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1415 E 17TH STREET SUITE 1006, SANTA ANA, CA 92705 <br />WWW.RESILIENCEOC.ORG INFO@RESILIENCEOC.ORG 000 RESILIENCEOC <br />August 3, 2020 <br />Chair McLoughlin and Planning Commissioner <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Re: OPPOSITION to Agenda Item 1: Housing Opportunity Ordinance Amendments <br />Dear Members of the Planning Commission, <br />Resilience OC (ROC) is a youth -oriented institution that works towards social -systemic <br />transformation while promoting healing, trauma -informed and culturally relevant practices that are <br />inclusive of all members of the community. Recognizing that families are an important support <br />system that youth obtain all over the world, we strongly believe that families deserve to have <br />comfortable, affordable, and secure housing. As working families continue to face economic <br />uncertainty as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it is crucial that the City preserve its <br />Housing Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) as a funding source for creating new affordable housing. The <br />creation of housing at all income levels is vital to our recovery. Creating new affordable housing <br />needs to continue to be a top housing priority in Santa Ana. <br />The City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city and despite the City's progress towards meeting its <br />Regional Housing Needs Assessment(RHNA) allocation for very low and income housing there <br />continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable to its residents. The current pandemic has <br />increased the economic and housing pressures on low-income families in Santa Ana. As incomes are <br />decreasing and jobs are being lost, many low income families are struggling to remain housed. This is <br />especially true for the majority of Santa Ana's low-income households that are suffering with the <br />impacts of housing cost and economic uncertainty. As an example, according to the City's local data, <br />70 percent of Santa Ana renters are low and very low-income renters. While the city has seen <br />increased production of affordable housing there has been a larger increase of above moderate <br />housing with the city's 2,409 RHNA above moderate allocation being exceeded by 2,677% per The <br />City's RHNA progress reports submitted to the state. With average rents of $2000 - $4000, none of <br />these above market rent units are affordable to most of Santa Ana's working families. <br />The need will be much greater as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated needs that were already <br />existing in our communities. Housing costs in Santa Ana have been out of reach and will continue to <br />