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450 West Fourth Street Suite 130 Sonto Ana, CA 42701 Ph: 714.542.7792 Fox: 714- 542 -4553 lati nohealthoccess.org December 1, 2016 Mayor Miguel Pulido and Members of the City Council City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Opposition — Amendment to Development Agreement No. 2015 -03 Dear Mayor Pulido and Members of the City Council: Latino Health Access has been working to improve the living conditions of low income families in Santa Ana for the past 23 years. We work side -by -side with community residents and see firsthand the housing burden that exists in the city, including overcrowding, high housing costs and low wages, Santa Ana data supports what we see out in the community and shows the tremendous need for more affordable housing. This is why we applaud the City's initiative to adopt a Housing Opportunity Ordinance that ensures new developments contribute to the construction and funding of new affordable housing units, We understand the need to support new mixed - Income development over the long -term, but also feel the urgent need to protect policies and programs that will create new affordable housing opportunities as soon as possible. As such, we are writing to express our strong opposition to amending the Development Agreement No.2015 -03, Approving this amendment would set back the City's past efforts to ensure quality affordable housing for all Santa Ana residents and inevitable affect our community's health and wellness, In Santa Ana, there is a significant need to address and provide housing opportunities for all economic segments of the community. Families in our City are extremely rent burdened, as most of their limited income (over 50 %) is used to pay for housing costs. As residents struggle to find available and affordable housing in Santa Ana, rents have continually increased. A minimum wage earner needs the equivalent of 3.2 full -time jobs to afford the rent of a typical two - bedroom unit. In the City, the 2016 average rent for a large rental complex was $1,786.00, which was a 3.7% increase from the year before, These rents are far out of reach for many lower income working families in the City, leaving families to make tough choices between paying for their housing or other essential life necessities such as food, transportation, and healthcare. The Housing Opportunity Ordinance was created by the City and was reviewed in 2015 with a working group that consisted of housing advocates and developers, including the developer of the Heritage Village Project. This working group agreed to clear standards that were established in the 2015 amendment of the Housing Opportunity Ordinance. During the 2015 amendments negotiation, pipeline projects such as the Heritage Village Project received incentives to a pay a reduced inclusionary housing in -lieu fee. PREVENTION EDUCATION ACTION