Orange County Supervisors are set to decide whether or not a chunk of open space in unincorporated Tustin can be sold off for possible development amidst increasing questions from their constituents on Tuesday.
The plot of land in question is an empty 11 acres in North Tustin, on the corner of Arroyo Avenue and Coronel Road across from the Arroyo Elementary School.
The Williamson Act is a state law that gives property owners a break on their property tax if they agree to use the land for nothing but agricultural purposes for at least 10 years, and the Tustin property has been signed up for that program since 1970 to grow avocados and citrus.
Now, the family that owns the property are asking for the county to lift the Williamson Act restrictions so they can try to sell the land, which would be worth around $5.7 million after the zone change, according to the county assessor’s office.
“Upon cancellation, the Miller Family will, in all likelihood, sell the Property to be developed similar to the surrounding properties (i.e. single family residential use),” wrote Nathan Loftin, the family’s lawyer, in a letter to county supervisors.
Loftin did not respond to requests for comment from Voice of OC.
But the surrounding neighborhood, which is mostly made up of single family homes, say they don’t want to lose one of the last plots of open space in their neighborhood and are asking it to be left as a community open space or a park.
Heidi Rosenfield, one of the leaders of the push to keep the land open, said there were too many questions about the plans for the future of the land to move forward with an approval.
“When you cancel out of the contract you have to show what your plan is, and they have not done that,” Rosenfield said in a Thursday phone interview. “They haven’t presented anything that would be in place of agriculture.”
She also said she hopes the county or another agency can step in to buy the land and turn it into a park.
“We were all under the impression when we moved in a long time ago, 25 years ago, that it was intended for that purpose,” Rosenfield said.
Other residents also wrote in to protest the new changes.
“If it is the landlord’s intent to sell to a developer who intends to develop the land then this should be disclosed and the developer’s plan should be submitted as the alternative use,” wrote resident Philip Trajan Perez, one of the residents living nearby.
Others shared concerns it could damage the environment.
“Cancellation will lead to development of the site, one of the last open spaces in the area which will result in the displacement of multiple species of flora and fauna, including nesting hawks,” wrote Tami Moore, one of the neighbors to the site, in a letter to supervisors.
While county leaders were originally supposed to discuss the issue last month, it got delayed after a wave of nearby homeowners and the Foothill Communities Association said they didn’t get enough time to weigh in on the process.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.