75D - PH - MATER DEI EXPANSION AND PARKING STRUCTURE

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EIR No. 2013 -01 and Amend DA No. 1999 -01 July 13, 2015 Page 2 Project Description Mater Del High School is requesting approval of two entitlements in order to facilitate an expansion to the existing campus.. The entitlements include the certification of a final environmental impact and the approval of a second amendment to a development agreement that was first approved in 1995. The proposed project consists of the construction of a new three - level, 990 -space parking on the campus. To accommodate this structure, Mater Del is in the process of acquiring 19 single- family lots at the southeast border of the site for future consolidation with the existing campus. The purchase of the lots, in conjunction with the street vacations that will need to occur, will add an additional 4.02 acres to the school site, in addition, a 30,820 square foot, two -story academic building with 32 classrooms to be constructed in the central section of the campus at a later date to replace two existing one -story buildings. With the addition of the classroom building and parking structure projects, the campus will ultimately contain a total of 267,146 square feet of building area and 1,396 on -site parking spaces. The parking structure and classroom buildings will be architecturally consistent with the other buildings found on the campus. The buildings will utilize split face block, cast in place concrete and metallic silver accents as exterior materials. Further, the color palette will include red and dark grey to match the colors of the structures currently found on the campus (Exhibits 4, 5 and 6), The proposed project will include an extensive amount of landscaping in an effort to soften the appearance of the parking structure. For instance, a 20 -foot wide landscaped setback, which will incorporate a variety of canopy trees, hedges and ground cover, will be provided along the south property line on St. Andrews Place. Further, a minimum landscaped setback of 12 -feet will be provided along the east property line and will be heavily landscaped with trees to also reduce the visibility of the structure. Finally, the structure itself will include a green screen on the east wall, further reducing its visual impact on the adjacent neighborhood (Exhibit 7). Project Background Mater Del High School began operations in Santa Ana in 1950. In 1961, the school obtained a CUP to expand their existing classroom facilities. In 1995, the school received approval of a development agreement, general plan amendment and amendment application (zone change), which approved a conceptual master plan for the expansion and build out of the Mater Del campus, which included the acquisition of residential properties to the east and the future vacation of a portion of several streets located directly eat of the campus. In 1999, the school received approval to amend the development agreement for the vacation of a portion of Baker Street, Pomona Avenue, Stanford Avenue and Edinger Avenue and approval of a revised master plan for the high school, which also included the construction of a future 46,241 square foot Performing Arts building. 75D -4