The city of Santa Ana, under the guise of redevelopment, relocated a blight, namely the Orange County Rescue Mission, from the downtown redevelopment project area into a residential neighborhood and adjacent to a city park. In order for the mission to operate in the new location, it was necessary for the city to issue a conditional-use permit, which imposed certain restrictions on the mission.
Naturally, when the mission moved, its clientele, who were responsible for the blight to which the downtown business community so adamantly protested, went along into the neighborhood and into the park. Since the mission moved in, nearby residents have been reluctant to walk the streets in the vicinity of the mission; customers avoid the businesses in the area; homes and businesses are being vandalized.
