Austin Lumbard is afraid for his children’s safety, and he’s not alone.

“They want to put the emergency shelter here and line kids and their parents up to go to school right next to it. And it’s very really close as you can see,” said Lumbard.

Lumbard is referring to the City of Tustin’s race against time. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered cities and the county to provide housing for 60 percent of their point-in-time homeless counts. In 2017, Tustin had a total of 69 homeless people counted. Tustin has to create a temporary homeless shelter big enough to house 50 people by February 23, 2019.

If the city doesn’t do so, police officers will not be allowed to cite or arrest people who set up camp in public areas like community parks.

The city agreed to put the shelter on the corner of Red Hill Avenue and Valencia Avenue. That would put the shelter between a womens’ shelter and across the street from the Christian-based Orange County Rescue Mission, which is a privately-funded facility. Just 500 feet away from the proposed site is Heritage Elementary School, which is where Lumbard’s oldest daughter goes to school.

“It’s not that I’m against a homeless shelter in Tustin. I think the Tustin community and the city at large wants to help. It’s just that we got to find the right spot and this is not it,” said Lumbard.

He is a father of four who is adding a new title to his name after living in the Tustin Legacy neighborhood for the last seven years. Lumbard is taking his oath as one of the newest city councilmembers in December, which is about two months before the shelter has to be up and running.

There will be some rules in place at the shelter. No registered sex offenders or people with outstanding felony warrants will be allowed into the shelter. However, beds can still be offered to people who are intoxicated or have substance abuse problems. Adding fuel to frustration for parents, the city of Santa Ana recently opened a 200-bed shelter at its city limits which is right across the street from Tustin and less than a mile away from Heritage Elementary School.

“I think as a community we can find a positive outcome. It just takes action and we can’t waste any time doing it,” said Lumbard.

The city knows parents like Lumbard are not happy with the shelter location so city staff will try to find another location to build a shelter. In the meantime, they are still going forward with the current site near Heritage Elementary. Lumbard says he’ll work to find a better and safer location for residents.