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Chairman Shawn Nelson Supervisor O' District Orange County Board of Supervisors Hall of Administration 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: Proposed Homeless Shelter /Normandy Place Dear Chairman Shawn Nelson, There appears to be some confusion regarding our position on the proposed homeless shelter located at 1217 E. Normandy Place. I was informed of this proposal by Supervisor Nguyen in June along with one of our Board members (in a separate meeting). At that time, I voiced concern about the proposed shelter's proximity to Kennedy Elementary School and time potential for impacts on traffic. I was informed that there would be a new substation for the Santa Ana Police Department on the premises and that there would be an external contractor that would operate the facility. There was an explanation that the City of Santa Ana had declared an SB2 zone in the area that limited the location of the facility. At the beginning of July, I met with the City Manager of Santa Ana, and he discussed essentially time same proposal that was being forwarded by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Again, I voiced some of my concerns but had the impression that this was more or less a "done deal," and the only discussion was regarding issues of implementation. I was not informed as to a date for a public comment meeting. 1, along with several Board members, the principal of Kennedy Elementary School, and District staff attended a community meeting on Tuesday night. At that time, there seemed to be statements and representation of correspondence from City and County officials that seemed to suggest that we, as a District, were not interested and concerned about the issue. Therefore, let me attempt to clarify our position on this matter. While we are greatly sensitive to the needs of our homeless citizens - - in fact, as a School District we sere 6,000 of these students and their families- - -we do not see this proposal as the preferable solution. Our concerns are probably broader than what I will represent here, but the following will at least give you a notion of our concerns: We are concerned about the proximity of this facility being less than 1000' from Kennedy Elementary School. Certainly, the school and community have voiced their concern for the safety of the children and safe travel routes - -and we would agree. However, we also have a functionality concern as the proposed loading of the facility was stated as 200 residents, which obviously can impact the capacity and studetu- loading of this school. 1601 E. Chestnut Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92701, (714) 558 -5501 BOARD OF EDUCATION Audrey Yamagam -Noji, Ph.D., President • Jose Alfredo HemSndez, J.D., mice President Rob Richardson, Clerk ^ John Palacio, Member - Cecilia "Ceci" Iglesias, Member