Scope of Work: Environmental Planning, CEQA Compliance, Transportation Analyses, Technical Services

Started: 2025 | Completed: 2025

Project Description: The project included redeveloping the former 8.5-acre Tustin Financial Plaza office complex into 145 for-sale residential units, a recreation area supporting much-needed homeownership opportunities in the local market, and associated onsite and offsite improvements, including redesign of site access and changes to a major intersection to support the community.

Project entitlements included approval of a Vesting Tentative Tract Map, Design Review, and a zone change from Planned Community Business Park to Planned Community Residential.

The existing office buildings were deemed eligible for listing on the California Register of Historical Resources and therefore their redevelopment required preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). In addition, the project involved several areas of community concern, including traffic impacts, demolition of historic buildings, and compatibility with adjacent established single-family neighborhoods.

The project included the redesign of site access and changes to a major intersection to support the community. the closure of two existing driveways on 17th Street and the reconstruction of an existing driveway on Prospect Avenue. EPD prepared detailed traffic and transportation design studies to support City of Tustin review, including conceptual signing and striping plans and traffic signal modification concepts at the intersections of 17th Street at Prospect Avenue.

EPD prepared a focused EIR, along with Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas, and Energy Reports, a Health Risk Assessment, VMT Screening, and a Focused Traffic Impact Analysis. EPD also conducted the peer review of a variety of technical studies.

Through close coordination with City staff and the applicant, EPD supported the project by helping address concerns related to traffic, historic resources, CEQA and neighborhood compatibility, at community meetings, public hearings, and by assisting in refining site design and circulation improvements. EPD delivered a defensible CEQA package on an accelerated schedule — circulating the Draft EIR within 6 months and securing City Council certification and full project approvals in less than a year.