Foothills Sentry - August 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 2 August 2022 And while you're out having fun... experience peace-of-mind protection for your home and business from burglary, fire and medical emergencies with Jadtec Security! 714 282 0828 | jadtec.com aco 4202 jadtec.com $ 15 95 /mo SECURITY JADTEC Residents respond to NT high-density housing By Scott Logue The countdown to determine the fate of the Tustin Hills Rac - quet Club (THRC) property con - tinues as the county reviews more than 200 written responses op - posing the site’s potential rezon - ing and redevelopment to high- density townhomes. It didn’t take long after Orange County Public Works released a draft of the project’s Environ - mental Impact Report (EIR) for residents to express their con - cerns about the radical departure from the large lots and open spac - es that make North Tustin neigh - borhoods some of the most desir - able in Orange County. The shoehorn proposal would rezone and pack 17 buildings, comprised of 34 single-family townhomes and three detached homes, replete with all the sub - sequent noise, parking, conges - tion and pollution of over 150 cars, into the agriculturally-zoned space. With the THRC Steering Com - mittee for the Foothill Communi - ties Association driving aware - ness, hundreds of residents have voiced concerns as visions of the approaching infill development tide has increased and multiple infill incursions have been at - tempted. Neighbors say nay The county now has 30 to 60 days to review all EIR comments, and is required to address them. Once all questions are answered, and sufficient project information is gathered, a staff report will be generated for a Planning Com - mission action. The Planning Commission meeting will likely take place in late September or early October. If either side appeals the decision of the Planning Commission, the project will be scheduled to be heard by the Board of Supervi - sors. Fighting to preserve North Tu - stin’s existing zoning for the ben - efit of the community, against the financial and legal wherewithal of developers, is no small under - taking. For more information on the efforts to prevent infill devel - oping at the THRC, how to sup - port these efforts, or to be added to the email list to stay informed, please contact Lori Chew at lo - richew98@gmail.com or visit FCAHome.org. District 6 Candidate Forum slated City of Orange District 6 voters will have their first opportunity to choose their city council repre - sentative at the polls on Novem - ber 8. Voters are invited to get to know the candidates for District 6 and those running in the mayor’s race at a forum, Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. The Forum will be held at Sa - lem Church Chapel, 6500 E. San - tiago Canyon Road, and is open to the public. The forum is hosted by East Orange residents, Orange Park Association and Foothills Sen- try . For further information, call (714) 900-2672. Orange Council agrees to rethink N. Tustin St. Specific Plan By Tina Richards The Orange City Council agreed, July 12, to revisit options within the North Tustin St. Spe - cific Plan at its August meeting. The scheduled review was re - quested by Councilwoman Kathy Tavoularis, who cited residents' concerns about high-density housing units on the Village at Orange Mall property. Strawman The North Tustin Street Specif - ic Plan (NTSSP) is, at this point, nonspecific. An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is being conducted, based on proposed zone changes from commercial to multiuse, using “placeholder” numbers that resulted from a mar - ket study. The EIR, for example, is addressing the impacts of 2,106 housing units, but those numbers do not reflect any actual project proposals at this time. The original NTSSP scoping was paid for by a government grant intended to “facilitate hous - ing.” "That doesn’t mean we have to build any houses," explained Interim Community Develop - ment Director Susan Galvan. “The study was to see if hous - ing could be built and what those impacts would be. Nothing in the grant says we have to build even one unit.” Ultimately, she advised, it’s up to the property owner. Out of the loop Tavoularis, appointed to rep - resent District 3 (including the mall) and is now running for that post, lamented that she had not been kept in the loop during the Tustin St. planning process, and that she was ignored when she initially met with the consultants. She has lived in the district for 40 years, she said, and has been monitoring the specific plan, but has not been adequately briefed. She noted that she met with residents, and asked the council to remove the mall property from the specific plan and to abandon housing options as a potential use for that site. Residents of the neighborhood, she stressed, have made it clear they do not want housing there. She noted that traf - fic on Tustin St. is already an is - sue, and that accidents happen there every day. “It’s poor plan - ning,” she said. Tavoularis asked that the NTSSP be agendized for the Au - gust council meeting; that city staff provide options to remove the mall from the planning area; and the mayor create an ad hoc committee to study it. Mayor Mark Murphy agreed that a report on the issue would be welcome in August, and sug - gested that quarterly updates on the planning process could fol - low. Ana Gutierrez expressed her support for a study session on the topic, wherein the council could “let the public help us.” The council agreed that public input should be a key element of future discussions. Residents want to be heard Mall neighbors in the audience applauded Tavoularis for raising the issue. Jeff Lawrence, Matt Hamilton, Sister Mary Sweeney and Darren Kempkes commented about the lack of neighborhood support for the plan, the lack of transparency about the process, and their desire to be included. Councilwoman Arianna Bar - rios also supported a deeper dive into the NTSSP, but noted that residents in other parts of the city also have concerns about prop - erties that “they’ve been talking about for years.” She suggested that instead of a one-off discussion about the NTSSP, the city council have a bigger contextual conversation about city planning as a whole. “I’m just looking for fair and eq - uitable conversations,” she said. “It warms my heart to hear res - idents talk about good planning versus bad planning,” Adrienne Gladson said during public com - ments. A former Orange planning commissioner and candidate for the District 6 council seat, Glad - son suggested that it’s time for the city to abandon its poor plan - ning habits and engage with the community more. “It’s time to get politics out of it,” she said. “The residents are the major - ity stakeholders in Orange. The problem is that residents don’t trust the decisions being made on their behalf. The neighbors are fed up and angry.”