URGENT FIRE SAFETY OBJECTION TO PROPOSED STREET VACATION (RESOLUTION NO. 26-30) PROJECT: Campo on 17th / Enderle Center Drive Closure Hearing HEARING DATE: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM
SUBMITTED BY: Concerned Residents of Tustin
TO THE ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY, THE HONORABLE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE TUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY ATTORNEY: 300 CENTENNIAL WAY, TUSTIN, CA. 92780 We formally object to the proposed vacation and closure of Enderle Center Drive. Granting this street closure to accommodate a private developer's design configuration creates an immediate, catastrophic threat to human life regarding fire evacuation and emergency response. Approving this resolution exposes the City of Tustin to immense long-term civil liability.
1. CRITICAL THREAT TO LIFE: Wildfire and Structural Fire Evacuation Bottlenecks Enderle Center Drive is a vital neighborhood emergency egress route. Eliminating this right-of-way clusters local traffic into a severely restricted bottleneck.
Evacuation Traps: In a fast-moving fire event, hundreds of escaping residents will be forced onto fewer roads, creating gridlock that could trap citizens in the path of a fire.
Emergency Delays: Entering Orange County Fire Authority (OCA) heavy apparatus and ladder trucks will be forced to compete with fleeing resident traffic on a single, choked access point, delaying life-saving intervention when seconds matter.
2. Absolute Discretionary Immunity Waiver and Future Tort Liability While public entities generally enjoy immunity for "poor judgment" in planning decisions, "Design Immunity" (Gov. Code § 830.6) is legally broken if a city approves a plan despite having clear notice of a hidden, highly dangerous condition. By approving this closure over the explicit safety warnings of the neighborhood, the City of Tustin knowingly creates a public property hazard. This completely strips the city of its statutory immunities, leaving Tustin strictly liable for any future wrongful deaths, personal injuries, or property losses caused by fire-related gridlock.
3. Strict Constitutional Liability via Inverse Condemnation Under settled California Supreme Court precedent (Breidert v. Southern Pacific Co.), property owners possess a private easement of ingress and egress to the general public street system. Severing this critical access route-especially when it destroys emergency egress-constitutes a "substantial impairment" of access. This renders the City strictly liable for financial damages under Inverse Condemnation for the resulting drop in neighborhood property values.
4. Explicit Violation of Streets & Highways Code § 8324 Under California law, this Council has zero legal authority to vacate a public road unless it makes a formal finding that the street is "unnecessary for present or prospective public use." Because this road is actively used and serves a vital public safety purpose, a finding that it is "unnecessary" is legally fraudulent. Any approval based on this finding is vulnerable to an immediate Writ of Administrative Mandate (CCP § 1094.5) to halt construction.
CONCLUSION & REQUESTED ACTION
We demand that the City Council DENY Resolution No. 26-30. At minimum, we request a Continuance of this hearing until the Orange County Fire Authority issues a certified, unconditioned written safety report explicitly guaranteeing that closing Enderle Center Drive will result in zero net delay to neighborhood evacuation times and fire department response capabilities. 9/9/26
SIGINITURE DATE
Sarah Cook
ADDRESS PHONE
URGENT FIRE SAFETY OBJECTION TO PROPOSED STREET VACATION (RESOLUTION NO. 26-30) PROJECT: Campo on 17th / Enderle Center Drive Closure Hearing HEARING DATE: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM
SUBMITTED BY: Concerned Residents of Tustin
TO THE ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY, THE HONORABLE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE TUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY ATTORNEY: 300 CENTENNIAL WAY, TUSTIN, CA. 92780 We formally object to the proposed vacation and closure of Enderle Center Drive. Granting this street closure to accommodate a private developer's design configuration creates an immediate, catastrophic threat to human life regarding fire evacuation and emergency response. Approving this resolution exposes the City of Tustin to immense long-term civil liability.
1. CRITICAL THREAT TO LIFE: Wildfire and Structural Fire Evacuation Bottlenecks Enderle Center Drive is a vital neighborhood emergency egress route. Eliminating this right-of-way clusters local traffic into a severely restricted bottleneck.
Evacuation Traps: In a fast-moving fire event, hundreds of escaping residents will be forced onto fewer roads, creating gridlock that could trap citizens in the path of a fire.
Emergency Delays: Entering Orange County Fire Authority (OCA) heavy apparatus and ladder trucks will be forced to compete with fleeing resident traffic on a single, choked access point, delaying life-saving intervention when seconds matter.
2. Absolute Discretionary Immunity Waiver and Future Tort Liability While public entities generally enjoy immunity for "poor judgment" in planning decisions, "Design Immunity" (Gov. Code § 830.6) is legally broken if a city approves a plan despite having clear notice of a hidden, highly dangerous condition. By approving this closure over the explicit safety warnings of the neighborhood, the City of Tustin knowingly creates a public property hazard. This completely strips the city of its statutory immunities, leaving Tustin strictly liable for any future wrongful deaths, personal injuries, or property losses caused by fire-related gridlock.
3. Strict Constitutional Liability via Inverse Condemnation Under settled California Supreme Court precedent (Breidert v. Southern Pacific Co.), property owners possess a private easement of ingress and egress to the general public street system. Severing this critical access route-especially when it destroys emergency egress-constitutes a "substantial impairment" of access. This renders the City strictly liable for financial damages under Inverse Condemnation for the resulting drop in neighborhood property values.
4. Explicit Violation of Streets & Highways Code § 8324 Under California law, this Council has zero legal authority to vacate a public road unless it makes a formal finding that the street is "unnecessary for present or prospective public use." Because this road is actively used and serves a vital public safety purpose, a finding that it is "unnecessary" is legally fraudulent. Any approval based on this finding is vulnerable to an immediate Writ of Administrative Mandate (CCP § 1094.5) to halt construction.
CONCLUSION & REQUESTED ACTION
We demand that the City Council DENY Resolution No. 26-30. At minimum, we request a Continuance of this hearing until the Orange County Fire Authority issues a certified, unconditioned written safety report explicitly guaranteeing that closing Enderle Center Drive will result in zero net delay to neighborhood evacuation times and fire department response capabilities. 9/10/26
SIGINITURE DATE
ANDDA lONA lopez
NAME
URGENT FIRE SAFETY OBJECTION TO PROPOSED STREET VACATION (RESOLUTION NO. 26-30) PROJECT: Campo on 17th / Enderle Center Drive Closure Hearing HEARING DATE: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM
SUBMITTED BY: Concerned Residents of Tustin
TO THE ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY, THE HONORABLE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE TUSTIN CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY ATTORNEY: 300 CENTENNIAL WAY, TUSTIN, CA. 92780 We formally object to the proposed vacation and closure of Enderle Center Drive. Granting this street closure to accommodate a private developer's design configuration creates an immediate, catastrophic threat to human life regarding fire evacuation and emergency response. Approving this resolution exposes the City of Tustin to immense long-term civil liability
1. CRITICAL THREAT TO LIFE: Wildfire and Structural Fire Evacuation Bottlenecks Enderle Center Drive is a vital neighborhood emergency egress route. Eliminating this right-of-way clusters local traffic into a severely restricted bottleneck. • Evacuation Traps: In a fast-moving fire event, hundreds of escaping residents will be forced onto fewer roads, creating gridlock that could trap citizens in the path of a fire. • Emergency Delays: Entering Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) heavy apparatus and ladder trucks will be forced to compete with fleeing resident traffic on a single, choked access point, delaying life-saving intervention when seconds matter.
2. Absolute Discretionary Immunity Waiver and Future Tort Liability While public entities generally enjoy immunity for "poor judgment" in planning decisions, "Design Immunity" (Gov. Code § 830.6) is legally broken if a city approves a plan despite having clear notice of a hidden, highly dangerous condition. By approving this closure over the explicit safety warnings of the neighborhood, the City of Tustin knowingly creates a public property hazard. This completely strips the city of its statutory immunities, leaving Tustin strictly liable for any future wrongful deaths, personal injuries, or property losses caused by fire-related gridlock.
3. Strict Constitutional Liability via Inverse Condemnation Under settled California Supreme Court precedent (Breidert v. Southern Pacific Co.), property owners possess a private easement of ingress and egress to the general public street system. Severing this critical access route-especially when it destroys emergency egress -constitutes a "substantial impairment" of access. This renders the City strictly liable for financial damages under Inverse Condemnation for the resulting drop in neighborhood property values.
4. Explicit Violation of Streets & Highways Code § 8324 Under California law, this Council has zero legal authority to vacate a public road unless it makes a formal finding that the street is "unnecessary for present or prospective public use." Because this road is actively used and serves a vital public safety purpose, a finding that it is "unnecessary" is legally fraudulent. Any approval based on this finding is vulnerable to an immediate Writ of Administrative Mandate (CCP § 1094.5) to halt construction.
CONCLUSION & REQUESTED ACTION
We demand that the City Council DENY Resolution No. 26-30. At minimum, we request a Continuance of this hearing until the Orange County Fire Authority issues a certified, unconditioned written safety report explicitly guaranteeing that closing Enderle Center Drive will result in zero net delay to neighborhood evacuation times and fire department response capabilities.
Respectfully submitted,
0910/26
SIGINITURE
Navid Lopez
NAME
PHONE