2 - COMBINED PUBLIC COMMENTS_2525 N MAIN STREET

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housing crisis in the city- both low income and market rate. The low income fees that they will have to pay is tremendous and can certainly be put to good use by the city. Although the project cannot and should not be viewed in an economic bubble, the revenue side certainly has to be of high importance especially considering the fiscal crisis we are in at a time when the economy is supposedly doing relatively well. The amount of money that a developer would need to invest in rehabbing the current property simply is not a realistic use of their capital when compared to the annual cash flow potentially provided. A reasonable investor will strive to increase cash flow and the current building would not provide that return. The North end of Santa Ana is a great community. We desire strong businesses to be located here. We desire to have a nice grocery store like a Trader Joe's. If we desire those things, unfortunately, it can be said that additional high income residents will strengthen the case for a grocery store like a Trader Joe's to consider the area. I personally would not like it at that location simply because of the traffic generation but there certainly are other areas that could possibly support it. Key Comparisons- 2525 vs Current Zoning When comparing the current proposed housing development versus the existing zoning of a 3-story office building, it is important to consider the following: · Traffic- An office building of this size will produce more traffic than the 2525 proposal. If traffic is a concern of the opposition, then they should not be in favor of the current zoning but instead be in favor of something else. A 3-story office building as allowed under the current zoning simply has the potential to be much worse for our community traffic-wise as compared to a residential alternative. Certainly, the residential proposal may generate more traffic during off-peak times such as late night and weekends but that is not when traffic is bad/worst on Main Street…it is bad during peak commute times which is where a residential development has a better traffic impact as compared to the existing office use. · Traffic Flow- An office building will not have just one entrance on Main. Instead, it will have its entrance on Edgewood as is currently provided for. They may be able to add a secondary entrance on Main, however since the entrance is already on Edgewood, a developer of the property as an office building can keep it there. This appears to be worse for the Park Santiago neighborhood and the resulting cut through traffic. Not to mention that those travelling North on I-5 will simply exit 17th Street and cut all the way through Park Santiago making a morning commute even worse with cut through traffic. With the current Main Street only exit/entrance, the cut through traffic, although likely not eliminated, should be significantly less than the existing proposal. · Parking- An office building of this size will likely provide enough parking for tenants and guests. However, this size of a building will also often have paid parking. This means that some guests and even some tenants may be tempted to save the parking fees and park in the residential area. Overflow parking is a concern of the neighbors but it should also be a concern under the existing allowed zoning. With the residential usage, there seems to be ample parking with the new proposal (2 spots per unit) whereas with an office usage there