75A - PH - EIR 1584 E SANTA CLARA AVE

Home Browse Search

he i..Ykf1,vrvavlcy! Page 2 property establishes a precedent for the city of Santa Ana. This understanding is reaffirmed in the Technical Memorandum describing the HPA when it states, "... the Sexlingerorchard [emphasis ours] is considered a historic resource under the SARHP for the purposes of CEQA." The consultant's understanding and use of various National Park Service publications and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (Secretary's Standards) is the basis for their arguments that reduce the designated historic property from five acres to 10,044 square feet. That their proposals of the restoration of the structures and the retention of a few orange trees can be considered adequate mitigation of recognized adverse impacts "to a level of less than significant impact on the historic resource" is without merit. The HPA lists a series of the rehabilitation standards put forth by the Secretary's Standards, some of which the Conservancy believes do nothing to address the impacts of the essential demolition and destruction of the orchard itself and others which, based on the description of how this alternative will be implemented, will not occur at all. Example: "A property will be used as it was historically." Based on the detailed description of this alternative, the use of the property will be as a standard residential property without any reference to use in it's true historical context, that of a family farm complex. Remember, this property is an original five -acre, family owned, commercial orchard. not a remnant. The HPA invokes CEQA guidelines from the standpoint of defining substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. They sight "substantial adverse change" as the "demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration activities that would impair the significance of the historic resource." Examples of adverse impacts acknowledged in the HPA include "... a large portion of the [orchard] network would be lost" and that under the HPA the "natural systems and features" of the land would not be "recognizable as what exists currently." Additionally, the "overall setting and relationship with the landscape would be impaired by the construction of additional residences." It is acknowledged that the HPA would result in the loss of the spatial organization of the historic site and the "extant landscape would undergo significant change as the vast majority of the orange trees of the project site would be removed." Given these expected impacts of the proposed project we see no way that the HPA can retain the historical integrity, significance and overall character of the historic resource. The remaining 10,000 square feet will, in our view, not adequately convey the scope of the historical Sexlinger Farmhouse and Orchard. Furthermore, the Conservancy cannot, in any way, consider this proposed alternative as being a mitigation plan which will reduce adverse impacts to a "level less than significant." We feel that our proposed 50/50 development /preservation alternative is much more in keeping with the true intent of the Secretary's Standards by allowing enough acreage to retain the historical integrity of the "property's location, feeling, and overall character." a+vww.0nd0" ,cliardCoriservaticy.org 75A -59