HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - Closed Session #3 January 18, 2022
Mayor Sarmiento, City Council Members, and Planning Department
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA 92701
RE: Item- 32 The City of Santa Ana's General Plan Update and Closed Session Item 3-
Willowick Property Negotiations
Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Council Members, and Planning Department,
The Rise Up Willowick Coalition ("Coalition") asks the Council not to adopt the proposed
draft General Plan at tonight's City Council meeting. The proposed General Plan lacks
the policies necessary to address the environmental justice ("EX) concerns and needs
residents and community groups have consistently named throughout the General Plan
update process. We ask that the Council delay the adoption of the plan and direct City
staff to work with residents and community groups to develop and implement more
effective policies.
Unaddressed EJ Concerns
The City is mandated to incorporate EJ principles into their General Plan update as required by
SB 1000, a legislation intended to rectify the compounding effects of environmental injustice in
communities disproportionately affected by this issue. SB1000 calls "a low-income area that is
disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to
negative health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation"' a disadvantaged community
("DAC"). The CalEnviroScreen 4.0 mapping tool identifies nearly half of Santa Ana as DACs.2
One of the EJ concerns the proposed General Plan policies fail to address is Santa Ana
residents' lack of access to parks and recreation. The General Plan fails to provide policies
that will improve the City's deep park deficit. The City has not met the parkland standard in its
Municipal Code which requires a ratio of 2 acres of parkland per every 1,000 residents. The
current parkland deficit is 154.44 acres, which means that for every 1,000 residents there are
only 1.54 acres of parkland.' In the City's Recirculated Draft Program Environmental Impact
Report for the General Plan, that deficit is projected to increase to 346.41 acres by the year
2045 based on the development and population increases the City anticipates the General
Plan's proposed policies will facilitate, or to 1.20 acres per every 1,000 residents.4
' Government Code Section 65302.httr)s://Ieainfo.leaislature.ca.aov/faces/biIlTextClient.xhtmI?bill id=201520160SB1000
2 CalEnviroScreen 4.0.California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment. October 2021.
https://oehha.ca.aov/ca lenviroscreen/report/ca lenviroscreen-30
3 Final Recirculated Draft Program Environmental Impact Report,Table 5.15 4, October,2021,p.5.15-28,
httr)s://www.santa-ana.ora/sites/default/files/r)b/general-plan/NovPEIR2021/Volume%202/Ch 05-15 REC.pdf.
°Ibid.
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To increase the amount of parkland available to residents, the City should incorporate into the
General the Coalition's recommendations, which include increasing the City's parkland standard
to 3 acres per every 1,000 residents as recommended by the California Quimbley Act and
implementing the No-Net-Loss of Open Space Policy. Policy language and more information
regarding these recommendations can be found in the letter Rise Up Willowick sent to all
council members and submitted as public comment for the City Council meeting on December
7, 2021.
Lead soil contamination, poor air quality, and the increase in market-rate development in the
General Plan's five focus areas are other environmental issues the General Plan fails to
properly address. Adopting the proposed draft General Plan would be irresponsible given how
impacted Santa Ana is by environmental injustice. Many of the census tracts in the focus areas
are in the identified DACs. This means that future residents will be impacted by a
disproportionate level of environmental pollution in these areas and, also, that the increase in
population in these areas will exacerbate the existing environmental problems facing current
residents. The City has often cited the increase in community outreach efforts during the past
year as evidence of the validity of the proposed General Plan. While community outreach is
important, it is equally important that, in addition to providing opportunities for residents to
provide input, the City crafts policies that actually address the concerns raised during these
community outreach opportunities. Unfortunately, the proposed General Plan does not do this.
Closed Session Item 3: Willowick Property Negotiations
In addition to the recommendations provided in our December 7, 2021 letter, the Coalition also
believes the preservation of Willowick as primarily parkland is essential to addressing the City's
deep park deficit as well as complying with the CA Surplus Land Act. Given the low availability
of undeveloped land in the City, without the 102 acres that make up the Willowick property, it will
be nearly impossible for the City to address its deep park deficit. Mayor Sarmiento stated in the
December 21, 2021 meeting that he was interested in acquiring Willowick for the purpose of
creating a large park.As the City holds discussions over the Willowick property tonight with the
property owner, the City of Garden Grove, the Coalition encourages the City of Santa Ana to
acquire the property and work with the Trust for Public Land to ensure that more than 80 acres
of the property are used for the creation of a large-scale park.
The Coalition requests that the Council not adopt the proposed General Plan and instead
work with residents and community groups to develop policies that truly address the
residents' environmental concerns, and specifically work with the Coalition to develop
strategies to increase the availability of parkland in Santa Ana. You can reach the Coalition at
ruwillowick(@gmail.com .
Sincerely,
The Rise Up Willowick Coalition
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