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<br />
<br />Ordinance No. NS-XXX
<br />Page 2 of 16
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<br />WHEREAS, as part of that commitment, it has been and continues to be the
<br />obligation of the City to keep the public areas clean and available for public use and to
<br />ensure access by the public to all property, both public and private, by the disabled,
<br />elderly, families, children, and visitors to the City of Santa Ana; and
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<br />WHEREAS, the City has taken proactive measures to address the underlying
<br />issues leading to unlawful camping and the storage of personal items on public property,
<br />including, but not limited to, the implementation of two outreach and engagement teams
<br />to address needed resources for unsheltered persons in the City, possible through the
<br />use of grants and the expenditure of City funds; and
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<br />WHEREAS, the Santa Ana Multi-Disciplinary Response Team (SMART), a pilot
<br />program between the City and CityNet, is a specialized non-police response team that
<br />provides outreach via direct field engagement, to offer resources including shelter and
<br />connections to mental health and medical treatment in association; and
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<br />WHEREAS, the Quality of Life Team (QOLT) is a multi-disciplinary team to
<br />address quality of life issues throughout the City. The team problem solves issues
<br />regarding homelessness in the field including outreach services, encampment clean-up
<br />and enforcement action when necessary; and
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<br />WHEREAS, on June 12, 2022, the City also opened the Navigation Center which
<br />operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing 200 beds for men, women,
<br />couples and families, a commercial kitchen, and an outdoor area for participants and their
<br />pets, to provide shelter to unsheltered persons in the City of Santa Ana; and
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<br />WHEREAS, in 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)
<br />released its Annual Housing Assessment Report, which estimated that there are 653,104
<br />homeless Americans, based on its annual Point-In-Time (“PIT”) Count, representing a
<br />12.1% increase from the same report in 2022; and
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<br />WHEREAS, HUD data also provided that California is home to four (4) of the
<br />nation’s top ten major metropolitan areas with the largest number of persons experiencing
<br />homelessness, along with New York, Texas and Florida; and
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<br />WHEREAS, in May of 2024, the County of Orange’s released its 2024 PIT Count
<br />and estimated that a total of 7,322 persons experiencing homelessness were living in
<br />Orange County, a 28% increase from two years prior; and
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<br />WHEREAS, from that same count, it was estimated that the City of Santa has 871
<br />unsheltered persons living in the City, a significant increase from 2022, where it was
<br />estimated the City had 508 unsheltered persons living in the City; and
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<br />WHEREAS, recently, the Supreme Court issued new law addressing the
<br />enforcement of laws regarding sleeping, camping and storing personal property in public
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