TUSTIN : North Tustin Protests City’s General Plan

The City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the city’s general plan, which for the first time includes the unincorporated area of North Tustin, a bedroom community of about 23,000 people.

The general plan, a planning document that guides the city’s future growth, is the result of three years of work by city employees and consultants, and deals with such issues as land use, housing, public safety, noise and open spaces and conservation.

It covers areas within city boundaries and land within its sphere of influence that may be annexed in the next 20 years.

North Tustin residents have protested the inclusion of their community in the general plan because it will be an invitation for developers to propose projects that could change the semi-rural character of their neighborhoods, they said.

Many streets have no sidewalks or street lights because that is how they want it. They are worried the general plan would allow a zone designation that would make it possible to build apartments and condominiums in certain parts of the North Tustin area.

City officials said North Tustin was added for planning purposes only and there are no immediate plans to annex the 3,800-acre area or portions of it.

“We just have to be more vigilant now,” said Don Kragenbrink, president of the Foothill Communities Assn., which opposed inclusion of North Tustin in the general plan. “We don’t want to be run over by Tustin.”

Kragenbrink said they are worried city officials may allow developers to combine small lots to build commercial or high-density developments.

But city officials said that single-family neighborhoods would be maintained and encouraged to provide a variety of housing types in the city. Currently, North Tustin consists mostly of single-family, one-story houses on land that is averaging about an acre.