75B - PH - APPEAL 1584 EAST SANTA CLARA AVE

Home Browse Search

Honorable Mayor Pulido and Santa Ana Council Members: I have lived in the same house (less than half a mile from the beloved Sexlinger Orchard - on the corner of Keegan Way and Linwood off of Fairhaven and Grand Avenue) for almost 46 years (as of next month). 'have had the heartbreaking honor of watching every last orchard in the entire area fall to needless housing, while there is a surplus of hto ir@ pII over. The memorial "orchard" at Hart Park does not even get watered on a regular bass' -! nice memorial! When we moved here it was rural area and quite lovely. Now it is an over populated area riddled with crime and indifferericg. There are no more orchards or antique houses that are not in down town Orange by the Circle with only a few feet between each of them and no orchards. I can guarantee that Martha Sexlinger did NOT wish for her home and 250 orange trees (that she watered BY HAND- I watched her personally do it for years as I was walking home from the bus stop at Lyon across from her house) to be bulldozed for MORE needless housing (however her attorney will not return ANY phone calls, emails, letters, etc FOR YEARS about it, so what does that tell you about her true wishes versus money for the people involved now? What does her attorney have to hide?). You and I both know she wanted her house and acreage to be preserved for generations to come (or why not sell it off many years prior to her death and travel?) to enjoy what she did for so many years. She watered the trees via HOSE by her SELF for years to have everything destroyed? Do you really believe that? Are you willing to stick to that story for the tempting of money that you can't take with you from this life? The location of the LAST SIZEABLE ORCHARD IN SANTA ANA is right next to a park with ample parking. What more perfect place to have a learning center where schools come to see how to harvest citrus and how an almost 100 year old home looks? The money collected from the schools would MORE than pay for the upkeep of the site and any docent to guide them. A community garden would fit perfectly within that area and to teach our children how to plant, harvest and provide food for their families. Tanaka Farms has done a great job of what I am describing here and all four of my children have paid for the privilege to learn about how food is grown and to take some home to their families several times a year per child -WAY smarter for constant income than giving up the land to houses. If you add up $5-$10 per child, per school, weekly of 60 kids per class, per month, you can MORE than obtain the "real estate taxes" you so desire while still actually TEACHING kids useful skills and history. How can anyone possibly NOT seethe benefits in this? There has not been ONE person I have talked to in the neighborhood and surrounding areas that has thought that 24 houses overpriced for our area is a better choice than preserving Martha Sexlinger's house and orchard for generations to come. NOT ONE PERSON. There are hundreds of acres in Irvine, Corona, Riverside, etc - so why this ONE LAST plot of beloved land in Santa Ana? There is NO viable reason not to declare this historic house and orchard exactly what it is - HISTORIC and should be preserved for generations to come. It is in a perfect area and centrally located for all areas schools to pay for the privilege to be a part of history and play at the park before returning to school. highly suggest you see the benefits of what we are proposing and what had been done all over the place AND MAKING MONEY while not building needless houses on irreplaceable land and trees. This is really a "no brainer" if you think about it -the key to this is thinking about it, thinking about your kids and grandkids and NOT going along with the landslide of "let's make money for the city", when you actually ARE making money for the schools, city and actually teaching children about history instead of the greed of property taxes. I BEG you to look at what is at stake - go LOOK at the property, look at Martha's house, see her adored trees and tell me she would want it torn down to put over priced houses that won't sell in this area (houses selling in the 400's won't sell - do you REALLY think houses in the 600's will sell here??). Hear me when I tell you she would NOT want her house, 75B-47