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Honorable Mayor Pulido <br />Santa Ana City Council <br />November 18, 2019 <br />Page 8 <br />POLICY FRAMEWORK <br />• Policy HE-1.7: "Historic Preservation. Support preservation and enhancement <br />of residential structures, properties, street designs, lot patterns, and other visible <br />reminders of neighborhoods that are considered local historical or cultural <br />resources." (Housing Element, at p. 43.) <br />Similar inconsistencies should also cause the City concern. For example, the Project <br />contemplates public access to the City's Santiago Park via the proposed development. <br />This private -to -public access creates obvious problems with respect to maintenance <br />costs and liability, but the Project as contemplated does not appear to address those <br />issues. Moreover, the Project documents frequently reference the Project as a District <br />Center, although its current iteration does not contemplate a mixed -use component, a <br />requirement of any District Center development. <br />For the foregoing reasons, among others, any approval of the Project would be <br />inconsistent with and continue to violate the City's General Plan, <br />3. THE PROJECT APPROVAL MAY SUBJECT THE CITY TO SUBSTANTIAL <br />LITIGATION. <br />In addition to the problems with respect inconsistency with the General Plan as <br />identified above, the City's actions described herein may give rise to a compensable <br />regulatory taking. Specifically, the City's approval of the Project will intentionally <br />interfere with the property rights of the surrounding property owners, depressing the <br />value of the properties wherein some or all economic, uses of the will be impacted under <br />the Penn Central and/or Kavanau tests. (See, e.g., Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New <br />York City (1978) 438 U.S. 104, 123; Kavanau V. Santa Monica Rent Control Bd. (1997) <br />16 CalAth 761, 711-777; see also Jefferson Street Ventures, LLC v. City of Indio <br />(2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 1175.) <br />Evidence of this depression in value has already been provided to the City Council. <br />(See City Council, Sept. 3, 2019, [public comment re Park Santiago price devaluation <br />resulting from Project].) In fact, on September 3, 2019, public comment provided in the <br />formal record for the Project detailed the potential home price devaluation that would <br />result. (Ibid.) Here, the Park Santiago neighborhood consists of approximately 1100 <br />homes at an average value of $700,000 each. If the value of these homes is <br />depressed by even as little as 5%, or approximately $35,000, that would result in <br />potential losses of up to $38.5 million. (See ibid.) As such, the City may have <br />significant exposure for inverse condemnation for injury to property interests caused by <br />the City's failure to properly and thoroughly consider the impacts of this Project on <br />surrounding properties, although such impacts are required to be considered under <br />Division 26 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code ("SAMC"). (See Knick v. Township of <br />4398.101 18504501.2 <br />