TUSTIN : City Moves to Use Resident’s Property

The City Council has approved the initiation of eminent domain proceedings to acquire the temporary use of a property that will be affected during the widening of Yorba Street between 1st Street and Irvine Boulevard.

Robert Campbell, who lives at 135 N. Yorba St., said widening the street will disturb the neighborhood and ruin the personalities of the houses.

In an effort to stop the widening, he had refused to let the city use his land temporarily during construction.

“I fully expected it,” Campbell said of the council’s decision last week. “But they’ll be coming within a few feet of my house. There shouldn’t be a two-lane road in that neighborhood.”

The city requires a construction easement from property owners when street improvements will affect their property, Public Works Director Bob Ledendecker said.

The city has approved paying Campbell $150 for each month it uses his property, Ledendecker said.

All of the other residents on the street have granted the city permission to use their land, he said, and will not be paid.

Construction on Yorba Street will probably begin early next year and should last about three months, Ledendecker said.

About 700 square feet of Campbell’s property will be affected during the construction.

Ledendecker said the previous owner granted the city the land it needs to widen the street, so it did not need Ledendecker’s approval for that part of the project.