Council opens public hearing on easement vacations, continues decision to July amid CEQA and tax concerns

City Engineer Jeremy Hoenbaum presented a staff report on May 19 asking the council to open the public hearing on proposed vacations of portions of Rosenbaum and Trabuco Creek roads and to continue the matter to July 21 while staff works through outstanding public concerns and coordinates with potentially affected property owners.

Hoenbaum said staff had declared 1,115 square feet of city-owned property exempt surplus land and recommended continuing the hearing to allow additional outreach and resolution of issues raised in public comments. "Staff's recommendation is to open the public hearing and continue it to July 21 while we work through those outstanding issues," he told the council.

Several members of the public spoke during the hearing. Erin Beyer, a 28‑year resident and licensed realtor, said she opposed selling the land and warned the decision could change neighborhood land use and make code enforcement harder if the city no longer owns the parcel: "I am very opposed to selling this land," Beyer said, adding that ownership can make enforcement easier than when land is private.

Other commenters raised related issues: Sasha Topa objected to what she said was a larger development plan that could be segmented to avoid environmental review and cited traffic, fire‑hazard and pollution concerns leading to Doheny State Beach; Raynan Seek urged the council to consider creative uses of the parcel that could benefit the community.

After public comment, a councilmember moved to follow staff's recommendation to continue the hearing. The motion was seconded, a roll-call vote was conducted and the council voted to continue the public hearing to the July 21, 2026 meeting for further consideration and to allow staff to resolve the outstanding items raised by the public.