Item No. 1_Public Comment_Willowick

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Memo to City of Santa Ana Planning Commission September 15, 2021 Page 4 redeveloped solely for 100% below-market rate housing. Require that any loss of Open Space be replaced at a ratio of at least a 1:1 replacement if there is any loss of public parkland due to public or private development., that loss of public parks be replaced by new public parks, and that replacement Open Space (including public parks) be located within 0.5 miles walking distance from the lost Open Space. Require that a plan for replacement, including specific location of replacement land, be approved before or as part of approval of any project that would change the use of existing parks or Open Space. Require that development of replacement parks or Open Space occur prior to the closure or redevelopment of the lost parks or Open Space. 4. Proposed Changes to the Open Space Element’s “Park Standard” The draft Open Space Element currently includes this “park standard” policy: Policy OS-1.3: Park Standard. Establish and maintain public open space and recreation requirements for new residential and nonresidential development to provide sufficient opportunities for Santa Ana residents and visitors. Strive to attain a minimum of two acres of park land per 1,000 residents in the City. City of Santa Ana Draft General Plan Update, Open Space Element, at 5. This parkland- to-resident standard is already reflected in Municipal Code Section 35-108(a), which provides that “[d]evelopment of parks within the city will require the construction of park and recreation facilities sufficient to provide two (2) acres of such facilities per one thousand (1,000) population in the city.” The August 2021 RDPEIR for the General Plan Update acknowledges that the City currently does not meet this per-resident standard, and under the Update the total “parkland deficiency” is projected to increase further, from 118.14 acres to 299.48 acres at build-out unless additional parks are provided. RDPEIR at 5.15-28. The City’s standard of two acres of parks per 1,000 residents is not sufficient to meet the needs of City residents and is much less than the ratio of parkland to residents in other jurisdictions. According to the National Recreation and Park Association, the typical jurisdiction has a median of 9.9 of acres of parkland for every 1,0000 residents, while jurisdictions of more than 250,000 people (like Santa Ana) have a median of 10.9 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.2 Nationally, the bottom quartile of jurisdictions over 250,000 people have a median of 5.3 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. 2 National Recreation and Park Association, NRPA Agency Performance Review 8 (2020), https://www.nrpa.org/siteassets/nrpa-agency-performance-review.pdf