City Willfully Failing to Comply with Land Law, Groups Claim

SANTA ANA, CA - Santa Ana City Council is considering a proposal to sell over 400,000 square feet of city-owned land along a 4-mile stretch of Bristol Street known as the Bristol Corridor. Although the Surplus Lands Act is the primary state law governing the sale of city-owned parcels of land, city staff believe the Act would not apply to this proposed sale.

Now four community groups - Public Counsel, Public Advocates, Public Interest Law Project, and the Partnership for Working Families - have submitted a demand letter questioning that claim, stating that the city would be in clear violation of the Act should the proposal go through.

The four groups filed the letter on behalf of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD), a community organizing and advocacy group based in Garden Grove.

The City Council will debate the matter tonight, March 5th.

The city’s proposals involve 88 separate parcels of land running through the heart of the city – from Santa Ana College in the north to South Coast Plaza in the south. Together the parcels form some 10 acres of land from the sale of which the city expects to generate approximately $10 million.

However, as city staff note in their proposal, those funds must then be fed back to the agencies responsible for the land’s initial acquisition, principally the Orange County Transit Authority among other agencies. Despite those repayments staff contend that once the land is privately developed the increased property taxes will create “significant economic activity.”

To the contrary though, and citing city staff’s own words, OCCORD claim that if property taxes are the only financial benefit from the sale then the city’s primary motivation for action is merely to be “relieved from the continuing maintenance, clean up, and liability from owning these vacant parcels.”

“The City of Santa Ana is facing homelessness, a shortage of deeply affordable housing, rising costs of rent, gentrification, NIMBYism, and a severe lack of open green spaces,” said Flor Barajas Tena, the Deputy Director of OCCORD.

Noting the city’s intent to register sales for an additional 20 public parcels around Santa Ana and also the planned development of the Willowick Golf Course, Barajas Tena added, “Public lands can be used as a form of alleviating some of the pressing issues the city is experiencing while also providing community benefits. Despite this, city staff and council members are contributing to the ongoing displacement of residents by irresponsibly doing away with the biggest asset to our communities, our public land.”

At the heart of the disagreement is the group’s contention that contrary to the City Manager’s conclusion, the parcels in question are indeed subject to the Surplus Lands Act.

“Any contractual obligation the city may have to sell the parcels cannot override the city’s obligations under the Act,” the group’s demand letter concludes.

OCCORD added, “We believe the city should keep these lands and put the residents of Santa Ana first by finding innovative, community beneficial uses for these lands such as parks, community gardens, affordable housing, or other community priorities.”

OCCORD say they will be in attendance at tonight’s debate, “To speak on the issue and urge city council to not approve this action until they follow the law and guarantee at a minimum the Surplus Lands Act requirements and other public benefits on this public land.”

“Residents should have a say as to how these lands will be used and the use of the land should reflect the residents’ needs and vision.”

The full text of the city’s proposal can be viewed at: https://santaana.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=7228&meta_id=82464&fbclid=IwAR0cJndXTRj1-kai503xXls0rGR0cl7nPgAHsPFaRYBs0Fe8c-CJqWjVfJM

The full text of the response letter on behalf of OCCORD can be viewed at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5XO6s89--SBZFpEU3ZWSHkxWjhCQU1rSVVlVGRMRWxmUWVz/view

‘Park-poor’ is a designation stemming from surveys conducted by The Trust for Public Land. Of 97 cities analyzed, Santa Ana placed 87th. The full survey results can be viewed at: http://parkscore.tpl.org/rankings.php