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Zoning administrator approves master sign plan for Irvine Company apartments at Tustin Legacy
Summary
At a May 28, 2026 Tustin City zoning administrator hearing, staff recommended and the zoning administrator approved Conditional Use Permit 2026-0017, authorizing a master sign program with deviations from the Tustin sign code for the Irvine Company Apartments and finding the project categorically exempt from CEQA (Class 11).
The Tustin City zoning administrator on May 28 approved a master sign program for the Irvine Company Apartments at Tustin Legacy, adopting Zoning Administrator action 26-004 to grant Conditional Use Permit 2026-0017 and finding the proposal categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under a Class 11 exemption for on-premise signage.
Senior Planner George Maldonado, with the community development department, told the hearing the subject property is roughly a 19.4-acre site in planning areas 8, 13 and 14 and is under construction with 1,336 apartment units across six buildings that range from four to five stories. Maldonado said the apartment project was approved by the city council on Feb. 4, 2025, and the CUP application seeks a master sign plan to serve those same units. He also noted staff will add a memo to the project file to clarify two building addresses that were inadvertently omitted from the report, but that the omission does not change the analysis.
Maldonado said the proposed program includes monument and other freestanding signs that exceed residential sign parameters in Article 9, Chapter 4 of the Tustin City code (the sign code), plus pedestrian-oriented wayfinding signs and directional signage that the current code does not contemplate for higher-density residential developments. He showed staff’s analysis marking conforming sign types in green and deviations in red and told the administrator that the residential sign standards typically do not accommodate the quantity and scale needed for higher-density projects.
As one example, Maldonado said a proposed large monument sign (type A) would stand 12 feet tall—matching an existing 12-foot monument sign at the Amalfi Apartments across Legacy Road. Maldonado described the pedestrian Paseo signs as new, site-specific wayfinding elements designed to support orderly operation and access to the development.
When the zoning administrator opened the public hearing, the applicant representative declined extended remarks but described the sign program as "contextually appropriate for the area" and offered to answer questions. Staff reported there were no other in-person or online public comments.
The zoning administrator said the proposed 12-foot monument initially "felt tall," but after visiting the site and observing the comparable sign at the Amalfi Apartments, concluded the program "meets the intent of the code and is compatible with the design and scale of the project." The administrator therefore found the project categorically exempt from CEQA and adopted Zoning Administrator action number 26-004 approving CUP 2026-0017 with the proposed deviations from the Tustin sign code.
No formal vote tally was recorded on the record; the action was announced by the zoning administrator. The hearing concluded and the administrator adjourned the meeting at 10:08 a.m.
What happens next: staff will add the memo clarifying the two omitted building addresses to the project file; further administrative or appeal processes were not described on the record.
