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Ms. Kellee Preston <br />October 17, 2012 <br />Page 2 <br />gross building area, including approximately 72,134 sf of public space, 9,261 sf of office space, <br />and up to 630 theater seats in two separate theaters. A 9,618 sf auditorium on the 2 "d floor of <br />the Project may be used for exhibit space or a 500 -seat theater. Parking analyses were <br />performed for both scenarios. Figure 1 shows the Project site plan. <br />As in current practice, the Center will hold special events (such as Jedi Nights, PBS SoCal Day <br />or Bubblefest) a few times per year. A special event is defined as a blockbuster exhibit or <br />temporary festival. Special events typically run over a number of days, with the highest parking <br />demand occurring on the final days of the event or coinciding with weekends and holidays. <br />These events create a special event parking scenario, so a parking demand analysis for this <br />scenario was also performed. <br />Approximately 121 parking spaces will be removed to accommodate the construction of the <br />Project, resulting in an on -site parking supply of approximately 182 parking spaces during and <br />after construction. This total does not include parking spaces located in off -site overflow lots <br />around the Center. The existing Center will remain in operation during construction. <br />CODE PARKING REQUIREMENT <br />The City of Santa Ana Municipal Code (Code) contains parking space requirements for <br />developments within the City. Table 1 provides a summary of the Code- required parking for the <br />Project based on the application of the Code parking ratios. Based on the City's determination, <br />Existing Conditions require 245 parking spaces and the Project requires 187 parking spaces if <br />the auditorium is utilized for exhibit space or 306 parking spaces if the auditorium is used as a <br />theater, for a total of 432 parking spaces if the auditorium is utilized for exhibit space or <br />approximately 550 parking spaces if the auditorium is used as a theater. <br />This Code parking analysis does not take into account the actual usage pattern of the various <br />elements of the Center, nor does it consider the daily and seasonal patronage patterns to the <br />Center. It is simply a mathematical calculation of the Code parking rates applied to each of the <br />components of the Project. In reality, it is more appropriate for a special use project like this to <br />base its parking needs on actual parking demand, which is directly driven by attendance at the <br />Center. <br />EXISTING PARKING DEMAND <br />In order to document the existing parking demand, GTC conducted parking occupancy <br />observations at the Center on August 16 and 18, 2012. Based on discussions with Center <br />representatives, the week GTC conducted counts at the Center was a traditionally busy week as <br />it was during the summer months when local schools were not yet in session, which generally <br />results in higher attendance at the Center. <br />For the purposes of observing parking demand, the study area was divided into focused study <br />subareas based on the location of the subarea in relation to the Center. Off -site parking areas <br />were separated from the Center parking lots in the surveys. <br />75A -21 <br />