TUSTIN : Council to Consider Developer’s Request

The City Council today will consider a zone change application by the William Lyon Co. that would enable the developer to build 100 more homes than currently authorized on land at the southeast corner of Tustin Ranch Road and Greenway Drive.

Two public hearings have already been conducted, and the Planning Commission has approved the zone change.

But residents close to the property have complained that they were not notified about those public hearings.

Area residents who say the zone change will increase traffic and decrease property values have demanded that the council hear their concerns before the request is granted.

Some of them are expected to be on hand for the 7 p.m. meeting in the council chambers.

The William Lyon Co. is asking for the zone change to allow it to build 25 dwelling units per acre, rather than the 18 currently allowed.

In all, the developer wants to build 354 homes in an area near the Tustin Ranch Golf Club, plus single-family homes along Tustin Ranch Road.

As an incentive for granting its request, the developer has proposed to pay the city $2,000 for each additional home it is allowed to build.

The money would be used to construct park facilities in East Tustin.

In a report to the council, Assistant City Manager Christine Shingleton said the William Lyon Co. has no specific plan to develop the site yet.

But if the zone change is approved, it wants to develop a specific plan immediately and submit it to the city for review, she said.

Shingleton said the site is within the so-called “Sector 7 area,” where a maximum of 3,590 dwelling units could be built under a previously approved city plan. So far, she said, 2,305 homes have been built.

With the 354 proposed units to be built and an additional 412 units proposed in a nearby housing tract, the city will still be 519 units under the maximum, Shingleton said.

Despite residents’ fears that the additional homes will result in increased traffic, Shingleton said, the expected traffic increase will still be 13% less than originally anticipated, according to a city study.