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City of Santa Ana <br />November 25, 2020 <br />Page 3 <br />greatest extent practicable, make every reasonable effort to acquire property by <br />negotiation."(8 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (9th ed. 2004) Const. Law, § 972.) <br />As noted above, the City'sinitial offer was based on anoffer of compensation that neglected to <br />account for curative measures that must be made to the Subject Property as a result of the <br />Project. Wells Fargo broughtthe issue to the City's attention, but the Cityhas failed to make a <br />revised and proper offer sufficient to place Wells Fargo in the same pecuniary position it would <br />be if a portion of the Subject Property were not taken by the City via eminent domain <br />proceedings. <br />As the City's offer was predicated upon an artificially low valuation of the interests to be <br />acquired from the Subject Propertyand the curative measures that must be made to the Subject <br />Property, that offer was inadequate as a matter of law and would not constitute an effort to <br />acquire the property interests "expeditiously and by negotiation"as required by California <br />Government Code section 7267.1. (Gov. Code, § 7267.1.) <br />3.The City's Proposed Project Is Not Planned Or Located In The Manner That Will Be <br />Most Compatible With The Greatest Public Good and The Least Private Injury. <br />One of the necessity components that must be analyzed when considering the adoption of a <br />resolution to authorize the taking of private property is whether the proposed project for which <br />the property is sought to be taken is planned or located in a manner that is most compatible with <br />the greatest public good and causes the least private injury. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1240.030, <br />subd. (b).)In the absence of substantial evidencesupporting the City's determination as to the <br />planning and location of the proposed project, the resolution of necessity is invalid. <br />In this case, the Projectviolates the "least private injury"requirement.Most notably, the Project <br />calls for the permanent closure of the driveway closest to the intersection on Warner Avenue.It <br />is the closure of this driveway that requires Wells Fargo to completely reconfigure the Subject <br />Property by, among other things, changing the location of the Drive-Through ATMs, changing <br />locations of the canopies covering the Drive-Through ATMs, redesigning on-site traffic flow, <br />changing locations of driveways, relocating the electrical transformer and repaving/restriping the <br />parking lot.Wells Fargo has repeatedly explained to the City the problems associated with <br />closing the driveway on Warner Avenue and urgedthe City to redesign the Project in a manner <br />that would not require the closure of the driveway.Despite this, the City has insisted on <br />proceeding with the Project that includes the permanent closure of the driveway on Warner <br />Avenue, causing great injuryto Wells Fargo in the process. <br />To be sure, less injurious alternatives to the Project are available. The simplest solution would <br />be to redesign the Project so that the driveway on Warner Avenue would not need to be closed. <br />This solution has been rejected by the City.In short, the Project was not designed in a way that <br />is most compatible with the greatest public good and least private injury. <br /> <br />