HomeMy WebLinkAbout4 - COMBINED PUBLIC COMMENTS_CUP1901; ME19-01_4405 W EDINGER
JANUARY 28, 2019
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING CORRESPONDENCE
AGENDA ITEM NO. 4
Comments received by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting.
NAME FAVOR OPPOSE
PATRICIA WELLS X
MARTHA TADROSS X
ATEF TADROSS X
JOSEPH QEST & MINA MILAD X
FRANK HERNANDEZ X
MARY TADROS X
GABRIELA V. MATTAR X
SABRI RIZKALLA X
ISIS TADROS X
SHERY ASSAL X
RAPHAELA SEFINE X
MARYAM ANTOUN G. KASSAB X
SAMEH ARMANIOS X
REMONDA MORCOS X
VICTO ARMANIOS X
TU NGUYEN X
SUSAN SALLEE X
JOAN TODISCO X
ROYAL & JULIE MELCHER X
DEBBIE ZUVER X
PETRA VETTER X
ANH TRUONG X
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From:Bernal, Sarah
Cc:Kelaher, Selena; Fregoso, Vince
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:PUBLIC COMMENT_Proposed Expansion of the Coptic Church on Edinger_ WELLS
Date:Thursday, January 24, 2019 1:23:50 PM
Commissioners:
Please see below comment for your review and consideration regarding an item on the January 28
agenda (agenda packets will be posted this afternoon).
Thank you.
From: Pat Wells <r >
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 9:25 PM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Proposted Expansion of the Coptic Church on Edinger
Dear Ms. Bernal:
As a twenty year home owner in the Little Texas neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Archangel
Michael Coptic Orthodox Church on Edinger, I am vehemently opposed to the expansion of the church's
proposed addition of a 9,928 square-foot community service building.
The neighborhood residents were opposed to the building of the church, but acquiesced when we were
led to believe that the church did not intend to expand. Since that time, the church has purchased several
properties in our neighborhood, which they do not maintain and are basically blights on the neighborhood.
Now, their goal is to consume more of our neighborhood for the purposed of a school and parking lot.
Our neighborhood is unique in that it is horse property and some of the residents have horses and other
animals. There are very few properties in Orange County where horses and other livestock can be kept.
My main concern is one of safety. There are two streets leading into and exiting the neighborhood. One
of the streets has an elementary school at the end of the street. School ends at various times with cars of
parents, students in the street, and buses virtually shutting down the street when students are arriving at
and leaving school. During the week, most residents use the other street to exit the neighborhood. With
the proposed expansion of the church, the only other street that we can exit the neighborhood during the
week would also have a school and a large parking lot, which will create the same issues as the other
school presents. Basically, during school hours, there would be major congestion with parents' cars and
students crossing the street, etc., on both exit streets. Both of our exits would be virtually shut down
during school hours. If an emergency were to occur, the fire department and/or an ambulance would be
delayed due to the school congestion. In addition, exiting the neighborhood in an emergency would be
extremely difficult. Leaving for work already presents its challenges at one end of the street. The
proposed new building and parking lot at the other end of the neighborhood would present the same
challenge.
The church should have originally been built in another area where there was adequate space for
expansion. It has been like an amoeba slowing taking over our neighborhood. Judging from the past, it
is doubtful that the church officials will ever be satisfied with the space they have and will continue to
erode our neighborhood.
Our residents are adamantly opposed to any further expansion by the church. The church is already a
towering eyesore; expanding it would add to that as well as create potential safety concerns if we needed
to exit in case of a fire and/or other emergency.
Due to the above concerns, I urge the City of Santa Ana to deny the Coptic Church the permit to expand.
Sincerely,
Patricia Wells
From:Bernal, Sarah
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:COMMENT Archangel Michael Coptic Christian Church Expansion_SALLEE
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 11:42:51 AM
Commissioners: Please see below comment for your review and consideration.
Thank you.
Sarah Bernal
Phone: 714-667-2732
City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702
City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates.
P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you
From: hilary sallee
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2019 9:24 PM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Archangel Michael Coptic Christian Church Expansion
TO: Mark McLoughlin, Chair of Planning Commission of Santa Ana
FROM: Susan Sallee, , church neighborhood resident
CC: Cynthia Contreras-Leo, Vice Chair and Ward 5 representative; Vince Fregosa, Acting Planning
Manager of Planning Commission, City of Santa Ana;
Eric Alderete, Ward 1; Lynette Verino, Ward 2; Kenneth Nguyen, Ward 3; David Benevides, Ward 4;
Angie Cano, Ward 6.
As a 50+ year resident of the residential neighborhood that the church decided to take over, I want to
again voice my opposition to their further expansion. I would like to remind the Commissioners of their
mission to ensure "a high quality of life for residents." Your overall guiding principle is stated to be
"equity." Your goals include community safety, which has been jeopardized by the continuing church
parking problems, denying local vehicles safe access into and out of our tract. The church has been out
of compliance with the conditional use permit since the outset, and there is no reason to believe they will
comply with any new agreement. These conditions were spelled out to benefit the residents of Santa Ana,
and were immediately ignored.
Another important goal of the Commission is "Community Wealth and Livability for Residents." Increased
traffic, and increased noise from church activities has already reduced our standard of living. The
majority of the church members are not part of "Team Santa Ana." The neighbors suspect that few
church members live and work in the city of Santa Ana. Excessive noise has become a problem for our
neighborhood. Recent basketball games at the church have been played late into the night, with young
people screaming, disturbing the peace and quiet enjoyment of the residents. Sunday school is held at
least three days a week, bringing increased noise, traffic and parking problems. The church has
functions at all times of the day and night, allowing no quiet time for the residents. With the addition of a
church school, so close to Newhope School, the traffic and noise will be greatly increased.
From:Bernal, Sarah
Cc:Neal, Candida; Fregoso, Vince; Kelaher, Selena
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:COMMENT Archangel Michael Coptic Christian Church Expansion_TODISCO
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 11:46:06 AM
Attachments:petition.pdf
Commissioners:
The attached communication pertaining to Agenda Item No. 4 has been received for your review and
consideration.
Sarah Bernal
Phone: 714-667-2732
City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702
City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates.
P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you
From: Joan Todisco <>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 10:09 AM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: re: Planning Commission
January 28, 2019
Sarah Bernal, attaching Petition in response to Public Hearing tonight before Planning Commission in
regard to project located at 4405 W. Edimger Ave, Santa Ana, relative to C.U.P. #2019-01. In
objection to this project. We were only given a week’s notice so the names are limited but all are
residents live in close proximity to this project. Many if the residents will be attending this meeting
tonight.
Joan Todisco, 4229 W. Regent Dr., Santa Ana, CA 92704
Our neighborhood has always been unique. When I tell people I know my neighbors on each side, and
across the street and behind me, they are always amazed. I have known most of them for twenty, thirty
or forty years. Most of them have known my daughter, who used to mow their lawn when she was
young. She is a lawyer and now FBI agent, and many neighbors have known her since she was in
kindergarten. This is the kind of neighborhood we have. By coming in and buying residential homes,
tearing them down and turning them into a non-local church, our neighborhood has been changed. I
speak for the majority of my friends and neighbors when I ask you to deny their proposal for further
expansion. We have endured enough. We want them to be content with the church they have already
forced into our neighborhood, against the residents' will. They should take their expansion to a location
that has more room for parking, without the destruction of more single family homes.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
From:Bernal, Sarah
Cc:Neal, Candida; Kelaher, Selena; Fregoso, Vince
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:COMMENT Archangel Michael Coptic Christian Church Expansion_Melcher
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 11:48:48 AM
Commissioners:
The following communication pertaining to Agenda item no. 4, has been received for your review
and consideration.
Sarah Bernal
Phone: 714-667-2732
City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702
City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates.
P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you
From: Roy Melcher <>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 11:19 AM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Planning Commision
Attn:Selena Kelaher
Ref|: Conditional Use Permit 2019-01 @ 4405 West Edinger Ave
The subject conditional use permit should not be granted. The Coptic Orthodox
Church has been told in the past that they should move to a larger piece of land.
Now they wish to destroy 5 Santa Ana homes to enlarge their footprint in order to
provide more parking and another building. The city is in a housing shortage and this
church wants to destroy homes?
Please reject this permit (again) as "Little Texas" is a unique, semi rural community,
that must be protected from this type of destruction.
Respectfully,
Royal & Julie Melcher
Riverview West Neighborhood Assn
From:Bernal, Sarah
Cc:Fregoso, Vince; Neal, Candida; Kelaher, Selena
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:PUBLIC COMMENT_ Agenda Item #4 - Conditional Use Permit 2019-01_ZUVER
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 2:32:52 PM
Commissioners:
The following communication pertaining to Agenda item no. 4, has been received for your review
and consideration.
Sarah Bernal
Phone: 714-667-2732
City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702
City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates.
P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you
From: Debbie Zuver [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 2:31 PM
To: Bernal, Sarah <SBernal@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Agenda Item #4 - Conditional Use Permit 2019-01
Good Afternoon Ms. Bernal,
My name is Debbie Zuver and I reside at Santa Ana, CA – AKA “Little Texas”. I am
writing in opposition of Conditional Use Permit 2019-01. I have owned/lived at this location since
1983. First and foremost this is a unique area of Santa Ana and our quality of life must be preserved.
To allow the further destruction of our neighborhood would be egregious.
This has absolutely NOTHING to do with religious persecution. This is just simply the Church’s latest
ploy to get their expansion.
I have been opposed to their plans since 1988 when we first appeared in front of the City Council.
The Church continues to come back and try again and again to have their expansion.
What is fact is that the Church Elders will lie – this is by their own admission in prior City Council
meetings to get their expansion. The Church has NEVER complied with any of the CUP’s that were
granted. The congregation continues to fill our neighborhood with traffic, trash, noise with ZERO
regard for the residents who call this neighborhood home. The Church will promise anything but
they will not follow through or comply.
This Neighborhood is a “GEM” and should be left in its own unique style.
Best Regards,
Debbie Zuver
From:Bernal, Sarah
Bcc:Angie Cano; Cynthia Contreras-Leo; David Benavides; Eric Alderete; Kenneth Nguyen; Lynnette Verino; Mark
McLoughlin
Subject:COMMENT Archangel Michael Coptic Christian Church Expansion_VETTER
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 3:35:27 PM
Commissioners:
The following communication pertaining to Agenda Item No. 4 has been received for your
review and consideration.
Sarah Bernal
Phone: 714-667-2732
City of Santa Ana, Planning and Building Agency
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92702
City Hall is closed every other Friday. Click here for dates.
P Please consider the environment before printing this email. Thank you
From: Petra Vetter <
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 11:46 AM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Planning Comission
Rolf and Petra Vetter
Santa Ana, CA 92704
re: Archangel Michael Coptic Church proposed
expansion
Ms. Bernal,
Our families home is on the East side, directly
adjacent of the Archangel Michael Coptic church.
The back yard of our property also borders one of
the properties owned and occupied by the church
which is South from us on Edinger.
We have been informed regarding a proposed
expansion of the church.
As it stands, the church is under a conditional use
permit and has been, since the very beginning, in
violation of said permit.
The parishioners as well as the leadership of the
church have no regard for the fact that this
church is in a residential neighborhood and as
result we are subjected to traffic congestion,
attendees parking in front of residential exit gates
and driveways.
Then there is the fact of ear piercing noise lasting
for hours coming from the churches parking lot.
That parking lot is not yards but mere feet from
our bed room window.
The reason for the noise is, as parishioners are in
the sanctuary children run amok in the parking
lot shrieking endlessly. We have a recording on
our phone with an example of the noise.
The noise problem increases in summer when
schools are out children get dropped off at the
parking lot, playing ball and screaming for hours
on end.
Also there has been a problem with teenagers
verbally assaulting residents as well as hooting
off illegal fireworks on the 4th of July. It gets so
bad that our family now leaves town for this
holiday taking our animals with us.
A new structure as proposed by the church will
only increase those problems.
To tear down 2 existing houses, once again,
directly within feet of our home, is completely
unacceptable.
Not only will the noise factor be increased, but
the tear down of those homes will severely alter
the rural character of our neighborhood which we
as a community have worked hard to preserve.
Our proposal is, allow the church to tear down
the ramshackle structures on Edinger and convert
that land into a parking lot to alleviate parking
problems in our neighborhood. Leave the
structures on Regent Dr standing to maintain the
integrity of area.
This is one of the last, of not the last rural
vestiges in Santa Ana and we who live here, raise
our children and enjoy our lifestyle do not want
this destroyed by people who reside in other
cities and come here only for church services.
Petra Vetter
From:Mitre-Ramirez, Norma
To:Bernal, Sarah; Fregoso, Vince; Magalona, Jocelyn
Cc:Thai, Minh; Orozco, Norma; Rojano, Michael; Garcia, Stephanie
Subject:FW: Planning Commission on Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church
Date:Monday, January 28, 2019 4:21:58 PM
Good Afternoon,
The following communication pertaining to an item on tonight’s Planning Commission meeting, has
been received for your review and consideration.
Respectfully,
Norma Mitre
Acting Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana | Clerk of the Council Office
20 Civic Center Plaza | Santa Ana, CA 92701
714-647-6520 | nmitre@santa-ana.org
This email and any files or attachments transmitted with it may contain privileged or otherwise confidential
information. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you may have received this communication in
error, please advise the sender via reply email and immediately delete the email you received.
From: Anh Truong
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2019 8:59 PM
To: eComment <eComment@santa-ana.org>
Subject: Planning Commission on Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church
Dear Sarah Bernal,
Thank you for informing me about the matter at hand. First off, I would like to introduce
myself, my name is Anh Truong and I currently reside at 11572 Edinger Ave. Over the past
20 years, I have been located right across the street from the Archangel Michael Coptic
Orthodox Church. Every week when the Church has mass, the churchgoers pack the
neighborhood’s parking space and leave no space for the residents to park. Moreover, the
churchgoers of Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church jaywalk across Edinger Ave.
and create a hazardous environment. The main reason why this all happens is that of the
church never provide enough parking space for the churchgoers.
About 12 years ago, the church brought up the plan and the neighborhood was against the
idea. We hope that the church would solve their parking space problem. I hope this
message greets you well. Have a nice day!
TLDR; We disagree with the church’s new plans to build a 9,928 sq-ft building because of
the already current lack of parking space provided by the church.
Thank you,
Anh Truong
The resident of for the past 20 years