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March 10, 2008 Mr. Bill Apple, Associate Planner City of Santa Ana, Planning Division 20 Civic Center Plaza Ross Annex Building, Second Floor Santa Ana, CA 92702 RE: Proposal to Prepare an Initial Study and Focused Environmental Impact Report For Empire Homes Development at 1584 East Santa Clara Avenue (DP No. 2007-63) Dear Mr. Apple: URS is pleased to present herein our revised proposal to prepare an Initial Study (IS) and Focused Environmental Impact Report (EIR) with supporting studies for the proposed Empire Homes single-family residential development at 1584 East Santa Clara Avenue in the City of Santa Ana. More specifically, URS understands that the proposed project consists of 24 new single-family residences on the subject property that is located within the Single Family Residential (R-1) zoning district and has a General Plan designation of Low Density Residential (LR). The project proposes a vesting tentative tract map to subdivide a 4.8-acre site into 24 parcels and the development of 24 single-family residences ranging in size from 2,460 to 2,760 square feet. The proposed project site comprises a circa 1914 Craftsman Bungalow residence, detached garage, and orange grove. In October 2007, Sapphos Environmental, Inc. (Sapphos), on behalf of the City, prepared a Memorandum for the Record (Memorandum) to preliminarily assess the potential historic significance of the existing property (i.e., bungalow, detached garage, and associated orange grove). As further described in this Memorandum, the bungalow and orange grove appear eligible for the Santa Ana Register under Criterion 6 ("buildings or structures that were connected with a business or use that was once common but is now rare") and for the California Register under Criterion I ("associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history of the cultural heritage of California or the United States"). The property, therefore, appears to qualify as a historical resource under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Mr. Court Morgan will serve as the EIR Project Manager for this effort, and would serve as the primary point of contact with City staff for the duration of the project. Mr. Morgan has over 11 years of experience managing preparation of environmental documentation. Mr. Jeff Rice, URS Environmental Planning Manager, and past City of Santa Ana Planning & Building Agency employee, will provide oversight of preparation of the EIR documentation and processes, as needed. Mr. Morgan will be assisted by Youji Yasui as Project Coordinator, and the following technical leads and their staff: Air Quality — Jillian Baker, Ph.D; Geology and Soils Analysis — Chris Goetz; Hazards and Hazardous Materials — Janet Tentler; Noise URS Corporation 2020 East First Street, Suite 400 Santa Ana. CA 92705 Tel: 714.835.6886 Fax. 114.6G7.7147 www.urscorp.com