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December 15, 2020 www.kennedycommis ion.org 17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 Honorable Mayor Vicente Sarmiento City of Santa Ana Councilmembers 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Agenda Item 11A ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. NS-XXXX - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVING AMENDMENT APPLICATION NO. 2020-04 MODIFYING THE SUB -ZONING DESIGNATION OF THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 501, 507, 509, 515, AND 519 EAST FOURTH STREET AND THOSE AT 502, 506, 510, 514, 520 EAST FIFTH STREET FROM SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT NO. 94, URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD 2 (UN-2) SUB -ZONE, TO THE URBAN CENTER (UC) SUB -ZONE Dear Mayor and City Council Members: The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad based coalition of residents and community organizations that advocates for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than $27,000 annually in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has been successful in partnering and working with Orange County jurisdictions to create effective housing and land -use policies that has led to the new construction of homes affordable to lower income working families. The Commission writes this letter to provide context on the community's and its opposition to the 4"' and Mortimer Mixed — Use Development (Item I IA). Community Input The last in person community meeting for this development was the Sunshine Ordinance Meeting held on August 29, 2018; there was a large community presence with over 50 residents in attendance. The majority of the residents in attendance were of the Lacy neighborhood and live a walking distance from the proposed project site. At this meeting there was overwhelming community opposition to the proposed project as presented. Residents expressed that the proposed development was inconsistent with the needs of the neighborhood. The large residential development would replace their fresh food source, Northgate Gonzalez Market, with new residential with rents that are out of reach for the neighborhood's working class community. Santa Ana Community Needs Zhe City of Santa Ana is a renter majority city and despite the City's progress towards meeting its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RIINA) allocation for very low and low income housing there continues to be a great need for housing that is affordable to its residents. The current pandemic has increased the economic and housing pressures on low-income families in Santa Ana. As incomes are decreasing and jobs are being lost, many low income families are struggling to remain housed. This is especially true for the majority of Santa Ana's low-income households that are suffering with the impacts of housing cost and economic uncertainty. While the city has seen increased production of affordable housing it has not been enough to address the past deficits and growing needs for affordable housing based on the population's housing needs and incomes of residents in Santa Ana. As an example, according to the City's Irvine. CA 92614