40-Acre Subdivision by Irvine Co. Gets OK

The City Council has approved a request by the Irvine Co. to subdivide a 40-acre site at Irvine Boulevard and Tustin Ranch Road to build 350 apartments, 94 condominiums, 89 single-family homes and a park.

The council also approved an environmental impact report for the project, which clears the way for specific housing designs and other specifications to be considered in the fall, officials said.

“I think this is a pretty good deal for everyone concerned,” Councilman Jim Potts said. “I’d like to see only single-family homes, but the Irvine Co. has the right to develop some apartments there. And these will be the final apartments built in Tustin Ranch.”

The project had generated controversy in its early stages, but community opposition has waned since the developer agreed to lower the project’s density.

Among other concessions, Irvine Co. officials agreed to develop no more than 8,058 housing units, with no more apartments, in the Tustin Ranch area, about a 12% reduction from previous plans. In other parcels, housing designations were changed from medium-high density to medium and medium-low density.

At the 40-acre site, which originally was designated for a high school, the company set aside 3.6 acres for a park and will contribute $200,000 toward its design and improvements. The city has the option of purchasing an additional 1.4 acres to expand the park to five acres.

Tustin Ranch is bounded roughly by the Santa Ana Freeway, Orange city limits, Jamboree Road and Browning Avenue.

“We’ve worked long and hard on this,” Mayor Tracy Wills Worley said. “I think it’s a plan the city can be proud of.”