It’s Valentines Day and love is in the air. I have my shopping done for my wonderful wife but, unfortunately, I will be unable to share the day with her as duty calls. Here’s hoping the Tustin City Planning Commission has St. Valentine on their side as well and they can get through their decidedly short agenda(s) in record time. I know their wives will appreciate it. Oh, by the way, I strongly suggest Villa Nova restaurant in Newport Beach for a romantic outing. Great food and views with a menu that will bust your palate, not your wallet. If you want Italian (hey it’s traditional for V-day) here in Our Town Tustin, try Ciao Bella over on 1st and Newport (the oldPeppinos). Good food, nice ambience. Very romantic in our book.

It looks like the Planning Commission will first hold a special meeting as the Tustin Building Board of Appeals. The sole item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes from the last meeting in which the Fairbanks issue was resolved.

On the Planning Commssion Agenda, the first item is a public hearing on a General Plan Amendment and Specific Plan Amendment. While much of this is pro forma, it would not be surprising to see some discussion on this particularly since the amendments include changes to the housing on the MCAS property. There is also the elimination of a 9 acre sports park from the plan. A shame since Tustin’s PIO was lamenting to me the other day the lack of available open space in south Tustin.

There is also a Code Amendment Draft Ordinance 1411, listed as a “Minor Zoning Text Amendment Ordinance”. We always look at these minor changes with a jaded eye. In this case, the Community Development Department decided to add quite a bit of language to certain sections, calling them “minor changes.”  In fact, sections 9212 and 9213 have both been substantially re-written to include specifying language that was not there before. In truth, much of this seems to be in the aftermath of issues in Old Town, where Community Devlopment Director Elizabeth Binsack has repeatedly left her mark.

Speaking of, I hear our neighbors at 455 Main Street have been asked to sign a Deed Restriction in order to complete the guest unit on their property. We will be getting in touch with them soon to see what they outcome of the latest attack on Old Town will be.