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Salas, Diana
<br />From:
<br />Sent:
<br />To:
<br />Subject:
<br />Members of the City Council,
<br />Jeffrey Fertal <jeffrey.fertal@protonmail.com>
<br />Thursday, April 02, 2020 3:56 PM
<br />eComment
<br />Item 11-B Second Reading ADU Ordinance
<br />My name is Jeff Fertal, and I am a Santa Ana resident residing at 1801 N Bush Street, a single-family
<br />home listed on the Historic Registry and located in a Professional (P) zone. I am writing you today to in regards
<br />to the zoning ordinance amendment relating to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), specifically, to include the
<br />language relating to Professional (P) zoning districts in the amended ordinance, which reads, "Professional (P)
<br />zoning districts where properties are developed with a single-family residence," are permitted to build ADUs.
<br />This language is part of the current ADU Ordinance, but has been removed from the amended version.
<br />Two weeks ago, I was informed The City is updating its ADU Ordinance to comply with the State's
<br />expanded ADU laws, and in doing so, The City has removed (P) zones from the ordinance. This news came as
<br />a shock to me, as I spent months working with The City and City Council back in 2017/2018 to add this (P)
<br />zone language to the ADU Ordinance, and here we are, two years later, and all my efforts are being unraveled
<br />before I can begin construction. This is primarily due to a long and expensive list of code violations I inherited
<br />from the previous owners of my house, which The City has required I correct prior to issuing a building permit
<br />for an ADU. I have spent a great deal of time and money, beginning in May of 2018, working with The City to
<br />meet their demands and bring my home into good standing, all so I can construct an ADU, and now I feel as
<br />though the rug is being pulled out from under me.
<br />The reason I've been so adamant trying to convince The City to include this (P) zone language in its
<br />ADU ordinance is due to the fact that my mother-in-law suffers from multiple medical conditions which have
<br />made her unable to live on her own. She has sold her house in Connecticut and moved across the country to
<br />live with my wife and I, but the home we recently purchased has multiple sets of stairs and all our bedrooms are
<br />located on the second floor, making it very difficult for her to enter and leave our home, and causes significant
<br />pain to her legs and knees. Even the few steps going up the porch pose a hazard, as she has fallen on more than
<br />one occasion on these stairs alone. We would like to convert our existing garage into an ADU, and provide her
<br />with her own, private living quarters on ground level, eliminating her need to walk up and down stairs multiple
<br />times a day, as well as make her feel like less of a burden on our new and growing family, as she is still
<br />adjusting to her diminished independence.
<br />At the March 17a' Council Meeting, my father, Matt Fertal, spoke on my behalf to try and sway the
<br />Council to add this (P) zone language to the ordinance. Ultimately, after hearing from Executive Director Minh
<br />Thai, Council was assured there was a workaround to this problem, which involved changing the zoning of my
<br />property from Professional (P), to Residential (Rl), through the City's General Plan update, and via e-mail,
<br />Executive Director Thai introduced Planning Manager Vince Fregoso as the main point of contact to proceed.
<br />After spending two weeks attempting to contact Mr. Fregoso via telephone and e-mail, there has been
<br />absolutely no response, and I am left in a state of uncertainty whether this zone change is 1) actually possible, 2)
<br />what it involves, and 3) how long it will take before the General Plan is finalized. When I attempted to add this
<br />(P) zone language to the ordinance back in 2017, I was told the General Plan update was a solution then as well.
<br />Well, that was 2 %2 years ago and the General Plan is still unfinished. If I had taken the City's advice back then
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