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9 <br />RUTAN <br />RUTAN & TUCKER, LLP <br />March 3, 2014 <br />VIA E -MAIL AND <br />HAND DELIVERY <br />Mayor Miguel Pulido <br />Members of the Santa Ana City Council <br />City of Santa Ana <br />PO Box 1988 M31 <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />Jeffrey T. Melching <br />Direct Dial: (714) 641 -3422 <br />E -mail: jmelching @ratan.com <br />Re: Sexlinger Farmhouse and Orchard Residential Development Project Proposed At <br />1584 East Santa Clara Avenue <br />Dear Mayor Pulido and Members of the Santa Ana City Council: <br />This office has been engaged to assist Lutheran High School of Orange County and <br />Concordia University (collectively, the "Schools "), in connection with their applications for <br />residential development of the property located at 1584 East Santa Clara Avenue ( "Project "). <br />On February 27, 2014, the City received letters from The Old Orchard Conservancy <br />( "TOOC "), and from its counsel, in opposition to the City's approval of the Project and its <br />associated Final Environmental Impact Report. Those letters primarily reiterate TOOC's <br />disagreement with the conclusions of the City's Planning Commission, staff, and expert <br />consultants with regard to the Historic Preservation Alternative. The City's staff and <br />independent expert consultants have done a thorough job in responding to those arguments — <br />most recently in the staff report prepared for the March 4, 2014 City Council meeting. <br />In addition to those matters, however, TOOC and its counsel mention two additional <br />arguments: (1) that the project will impact important agricultural lands, and (2) that the criteria <br />for granting a variance for "Lot 12" are not satisfied here. Neither argument has merit, but in the <br />abundance of caution the Schools respectfully submit the following discussion and materials <br />relating to those two issues. <br />With regard to agricultural lands, TOOC's counsel claims that "the loss of prime <br />agricultural soil is a significant impact" because the land has "a Storie Rating of 90 and Class I <br />capability." The City reviewed potential impacts on agricultural lands in the Initial Study for the <br />Project, and found that under both the Santa Ana General Plan and the State's Farmland <br />Mapping and Monitoring Project ( "FMMP "), the City does not contain any Prime Farmland, <br />Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide Importance. (Initial Study, Final EIR Appx. A, p. <br />25, 1 A; see also Cal. Code Regs. § 15000 et seq., Appx. G, § II(a).) A review of the Statewide <br />Rutan & Tucker, LLP 1 611 Anton Blvd, Suite 1400, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 <br />PO Box 1950, Costa Mesa, CA 92628 -1950 1 714 - 641 -5100 1 Fax 714- 546 -9035 680/030670 -0001 <br />Orange County I Palo Alto I www.rutan.com 6747449.1.03/03 /t4 <br />