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One of the most important long-term influences upon enrollment figures for the past, present and future is the City's General Plan. The Land Use Element reflects the present and anticipated future development patterns in the City. ~ne knowledge of location and density of housing development is crucial in determining future capital facility needs and potential sites for new puDlic facilities such as schools.. Newdevelop~ent and redevelopment that has occurred in Santa Ana since the adoption of the revised General Plan in 1982 were based upon heavy use of "Mixed Use Oorridors" and "District Centers" as areas targeted for retail, office and higher density multi-family projects. Figure 5 indicates those areas of the City that were District Center and Mixed Use Corridor where there was no limit to residential density. Figure 5A is the City's c~rrent General Plan Land Use Map adopted in June 1987 which reflects significantly lower densities and correspondingly lower student generation potential. Since a 1987 General Plan a~enc~nent, unlimited density in the City is now restricted to the immediate downtown area, Main Place area, Hutton Centre, and South ~oast metro area as indicated in Figure 5A. Residential Develo~ment The number of residential units in an area can generally be used as a predictor of school enrollment. As defined in the Housing Element of the General Plan, a "unit" is the place of abode of a person(s) in a single-family dwelling or in a multi-family dwelling (does not consider the numDer of bedrooms). As discussed earlier, because of the extent of overcrowding in Santa Ana, the n~ber of residences is not an accurate predictor of enrollment, but it can be used as an indicator. For purposes of predicting future enrollment, it is important to look at development trends and consider the new resid~nt.ai~u¥~ ~.~.~:;..in cunj~n.tion'~i~k existing housing data. Figure 6 is b graphic display of the new residential development that has been permitted between 1984 and 1986 in Santa Aha. As the corresponding data in Table 14 indicates, the a~ount of new residential construction approved treoled from 627 in 1984 to 1,737 in 1986. The Housing Element of the General Plan, which was prepared in 1984, stated a goal of 1,534 as the average annual increase in units through 1989. From 1984-86, multi-family development accounted for 97 percent of all new development, as only 126 of the 3,551 units were single family. Even though areas designated for low density single-family land use is more than four times the areas designated for medium to high density residential, the vast majority of new development has been in multi-family projects. One reason for the few single-family developments is the dearth of parcels large enough to accommodate new single-family developments. Further, most redevelopment in the City has been occurring in areas zoned for multi-family projects that were originally developed with single-family units. ~he downtown area of Santa Ana has seen the most development activity in terms of new residential construction. This area is generally bound by Seventeenth Street to the north, First Street on the south, Bristol Street on the west and the Santa Aha Freeway on the east. ~is area has had more than 500 new units approved since 1984. Up to five hundred units have been approved for the area immediately southeast of downtown. Most of these units have been in the Eastside neighborhood. Areas west of the Santa Ana River north of First Street, and east of Santa Aha River north of Seventeenth Street also have up to 500 new units approved for development. New residential development west of the river south of First Street has been in the 100-300 unit range. These developments will impact the Garden Grove School District. I I I