What Tustin is about to decide

The council meets in closed session at 4:30 PM, and the regular meeting convenes at 6:00 PM at 300 Centennial Way, Tustin. One public hearing is scheduled (Item 11). These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda · Next meeting: September 15, 2026

✅ What actually passed: Per the city’s signed minutes of the meeting, all five members were present and the closed session was cancelled. Clearwater at Tustin Legacy was approved 5-0 (Lumbard/Schnell): the council adopted Resolution No. 26-43 — the environmental addendum, design review, the 38.75 percent density bonus with 26 lower-income units, the conditional use permit for the 103-unit, 134-bed assisted living and memory care facility, and the tentative parcel map — and introduced Ordinance No. 1580, the development agreement with CD-CW (Tustin) LLC (Confluent Development), on first reading. The hearing ran from 7:14 to 7:21 p.m. with no speakers; two e-comments were received, from Gabriel Groen and the Kennedy Commission. Seven proposals advance to Round Two of the competitive offering for the ±44 acres in Tustin Legacy Neighborhoods D and E, 5-0 (Lumbard/Schnell), with staff authorized “to further reduce the number of proposals” later. Ordinance No. 1582, amending City Code Section 1415, passed first reading 4-1 (Lumbard/Nielsen) — the minutes record that “Council Member Fink dissented” — with adoption scheduled for September 15. The police–school district camera-sharing MOU (Fusus platform) was received and filed 5-0 after Mayor Pro Tem Schnell pulled it from consent. The rest of the consent calendar passed 5-0 (Schnell/Gallagher), including the contract with The KYA Group not to exceed $974,949.78 for the Columbus Tustin Gymnasium and Tustin Area Senior Center (Resolution No. 26-51), acceptance of the Neighborhood “D” South infrastructure at a final construction cost of $9,564,523.94 (Resolution No. 26-50), and the Camino Real Park picnic shelter (Resolution No. 26-44). Item 4, the Personnel Rules update, was withdrawn by staff — “No action was taken.” The meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m.

The headline: a public hearing on Clearwater at Tustin Legacy, a senior-living project proposed for a vacant 6.14-acre city-owned site at the southeast corner of Warner Avenue and Armstrong Avenue: 172 residential units for active, independent seniors (26 of them affordable to lower-income households) plus an approximately 143,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care facility with 103 units and 134 beds. The council will consider a resolution approving the design review, a 38.75% density bonus, a conditional use permit and a tentative parcel map, and a first reading of an ordinance approving a development agreement with CD-CW (Tustin) LLC (Confluent Development). Separately, on consent, it will consider advancing seven proposals to Round Two of the competitive offering for roughly 44 acres of city-owned land in Tustin Legacy Neighborhoods D and E.

🏘️ Housing & land at Tustin Legacy

Public hearing: Resolution No. 26-43 would adopt an Addendum to the Tustin Legacy Specific Plan 2025 Supplemental Environmental Impact Report and approve Design Review 2025-0008 for the Clearwater at Tustin Legacy site layout (172 active-senior units, the assisted living and memory care building, surface and garage parking, landscaping); a density bonus raising the allowable density from 124 base units to 173 units (38.75%) in exchange for 26 units affordable to lower-income households, with one incentive on the affordable-unit bedroom mix and waivers for private open space, building setbacks, patio wall height, and architectural feature encroachment; Conditional Use Permit 2025-0012 for the 103-unit, 134-bed facility; and Tentative Parcel Map 2025-151 / Subdivision 2025-0003 splitting the 6.14-acre site into two parcels. Item 11
In the same hearing, first reading of Ordinance No. 1580 approving Development Agreement 2025-0001 between the city and CD-CW (Tustin) LLC (Confluent Development) to facilitate development and conveyance of the city-owned site, with second reading set for the next available meeting. The agenda states there is no fiscal impact from the resolution or ordinance; the fiscal impact of the land sale will come before the council later in a separate Disposition and Development Agreement that is not part of this request. The agenda lists a public eComment on this item. Item 11
On consent, the council will consider authorizing staff and the city's broker, Cushman & Wakefield, to notify seven proposers that they are advancing to Round Two of the competitive offering for ±44 acres of city-owned land in Neighborhoods D and E (Planning Areas 9-12; 13-14) of the Tustin Legacy Specific Plan, and authorizing staff to further narrow the field before a final recommendation comes back at a future date. The recommendation comes from a Mayor-appointed ad hoc committee of Mayor Austin Lumbard and Council Member Ryan Gallagher. Item 9

🏗️ For contractors & vendors

A contract with The KYA Group, not to exceed $974,949.78, awarded through the California Multiple Award Schedules cooperative purchasing program, to refinish the Columbus Tustin Gymnasium wood floor with new court striping and install new motorized bleachers, and to replace the Tustin Area Senior Center auditorium flooring with a dance floor system with luxury vinyl tile. Resolution No. 26-51 authorizes the cooperative purchase; the agenda lists $975,000 budgeted in the FY 2026-2027 Capital Improvement Program. Item 7
Acceptance and a Notice of Completion for the Tustin Legacy Neighborhood "D" South Phase 2 – Package 1 infrastructure project (CIP No. 70256) and the civil portion of the South Hangar Renovation (CIP No. 10076). Final construction cost: $9,564,523.94, approximately 9% above the original $8,771,596.00 contract; approved change orders totaled $792,927.94, of which $674,623 was tied to Southern California Edison field redesign requirements and delays. Funded through Tustin Legacy Land Sale Proceeds and Tustin Legacy Backbone Program funds. Item 6
Acceptance and a Notice of Completion for the Camino Real Park Picnic Shelter Renovation (Phase 2 of CIP No. 20096), final construction cost $478,385.99. Phase 1, the playground renovation by Innovative Playgrounds Co., Inc., was completed May 5, 2026 at $486,979.04; total project expenditures are $965,365.03 against a $1,000,000 Park Development Fund appropriation. Item 5

⚖️ Ordinances & personnel rules

First reading of Ordinance No. 1582, amending Tustin City Code Chapter 4, Section 1415 (Powers and Duties Generally) to align the code with prior voter-authorized amendments and with existing practices in the city's Personnel Rules and Memoranda of Understanding; adoption would be scheduled for September 15, 2026. Item 10
Resolution No. 26-52 adopting updated City of Tustin Personnel Rules; the agenda lists no fiscal impact. Item 4

🤝 Agreements

Receive and file a Memorandum of Understanding between the city, on behalf of the Tustin Police Department, and the Tustin Unified School District giving police limited access to selected existing district surveillance cameras through the Fusus platform during emergencies. Per the agenda, the district retains ownership and control of its camera system and video, police access is limited to the public safety purposes and circumstances in the MOU, and costs for police-owned Fusus hardware fall to the Police Department. Item 8

🔒 Closed session (4:30 PM)

Anticipated litigation: significant exposure to litigation, one case, under Government Code § 54956.9(d)(2), (e)(2), (e)(3), (e)(5). Closed Session Item 1
Existing litigation: Onterris Response and Recovery, LLC, et al. v. City of Tustin et al., Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2026-01572066-CU-BC-CJC and U.S. District Court, C.D. Cal., Case No. 8:26-cv-01872-DOC-SSC. Closed Session Item 2
City Attorney David E. Kendig is scheduled to give the closed session report during the 6:00 PM meeting.

🪑 Also on the agenda

Ratification of payroll of $1,312,280.52 and $1,358,872.64 and demands of $8,997,898.70. Item 3
Approval of minutes from the August 4, 2026 regular meeting and the August 18, 2026 special meeting of the council acting as the Local Reuse Authority. Item 2
Presentations recognizing Tustin Girls Softball and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, followed by public input on non-agenda matters.

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.