HomeMy WebLinkAboutLee Fink -Ecomment (Item 16)From:
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Yasuda. Erica; Woodward. Carrie; E-Comments
Subject:
New eComment for Regular Meeting of the City Council/Closed Session-5:30 pm/Regular Meeting-7:00 pm
Date:
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 11:18:29 AM
City of Tustin. CA
New eComment for Regular Meeting of the City
Council/Closed Session-5:30 pm/Regular
Meeting-7:00 pm
Guest User submitted a new eComment.
Meeting: Regular Meeting of the City Council/Closed Session-5:30 pm/Regular Meeting-7:00 pm
Item: 16. HOUSING ELEMENT REZONE IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMS 1.1A, 1.1 B, 1.1 F, AND
1.1G OF THE 6TH CYCLE 2021-2029 HOUSING ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN Under
State law, the City's Housing Element must show that the City can provide its fair share of
regional housing over an eight -year period (2021 to 2029). The City's share of housing is
established by a process called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation ("RHNA").The current
RHNA mandates the City to accommodate the construction of at least 6,782 dwelling units.
However, the City's current zoning can only accommodate 4,614 new dwellings; which results in
a shortfall of 2,168 units. Pursuant to the mandates of State law, the City established a "rezone
program" in the Housing Element that specifies properties that will be rezoned to residential to
resolve the shortfall. After lengthy public engagement and input, surveys, workshops, and
hearings, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the Housing Element on
September 13, 2022, and the City Council adopted the Housing Element on October 4, 2022.
The adopted Housing Element included programs to accommodate the RHNA shortfall by
rezoning areas of Tustin Legacy, the Enderle Center, and the Tustin Market Place. The adopted
Housing Element was then submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community
Development ("HCD"), and subsequently, the City received certification by HCD on October 10,
2022. The proposed Housing Element Rezone implements the City's adopted and certified
Housing Element. PROJECT SITES: (A) TUSTIN LEGACY SPECIFIC PLAN (TLSP) -
HOUSING ELEMENT SITES 1A, 1 B & 2 General Plan: Tustin Legacy Specific Plan (TLSP)
Current Zoning: Tustin Legacy Specific Plan (SP-1), Neighborhoods D and G Property Owner:
City of Tustin 300 Centennial Way, Tustin, CA 92780 (B) ENDERLE CENTER - HOUSING
ELEMENT SITE 17 General Plan: Planned Community Commercial/Business (PCCB) Current
Zoning: Planned Community Commercial (PC COM) Property Owner: EMS Development
Company 4081 Yorba Street Tustin, CA 92780-2010 (C) THE MARKET PLACE - HOUSING
ELEMENT SITE 18 General Plan: Planned Community Commercial/Business (PCCB) Current
Zoning: East Tustin Specific Plan Mixed -Use (SP-8-MU) Property Owner: The Irvine Company
500 Newport Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660
eComment: Dear Members of the Tustin City Council, I recommend that the City Council reject
this item and refer the matter back to City staff or a subcommittee to prepare alternatives to the
rezoning of Enderle Center. During the public hearing and participation process, four things
became clear (1) Enderle Center is one of the most successful and beloved retail centers in
Tustin. As someone who grew up in Tustin, I know that Enderle Center was at the center of
Tustin's retail community nearly my entire life. Whether you went to Blum's Candy Store or the
Cookbook decades ago, or Zov's and El Torito today, or the Chemers Gallery throughout,
Enderle Center is an icon, and continues to thrive. (2) There are numerous centers throughout
the City that are crying out for redevelopment, and that can be zoned to meet the City's growing
affordable housing needs. The focus on a thriving Enderle Center when numerous other areas in
Tustin should be rezoned and redeveloped is counter -intuitive. (3) The community is highly
skeptical (and generally opposed to) the rezoning of Enderle Center. A significant reason for this
skepticism and opposition comes from a total lack of information and understanding why Enderle
Center, of all places in Tustin, has been singled out for re -zoning. As set forth above, Enderle
Center appears to be thriving, while other centers that could be rezoned and redeveloped are
not. Such odd decisions breed distrust. Indeed, the decision has led some people to believe that
the City's rezoning is an effort to create a giveaway to developers, while others have come to
believe that re -zoning a thriving commercial center is done simply to check a box on state
housing requirements without any serious commitment to meet the City's housing needs.
Creating such community distrust on all sides is counter -productive. (4) There appears to be no
actual plan in place for building new housing in Enderle Center. Enderle Center is in the process
of being sold and, as far as the public is aware, the proposed new owners are not planning a
redevelopment. As set forth above, it raises inevitable questions both as to why the City would
be making such changes now and what a new housing development in the area would look like.
There are innumerable good ideas that might be advanced --but there are at least as many bad
ideas. Without an actual plan to evaluate, the community cannot fairly understand what is going
to happen to the area. Re -zoning a community icon that appears to be thriving without an actual
plan breeds distrust. Tustin should stay open for business --and in particular, open for housing so
that our children and grandchildren can afford to live in Tustin. And if the new owners of Enderle
Center (or really, any property in the City) have a plan for a reuse of their property, the City staff,
Planning Commission, Council, and the community should work with them to make sure that
their property can thrive and the community can benefit. Rejecting this particular change at this
time does not foreclose any changes that might be proposed in the future. But rather it would be
listening to the community voices. If the day comes (and it very well might) when the new owner
of Enderle Center wants to redevelop and build housing, the community will work with them.
Efforts initiated by the City should reflect the needs, desires, and values of the community. In
short, we should plan for what we, as a community, want to see happen, and be prepared to
deal with the realities of what the property owners might want. And what the community wants to
see numerous undeveloped or underused sites in the City developed and housing built, while the
thriving icons like Enderle Center are preserved, or at least when changed, done with a real plan
and community collaboration. Sincerely, Lee Fink
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