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From:Soboleske, Hally To:Bernal, Sarah Subject:Fwd: 1904 N Heliotrope Dr. Date:Tuesday, May 09, 2017 10:28:08 PM Another Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Lee & Leeta Wilhite <home@wilhite5.com> Date: May 9, 2017 at 10:00:05 PM PDT To: Hally Soboleske <hsoboleske@santa-ana.org> Cc: Leeta Wilhite <home@wilhite5.com> Subject: 1904 N Heliotrope Dr. Hello Hally, I’m a Floral Park resident who objects to the proposed minor exception regarding construction of a 5 foot wall surrounding 1904 N Heliotrope Drive. I just learned about tomorrow’s hearing, which I cannot attend in person. My husband and I have lived in Floral Park for almost two years, moving to Orange County from the Seattle area. We could have lived in many different cities—my husband works in La Mirada and our kids attend school in Huntington Beach—but we chose Floral Park (and therefore, Santa Ana) because it’s completely set apart from everything else we looked at. It truly feels like a neighborhood … people walking their dogs at all hours, greeting one another by name, sharing hospitality with neighbors who also happen to be friends, and generally caring for one another in a way we’ve never experienced in any place we've lived. When we moved in, people told us that Floral Park was like this— and it really is the case! Of course a neighborhood cannot exude friendliness in this way, simply by the residents being interested in one another. As you know, physical cues play a critical role in how a neighborhood feels—in Floral Park’s case: varied architectural styles, tidy homes and yards of all sizes, tree-lined streets, charming landscapes, set back garages, etc. But probably what contributes most of all to Floral Park’s friendly feel are the clear sight lines from one end of a street to the other—the open spaces between homes seem to say: we are part of a community. After all, this was the way of life for the families who built our homes, i.e. when people engaged with one another rather than with their smart phones. I hadn’t really thought about the importance of physical cues until I pictured the proposed wall at one end of Heliotrope. I’m concerned that a compound-like wall surrounding a prominent Floral Park property—and any others that follow suit— will detract from the neighborhood’s strong community feel. Again, the physical cues carry weight whether we’re conscious of them or not. 28