City of Tustin, CA :: City Departments

What's New and What's News in Redevelopment

Tustin Blimp Hangers

The City of Tustin and County of Orange have recently published a written history of the Lighter-than-Air Blimp Hangars at the former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin entitled “The Tustin Hangars: Titans of History, a historical account of the MCAS Tustin Hangars." Approved by the Department of the Navy, State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO) and Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the document does an excellent job of conveying the sense of time and place that the hangars represent. The document is a well-written, thoughtful piece that captures the architectural and military importance of the structures to the people of California. Click here to access a full copy of the document. The City and County are also currently working on a video/DVD history of the hangars and are preparing moveable exhibits regarding the history of the hangars. Look for updates on the web-site in early 2009 for when these documents will be completed.

Tustin Town Center, A New Beginning

City of Tustin Seeks Input Towards Revitalizing Older Neighborhoods

On October 6, 2008, Tustin Residents were invited to attend three (3) one hour Community Outreach Workshops to discuss revitalization of three (3) Tustin neighborhoods: Center City; Southern Gateway; and West Village. The Workshops were part of a City effort to revitalize and improve older portions of Tustin.

As background, the effort to revitalize three (3) specific neighborhoods in Tustin began in 2006 when the City Council initiated the “Tustin Town Center, A New Beginning” Study. The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Panel was invited to evaluate development opportunities and provide a series of recommendations. The Council prioritized those recommendations and created a work program. Last year, the City entered into a contract with a Consultant Team to implement the work program.

At the Community Workshops, the Consultant Team gave a PowerPoint Presentation and asked participants to identify Three (3) Key Improvements and Three (3) Top Opportunities for each of the neighborhoods. A Summary of Feedback from the Workshops is provided below. Interested parties are invited to view the Neighborhood PowerPoint Presentations and to provide feedback at the end of the Presentation or to directly provide comments by clicking the Feedback Form link below. Improvements, Opportunities, Comments and Questions will be forwarded to the Consultant Team and considered as Neighborhood Concept Plans are developed.

"Tustin Town Center - A New Beginning" Community Workshops

Base Redevelopment Community of the Year

Tustin Legacy was awarded the 2008 Base Redevelopment Community of the Year Award on August 11, by the Association of Defense Communities (ADC).

Tustin Legacy Receives National Award for Base Redevelopment Community of the Year

The Tustin Community Redevelopment Agency was created in 1976 and is made up of members of the Tustin City council who are elected at large by popular vote. Provisions of State law enable the Agency to undertake community projects designed to improve certain areas within the City which have suffered economic decline. Deterioration of improvements, or which have been unable to attract and promote new private investments to enhance the quality of life in the area.

The Agency is responsible for setting the course of redevelopment in Tustin and for being sure that redevelopment plans are in the best interests of the Community. In directing the City Redevelopment activities, State law provides the Agency with broad governmental functions and authority to accomplish its purpose, including but not limited to: the right to issue bonds for authorized purposes and to expend their proceeds, and the right to acquire, sell, rehabilitate, develop, administer or lease property. The Agency may also demolish buildings, clear land, and cause construction of improvements including streets and sidewalks.

Tustin's framework for the future continues to rest on its solid foundation of past redevelopment activities. Simply stated, the goals for the Agency are:

Consistent with these goals, the Agency is actively involved in many projects and programs. A few of these include:

In Tustin there are currently two redevelopment project areas and a proposed new project area in preparation. A description of each area follows:

The Town Center project Area, established in 1976, encompasses approximately 360 acres in the center of the City of Tustin which includes historic Old Town and the Civic Center complex and all the commercial properties within the central city. The project area has already seen a number of major development projects including new retail, office, residential and public improvement efforts.

The South Central Project Area encompasses approximately 370 acres and is generally that are bounded by Edinger Avenue, Red Hill Avenue, Valencia Street and the Costa Mesa (SR-55) and Santa Ana (I-5) Freeways and Newport Avenue. Portions of the area lack right-of-way improvements such as street lights, sidewalks, adequate street capacity and circulation. The City adopted the Pacific Center Specific Plan (located in this area) which will provide for an extension of Newport Avenue and much needed improvements to the SR-55 Freeway off-ramp at Edinger Avenue. The project will include office, hotel and limited commercial uses.

The MCAS-Tustin Project Area is approximately 1600 acres in size. The project area encompasses the former Marine Corps Air Station and an area 52 acres in size immediately adjacent to the base, at the northwest corner of Edinger Avenue and Jamboree Road

The Tustin Community Redevelopment Agency receives no Federal or State funds, nor does it levy a tax on a redevelopment project area. Instead, its primary revenue is "tax increment." When a redevelopment project area is created, the assessed valuations in the area from which governmental taxing agencies receive property tax revenue are frozen. As a redevelopment plan is implemented, new development and inflation results in increases in property values within the redevelopment project area. The Agency receives one percent of the annual incremental increases in the assessed value of the improvements above the frozen valuation when the project area was formed. These revenues are called "tax increment" and it is these funds which must be used for redevelopment improvements within the project area (and for projects adopted after 1994) certain payments to taxing agencies. These revenues cannot generally be used for general funded governmental purposes.

Basically, a redevelopment project brings back revenue to the City, to be used within the City, which would otherwise go to the County and other taxing agencies. Without a Redevelopment Project, the City would receive only approximately thirteen percent of the normal one percent increase in assessed value. The remaining portion would go to the County and other governmental taxing agencies.

In other words, a property owner in a project area pays no more or no less taxes than normal with the formation of a redevelopment project area. However, the property owner directly benefits from the increase revenues received by the Agency since these revenues can only be spent in the redevelopment project area.