 5th 656, 664–65 (2018) (emphasis added). Section 15164(a) of the State CEQA Guidelines states that “the lead agency or a responsible agency shall prepare an addendum to a previously certified EIR if some changes or additions are necessary, but none of the conditions described in Section 15162 calling for preparation of a subsequent EIR have occurred.” Pursuant to Section 15162(a) of the State CEQA Guidelines, a subsequent EIR or Negative Declaration is only required when: (1) Substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of the previous EIR or negative declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; (2) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the previous EIR or Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; or (3) New information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous EIR was certified as complete or the negative declaration was adopted, shows any of the following: (A) The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR or negative declaration; (B) Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous EIR; (C) Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible would, in fact, be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative; or (D) Mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerably different from those analyzed in the previous EIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative. B. DISCUSSION SAFER hereby requests that the City prepare an environmental impact report (“EIR”) to analyze the significant environmental impacts of the Project and to propose all feasible mitigation measures and alternatives to reduce those impacts. The City may not rely on the 1983 EIR for several reasons, including but not limited to the following: 1. The 1983 EIR did not analyze this Project. None of the previous projects proposed for the Project site include any residential units. In contrast, the Project does contain a residential component, including 1,900 housing units. A prior CEQA document may only be used for a later project that is “essentially the same project” as was analyzed in the prior document. Sierra Club v. County of Sonoma (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1307, 1320; American Canyon Community v. American Canyon, 145 Cal.App.4th 1062. The 1983 EIR did not analyze a project with a residential component at all. 2. The Project is a substantial change from what was analyzed in the 1983 EIR, requiring more than just technical changes. The addition of 1,9000 residential units where there were not nein the original project constitutes a substantial change. 3. The EIR needed far more than only minor technical changes or additions to make the 1983 EIR adequate under CEQA for this Project. This is evidenced by the fact that the Addendum in nearly 3,000 pages, more than ten times as large as an average addendum under CEQA. Had the Project only required minor or technical changes to the 1983 EIR, a 3,000-page addendum would not have been required. 4. The 1983 EIR included many mitigation measures that were never implemented, including traffic mitigation measures. Since the City has failed to implement the mitigation measures required by the EIR, it may not now rely on that document. See, Katzeff v. Dept. of Forestry (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 601, 611, 614; Lincoln Place Tenants v. City of Los Angeles (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1491, 1507 n22. 5. There are numerous changed circumstances that have occurred since 1983 that require renewed environmental review. For example, traffic in the area is much heavier than in 1983. 6. By opting to proceed with an Addendum instead of the required EIR or supplemental EIR, the City has deprived the members of the public of the public review and circulation requirement available for EIRs. Release of the Addendum only days prior to the Planning Commission’s hearing to recommend its approval, SAFER and other members of the public had little time to review the 3,000 page document. SAFER and their experts will provide additional comments on the inadequacy of the Addendum prior to the City Council’s hearing. For the above and other reasons, the Planning Commission should decline to recommend the City Council approve the Addendum, and instead direct Planning Staff to prepare and circulate an EIR for public review. The City may not rely on the nearly 40- year old 1983 EIR. Sincerely, Rebecca Davis From:emkold@aol.com To:Bernal, Sarah Cc:Edward ProEngineered Murashie Subject:FPNA Letter of Support/Main Place May 13, 2019 Panning Commisssion Meeting Date:Monday, May 13, 2019 9:35:41 PM Attachments:FPNA Letter of Support Main Place Mall 5-12-2019.docx This letter is sent at Mr. Murashie's request, in his absence. Please include it in the offcial record. Sincerely, Ellen Koldewey FPNA Parliamentarian 714-785-8029 NOT DISTRIBUTED - RECEIVED AFTER DEADLINE May 12, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman, At Large Commissioner Mr. Ken Nguyen, Ward 3 Planning Commissioner Planning Commission, City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702 Subj: May 13, 2019 Planning Commission Meeting, Agenda Item 7: Main Place Mall Transformation Project Greetings Planning Commission, I ask the Planning Commission to support the Centennial Real Estate project to transform Santa Ana’s Main Place Mall by voting for the Resolution set forth in Agenda Item 7. Centennial Real Estate has listened closely to the Santa Ana community. As a result, the guiding principles of their project’s Specific Plan to transform the Mall clearly reflect what is most important to our City’s residents. Centennial has remained true to the history of the Mall as a favorite local shopping destination since 1958. Now, they plan to transform the Mall into an “economic and social” center for Orange County by “revitalizing the retail” activity and adding a host of new uses that “complement the cultural uses” of the nearby Discovery Science Center and Bowers Museum. The transformation of Main Place Mall will bring jobs, housing, and substantial sales and property tax revenue to our City to support vitally needed public safety and city services, public infrastruc- ture improvement, community development, recreation and the arts. Our neighborhood and our City is enthusiastic about Centennial’s plans to reinvigorate the MainPlace Mall and grateful that they are working hard with the Santa Ana community. I urge each of you to vote without delay to adopt the resolution tin Agenda Item 7 to recommend that our City Council approve and adopt the proposals of the Transform Main Place Project including 1) the addendum to the EIR for the projects and the re-adoption of the mitigation monitoring and reporting program, 2) the program application, 3) the development agreement, and 4) the tentative parcel map for this project. Thank you for your support of this transformation. Respectfully Submitted, Ed Murashie, President, Floral Park Neighborhood Association May 10, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman City of Santa Ana, Planning Commission 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission: I support the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project proposed by Centennial Real Estate. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana’s heritage and the rich history of our mall. Finally, this project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the city maintain a balanced budget to provide needed city services. Thank you for your consideration, and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project. Edward Murashie eamurashie@gmail.com (Submitted via email). NOT DISTRIBUTED - RECEIVED AFTER DEADLINE May 1, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman City of Santa Ana, Planning Commission 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission: I support the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project proposed by Centennial Real Estate. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana’s heritage and the rich history of our mall. Finally, this project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the city maintain a balanced budget to provide needed city services. Thank you for your consideration, and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project. Ryan Martin Martin7272@yahoo.com (Submitted via email). May 10, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman City of Santa Ana, Planning Commission 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission: I support the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project proposed by Centennial Real Estate. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana’s heritage and the rich history of our mall. Finally, this project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the city maintain a balanced budget to provide needed city services. Thank you for your consideration, and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project. Ellen Koldewey Mrskold@yahoo.com (Submitted via email). May 13, 2019 Mr. Mark McLoughlin Chairman City of Santa Ana, Planning Commission 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission: I support the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project proposed by Centennial Real Estate. Immediate action is needed to ensure our mall is enhanced to regain its proper place as a shopping destination for Santa Ana residents and for the region. The vision for the project includes updated dining, entertainment and shopping that will benefit our community. The project also incorporates cultural elements and local art which honor Santa Ana’s heritage and the rich history of our mall. Finally, this project will provide significant sales and property taxes to help the city maintain a balanced budget to provide needed city services. Thank you for your consideration, and I request that you approve the MainPlace Mall Transformation Project. Lori Teter Loriteter65@gmail.com (Submitted via email).