Item No. 1_Public Comment_Willowick

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Memo to City of Santa Ana Planning Commission September 15, 2021 Page 6 RDPEIR at 5.15-20.3 Policy OS-1.8. Land Acquisition and Equitable Distribution. Explore options for the acquisition of available lands for parks, open space, greenways and trail corridors, with priority given to sites that are within park deficient or environmental justice areas. Open Space Element at 6. Rise Up Willowick supports the Policy’s stated goal of more equitable park distribution in park deficient and environmental justice areas. We commend the City for including Policy OS-1.4 and Policy OS-1.8. However, Policy OS-1.4 should use a 0.5 mile walking distance to measure park proximity, a more objective metric than a 10- minute walking distance, which varies depending on a pedestrian’s physical capabilities. Policy OS-1.8 should direct the City to acquire new parkland, not merely to “explore options” for doing so. We propose strengthening and clarifying these policies as follows: Policy OS-1.4. Park Distribution. Ensure the that all City residents have access to public or private parks, recreation facilities, or and trails within a 10 minute0.5 mile walking and biking distance of home their homes. Prioritize park provision, programs, and partnerships in park deficient and environmental justice areas. Policy OS-1.8. Land Acquisition and Equitable Distribution. Explore options for the acquisition of Acquire available lands for parks, open space, greenways and trail corridors, with priority given to sites that are within park deficient or and environmental justice areas. The Open Space Element includes the following provision regarding park-deficient areas: Policy OS-1.10. Creative Solutions for Deficiencies. Develop creative and flexible solutions to provide greenspace and recreation activities in neighborhoods where 3 There is an error in the draft General Plan Update, which replaces Policy OS-1.4 with language identical to Policy OS-1.5 (“Provide a mix of community, neighborhood, and special use parks, along with greenway corridors, natural areas, and landscape areas, to meet community needs for greenspace, recreation space, social space, and trail connectivity”), thus repeating the same policy twice. We assume that the version of Policy OS-1.4 provided in the RDPEIR (quoted above) contains the correct language.