HomeMy WebLinkAbouteComment - Jim Knox (Item No. 5)From:noreply@granicusideas.com
To:Yasuda, Erica; Woodward, Carrie; E-Comments
Subject:New eComment for Regular Meeting of the City Council/Special Closed Session-5:00 pm/Regular Meeting-6:00 pm
Date:Monday, October 5, 2026 5:13:14 PM
City of Tustin, CANew eComment for Regular Meeting of the CityCouncil/Special Closed Session-5:00 pm/RegularMeeting-6:00 pm
Guest User submitted a new eComment.
Meeting: Regular Meeting of the City Council/Special Closed Session-5:00 pm/Regular Meeting-
6:00 pm
Item: 5. SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1581 DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT 2026-0002 FOR THE MARINERS CHURCH TUSTIN LEGACY PROJECT
Adoption of Ordinance No. 1581 approves Development Agreement 2026-0002 to facilitate the
development and conveyance of the 3.324-acre City-owned site for the Mariners Church Tustin
Legacy project.
eComment: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council City of Tustin 300 Centennial
Way Tustin, CA 92780 Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, My name is Jim Knox, and I've lived in
Tustin for 18 years. I'm writing about two things that have been on my mind: how few places of
worship our city has for anyone who isn't Christian, and the City's plan to sell public land at
Tustin Legacy to Mariners Church. I started by trying to count. One online church directory lists
about 47 churches in Tustin. They include Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran,
Assemblies of God, Church of Christ and Salvation Army congregations, several Spanish-
language churches, and a long list of non-denominational ones. The directories don't all agree
on an exact number, but the picture is clear enough. Then I looked for everyone else. Inside city
limits I could find only three: Congregation B'nai Israel on Bryan Avenue, the Tustin Masjid on
Bentley Circle, and the local Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly, which doesn't have a building of its own.
That's roughly 47 to 3. Some of our neighbors have nothing here at all. I couldn't find a single
Buddhist temple, Hindu mandir, Sikh gurdwara, Jain center or Zoroastrian center in Tustin.
Families of those faiths drive to Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Westminster
or Irvine just to pray together. They're our coworkers, our kids' classmates and the people next
door. That's why the Tustin Legacy sale worries me. On September 16, 2025, the Council took
up a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Mariners Church for about 3.3 acres of City-owned land
in Disposition Area 8, near Warner Avenue. I have nothing against Mariners or its members. But
this is public land. It belongs to all of us, and I don't think it should go to a large regional
megachurch in a city that already has dozens of churches and almost no room for anyone else.
Here's what I'm asking for. First, open the land up. If the City is going to offer property for
religious or nonprofit use, every faith community and nonprofit should get the same chance to
apply. Second, run it like any other sale. Put the property out for open, competitive bids with
published criteria, the way the City handles its other parcels, instead of negotiating with a single
buyer. Third, show us the numbers. Residents deserve to see the sale price, the appraised
value, and any discounts, credits or special terms. If public land is being sold below market
value, we should know. Fourth, step aside if you're connected. Anyone on the Council, the
Planning Commission or City staff who belongs to or attends Mariners Church should recuse
themselves from this decision. Even if it isn't a legal conflict, it looks like one, and that matters for
public trust. Fifth, let residents weigh in. Please hold a dedicated public hearing and take written
comments before any vote. Every one of us has a stake in how this land is used, especially
when it's going to religious or nonprofit purposes. Beyond this one sale, I'd love to see the City
do more to make every faith feel at home here. That could mean making sure our zoning rules
don't make it harder to open a temple or gurdwara than a church, inviting leaders of all faiths to
give invocations and join community events, recognizing holidays like Diwali, Eid, Vesak and
Rosh Hashanah alongside Christmas and Easter, and maybe hosting an interfaith gathering
once a year. Tustin's churches do a lot of good, and I'm grateful for them. I just want my
neighbors of every faith to be able to worship close to home, too. Thank you for reading this. I'd
welcome the chance to talk with any of you about it. Sincerely, Jim Knox cc: Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area Office (CAIR-LA) 2180 W. Crescent Ave.,
Ste. F, Anaheim, CA 92801 · (714) 851-4851 Orange County Buddhist Church 909 S. Dale Ave.,
Anaheim, CA 92804 · (714) 827-9590 · ocbuddhist.org Tu An Zen Temple Association 4310 W.
5th St., Santa Ana, CA 92703 Vietnamese Bhikshu Buddhist Association Temple (Tinh Xa Giac
Ly) 11262 Lampson Ave., Garden Grove, CA 92840 Irvine Hindu Mandir P.O. Box 18321, Irvine,
CA 92623-8321 · mandir.ws Gurdwara Singh Sabha Buena Park 7122 Orangethorpe Ave.,
Buena Park, CA 90621 Jain Center of Southern California 8072 Commonwealth Ave., Buena
Park, CA 90621 · (714) 523-5246 · jaincenter.org California Zoroastrian Center 8952 Hazard
Ave., Westminster, CA 92683 Zoroastrian Association of California 1424 E. Walnut Ave.,
Orange, CA 92867 · zacla.org Orange County Register, Newsroom (714) 796-7984 · letters to
the editor via ocregister.com Voice of OC P.O. Box 10020, Santa Ana, CA 92711 ·
admin@voiceofoc.org · Civic Editor Spencer Custodio, scustodio@voiceofoc.org Los Angeles
Times, Letters to the Editor letters@latimes.com Tustin Patch patch.com/california/tustin
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