Dear North Tustin Neighbors,

It is time again to present news, views, and a recap of events in the North Tustin area.  FCA continues to investigate problems involving group homes. We have seen group homes that have become nuisances and dangers to their residential neighbors. Zoning loopholes are being exploited to allow institution-like facilities in residential areas. Additionally, we have encountered zoning enforcement issues throughout the North Tustin area. The protection of our rural, low-density residential neighborhoods will continue to be of paramount importance. With less land available for development, we will see more "creative" zoning efforts.

In July FCA and the folks at John Wayne Airport (JWA) with the support of Supervisor Bill Campbell coordinated a presentation of the JWA aircraft tracking system. Many questions were asked and Community members received answers to questions and acknowledgment of their concerns. You may view aircraft traffic patterns on the internet at www.ocair.com. FCA will continue to work with JWA so that residents' concerns about aircraft noise are heard.

An overarching issue is fiscal management at all governmental levels. Orange County remains bankrupt with a large debt to pay off. In order to overcome deficits, fee increases are underway. We are now seeing very large increases in County fees for building and alteration permits. Another area of financial concern is the implementation of Measure "G" - the $80 million Tustin Unified School District (TUSD) bond measure which will be coupled with $37 million of promised State of California special funds. Our TUSD must show responsible fiscal management as it administers nearly $120 million dollars for the repair of our schools. An Oversight Committee has met and will meet six times per year to review all actions. It is critical for local taxpayers to go to public meetings and become aware of the fiscal process. Yet, more important than attending meetings is to speak out and demand responsible fiscal management.

As we go to press, information has surfaced that the railroad property which was to become a part of the Esplanade trail system is up for sale. FCA is committed to the expansion of Esplanade Park.

The FCA website is now up and operational and shares useful information with the Community. Webmaster Rick Nelson has worked very hard to provide this electronic presentation. Check it out at www.foothillcommunities.org .

Join FCA! and ask your neighbors to join with us!;  Come to our Board Meetings (the first Thursday of the month, 7:15 PM, PFF Bank Building at 17th & Prospect). Please continue to send me your email addresses and address changes. We will continue to develop the email newsletter.

Sincerely,

Bruce B. Junor
Foothill Communities Association  
714-544-5958 or email bjunor@aol.com

The planned conversion of the former El Toro Marine Base to the non-aviation uses associated with the Great Park concept is moving forward at the usual slow pace of governmental organizations. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Great Park facilities was approved by the Irvine City Council in May, 2003. As expected, a lawsuit has been filed by a pro-airport group on the grounds that the EIR does not adequately address the degradation of the environment caused by the various uses of the property, but this legal action is not expected to seriously delay the overall project. Since the property is planned to be annexed by the City of Irvine, an annexation request has been forwarded to the Local Area Formation Commission for approval. The approval process and the subsequent auction of several portions of the property by the U.S. General Services Administration should be completed this winter. Next spring, development agreements will be completed with the private landowners who are the successful bidders for the properties.

The Irvine City Council is now considering forming an organization called the Orange County Great Park Corporation to manage the development of the Great Park. Our Third District Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell has written to the Irvine City Council expressing great concern that the governance of this corporation will not guarantee adequate public input, control, and oversight of management, thereby, allowing the city officials to "hijack" the development of the Great Park. This approach has the potential for the City of Irvine to control the development for the benefit of the city, rather than the whole of Orange County. It is therefore important that the citizens of the County supports Supervisor Campbell to help insure that adequate controls are placed on this corporation.

FCA has established a study group to investigate the aircraft noise resulting from the approach pattern to John Wayne Airport (JWA). This group, consisting of four Board members of FCA and a retired airline pilot, has met several times with the Airport Director and his staff. The airport personnel have gone into great detail in explaining the history of the JWA flight patterns and the efforts that have been made to minimize noise impacts in the areas surrounding the airport. JWA is said to be one of the most controlled airports in the United States because of attempts to control noise. Principal evidence of this is the curfew of flight operations between 11 PM and 7 AM and the steep angle of departure that minimizes noise impact in the Newport Beach area. In addition, airlines are subject to large monetary fines if they violate the noise restrictions. In order to enforce the noise restrictions, the airport has noise monitoring stations operating around the clock.

The airport staff hosted a briefing on air traffic noise control on July 29^th with about 50 residents of the North Tustin and nearby communities attending. This event was coordinated by FCA and featured welcoming remarks by Supervisor Bill Campbell. Airport staff demonstrated the real time (less 10 minutes) information available at www.ocair.com. Residents can identify offending flights and notify airport authorities. Attendees were quite interested in the information presented, but seemed very skeptical of the adequacy of the noise restrictions and enforcement. It appears that some residents feel that the permissible noise levels, determined by the state and federal governments, do not adequately protect from single event noise generated by commercial aircraft. In other words, airport approach traffic noise is very annoying to those residents under the landing approach.

The airport staff has stated that it will investigate and report what actions could be taken to minimize the noise problem and how residents can voice their concerns. Contact: Hal Marshall at hallow@juno.com or 544-7463.

FCA has just learned that the railroad property south of Vanderlip Avenue and north of Fairhaven is up for sale. This property is intended for the extension of Esplanade Park and has been part of the County's Park Plan for years. In fact, funds had been set aside for the purchase. We have been troubled by the County's failure to purchase this property and are now concerned that this property may be sold for other than park use. Please contact Supervisor Campbell and let him know you support the extension of Explanade Park: (714) 834-3330 or Bill.Campbell@ocgov.com.

FCA is concerned about the increasing number of group homes and facilities in the North Tustin area. These homes include adult and child facilities as well as care homes for the elderly. While we support the concept of unobtrusive, well-operated group homes, we want to ensure that these facilities do not intrude on our residential neighborhoods. The recent surge of institution-like structures is of great concern and dramatically impacts the quality of life in North Tustin. This area is zoned for non-commercial use, and we seek to preserve that plan.

If you or your neighbors are being affected by a group home, we would like to know about it. FCA will be studying the overall positive and negative effects that these facilities have on our Community. We will communicate our findings to the state licensing agency for possible remedies. Please contact Mike Fioravanti at m4avanti@yahoo.com with any information.

FCA website is up and running! It is intended to provide a method of communication between FCA and the Community. You will find postings of FCA and other events, current concerns, contacts for community issues, and web links to useful resources. We will also post some general interest material such as the history of the area. Pictures characterizing the area are displayed on the home page. If you have any to contribute, please email or postal mail them to the FCA address. If you send a picture, I will scan it and return the original

We would like to add biographies for the founding members of FCA. If you have any information or know how to get information about these people, please contact me. The founding Board members were Jim Ambrose, Harold Beck, Cecil Wright, Jim Murrill, Walter Barber, CC Dubbs, and Harold Gimeno.

Send any comments, contributions, or suggestions to the webmaster. Feel free to suggest what you would like to see on the web site! Contact: Webmaster & Director Richard Nelson at rnelson@richardnelson.com or 714-730-7810.

Support your comunity and join FCA. It is a low cost investment. Display A Membership Form.

FOOTHILL COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATION, INC.
P.O. Box 261, Tustin, California 92781