Residents Jeer Plan to Annex North Tustin

A proposal to annex an area north of Tustin was roundly criticized by most of 150 people attending a public hearing Tuesday night, but the City Council decided to delay action until signatures on petitions opposing the plan are certified.

The crowd overflowed the council chambers, with more than 50 people sitting outside and watching the emotion-charged hearing through tinted glass windows. A video system in a council annex failed.

At issue is the proposed annexation of unincorporated North Tustin and unincorporated Santa Ana to Tustin. About 2,500 registered voters live in those areas, which are bounded by La Colina Drive on the north, Browning Avenue on the east, Newport Avenue on the west and Burnt Mill Road on the south, which is the existing Tustin city boundary.

Request Approved

The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission approved an annexation request on April 1, after the Tustin council’s adoption of an annexation resolution on March 2, according to Christine Shingleton, director of Tustin’s Community Development Department.

Some who attended the Tuesday night meeting said they favor annexation. Some, however, said they favor incorporation of North Tustin as a separate city instead.

But most people who addressed the council said they favor the status quo, which would leave the land in unincorporated, county territory.

Joseph Rickman, 64, said he grew up in Tustin and now lives northeast of the city. “I moved out in the county because I want to be in the county, not the damn city,” he said.

“They’re a little tiny city playing a great big game, and that’s the last thing in the world we need. I prefer to stay the way we are, but I know someday that has to change. I’d rather be in the city of North Tustin than annexed.”

Frequently Booed

Residents of unincorporated North Tustin area frequently booed council members and people testifying or speaking for annexation.

Ursula E. Kennedy, a Tustin councilwoman, said after the hearing: “I feel the council was at a roast tonight, and we were the menu.”

Tustin Mayor Richard B. Edgar said he had been told that more than 25% of the signatures of registered voters or landowners had been presented to the council protesting annexation, which according to state law would require an election before annexation could occur.

Joseph Herzig, 23, who lives in an unincorporated area near Santa Ana, helped collect signatures on petitions against annexation. He said 1,906 signatures had been collected from the area’s registered voters--more than 50%, which he said means the council cannot legally raise the issue again for at least one year.

The issue will come to a vote if 25% to 50% of North Tustin’s registered voters oppose annexation, or if 25% of the landowners holding 25% of the assessed value of the land protest, Shingleton said.

However, the proposal will be dropped without a vote if more than 50% of the area’s registered voters or property owners protest annexation, she said.

Some at the meeting charged that Tustin council members are not interested in how county residents feel about annexation. Edgar replied:

“I’m not the type who gets all upset and rants and raves, but I do care about the people involved and what happens.”

North Tustin Tomorrow, a six-member community group favoring incorporation, said before the meeting it plans to select a consultant to project the revenues and the cost of delivering municipal services to residents in the proposed city.

The group funded the study to see if its conclusions match those in a preliminary study by the county, which estimated that North Tustin could begin cityhood with a budget deficit of about $230,000--despite financial help from the county.