60B - WELLNESS DISTRICT PROPOSAL

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Wellness District Community Proposal May 19, 2015 Page 2 DISCUSSION At the Finance, Economic Development and Technology Committee meeting on January 12, 2015, a group of residents and business owners, represented by Building Healthy Communities, presented an item to the Committee related to a Market Study for Downtown Santa Ana for Wellness Goods and Services. This presentation included a proposed resolution to direct the City Manager to establish a Wellness District in the Downtown area. The report was presented by a Canadian firm, The Next Practice, and was commissioned by the California Endowment in collaboration with Building Healthy Communities. The report was prepared to support their efforts related to health and wellness activities. The members of the Committee requested the City Manager review the elements of the proposed resolution, meet with members of Building Healthy Communities, and present the item to the Mayor and City Council for discussion in March. The City Manager and staff met with representatives of Building Healthy Communities on January 26, 2015, to provide initial comments and feedback on the various elements of their proposed resolution. The meeting was followed by a written response to the group on February 4, 2015, which provided a point -by -point response for each of major requests listed in the proposed resolution. In addition, staff provided a listing of all city owned parcels as requested by the group. On March 4, 2015, Building Healthy Communities provided City staff with a revised proposed resolution, comments to City's responses, and a second proposed resolution related to the creation of a new community advisory committee for economic development planning. On March 11, 2015, a third revised proposal was submitted to the City. At the March 17, 2015 City Council meeting, the Work Study Session to discuss this item was continued to April 7, 2015, which allowed staff to provide comments on the latest version submitted (Attachment 1). The City Attorney's Office did not have the opportunity to provide their review of the revised comments. During the work study session on April 7, 2015, the Mayor and City Council provided comments on items that they supported. Four of the proposal items were common areas of interest among members of the City Council: Calle Cuatro /Plaza Santa Ana rebranding, support of a mercadito, support of micro - farms, and support of community event sponsorships. The original proposal described a Wellness District in the Downtown, however, the boundaries of such an area have not been defined by the proposers. Upon staff review, three of the common areas of interest do not need to be defined by any boundaries. If supported by the City Council, the latter three items could be located anywhere in the City. �. 1