TUSTIN : Annexation Plan Upheld in Court

A Superior Court judge has upheld the city’s annexation of a 7.8-acre strip of property near Newport and Warren avenues.

The Foothill Communities Assn. had filed suit against the city and the Local Agency Formation Commission, saying the annexation of the county property was improper because adjacent land did not meet state requirements for annexation.

State law requires that for annexation a contiguous, or adjacent, parcel be at least 300 feet long by 200 feet. LAFCO attorney Stephen Johnson had argued that the annexation did not qualify because the land was not 200 feet wide for the first 300 feet. City and county attorneys argued that only some part of the strip need be 200 feet wide.

Johnson said he plans to file a motion for reconsideration or a motion for a new trial. Meanwhile, Tustin is scheduled to rezone the property at its meeting today.

As unincorporated county land, the parcel was classified for residential and garden-office use under the North Tustin Specific Plan. The proposed new zoning is similar, according to city planners.

But some North Tustin residents are upset at Edgar’s suggestion to change building height and rear setback standards on the property. When it was unincorporated, the maximum building height was 38 feet. The new standard, which is consistent with other areas of Tustin, would be 45 feet.