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<br />Chapter 3 Findings Regarding Project Alternatives
<br />Although Alternative 2 would somewhat reduce the significant impacts of the proposed Transit Zoning
<br />Code (SD 84A and SD 84B) on aesthetics, climate change, and transportation, it would not reduce any of
<br />those impacts to below the level of significance. In addition, Alternative 2 would not meet the housing
<br />and transit objectives of the Project to the same extent as the proposed project.
<br />Alternative 2 would reduce housing by 25 percent, from 4,075 to 3,056 residential units. The potential
<br />number of affordable housing units would also be reduced by 25 percent. Providing 3,056 new units
<br />would not meet Santa Ana’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment for 2006-2014, which calls for 3,393
<br />total units, 1,248 of which must be affordable for low, very low, and extremely low income households.
<br />The City of Santa Ana has a great need for affordable housing; sixty percent of the households in Santa
<br />Ana have low, very low, and extremely low income. (City of Santa Ana General Plan Draft Housing
<br />Element 2006-2014, Appendix A, p. A-10.) Goal 2 of the Housing Element is to “provide a diversity of
<br />quality housing, affordability levels, and living experiences that accommodate Santa Ana’s residents and
<br />workforce of all household types, income levels, and age groups to foster an inclusive community.”
<br />Alternative 2 would not meet this goal, or the following Housing Element policies, to the same extent as
<br />the proposed project:
<br />HE-2.3 Rental Housing. Encourage the construction of rental housing for Santa Ana’s
<br />residents and workforce, including a commitment to very low, low, and moderate
<br />income residents and moderate income Santa Ana workers.
<br />HE-2.4 Diversity of Housing Types. Facilitate and encourage a diversity and range in types,
<br />prices, and sizes of housing, including single family homes, apartments, town
<br />homes, mixed/multiuse housing, transit-oriented developments, and live/work
<br />housing.
<br />Alternative 2 would not meet the project’s transit oriented objectives to the same extent as the proposed
<br />project. Reducing the amount of housing and retail space would result in a failure to fully emphasize the
<br />use of the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) for City residents. A mixed-use urban
<br />and transit-oriented neighborhood requires a critical mass and balance between residential and non-
<br />residential uses in order to succeed. (Draft EIR, Section 5.5.) Alternative 2 would not provide that critical
<br />mass and balance.
<br />In addition, it would not implement established SCAG RTP or RCP policies, or General Plan Land Use
<br />Element policies 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.7, 5.9, 5.10,
<br />and 5.11, or Urban Land Use Element Goals 1 through 7 to the same extent as the proposed project.
<br />(See Land Use Element; Urban Design Element; Draft EIR Table 4.7-3.) Specifically, the Alternative 2
<br />would not meet the following SCAG RTP Land Use Goals to the same extent as the proposed project:
<br />
<br />¦
<br />Create mixed-use districts or “complete communities” in strategic growth areas through a
<br />concentration of activities with housing, employment, and a mix of retail and services, located in
<br />close proximity to each other. Focusing a mix of land uses in strategic growth areas creates
<br />complete communities wherein most daily needs can be met within a short distance of home,
<br />providing residents with the opportunity to patronize their local area and run daily errands by
<br />walking or cycling rather traveling by automobile.
<br />
<br />¦
<br />Intensify nodes along corridors with people-scaled, mixed-use developments. Many existing
<br />corridors lack the residential and commercial concentration to adequately support non-auto transit
<br />Revised Station District Project and FOL Settlement Agreement Findings of Fact/Statement of Overriding
<br />3-5
<br />Considerations
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