City Moves Closer to Redevelopment of Former Air Base

TUSTIN, CA-By a unanimous 5-0 vote last week, the Planning Commission approved a proposed change to the city’s General Plan to allow redevelopment of the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. The City Council will now consider ratifying the amendment to the General Plan on Dec. 18, along with giving final approval to the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

“Right now the base is identified in the general plan as military,” says Dana Ogdon, the city’s senior project manager.” This amendment would change the base’s zoning designation.”

As a practical matter, this amendment is mostly an innocuous document–merely the first step towards converting the base to civilian uses, Ogdon says. Still, there have been a number of reuse plans proposed over the past few years for the 1,600-acre MCAS-Tustin Project Area, including a no project alternative that encompasses the base plus an additional 52 acres adjacent to it. At present the city is considering one particular reuse plan, which has been submitted to the Department of Defense, the Navy and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.