November 25 was a sad evening for Cypress and Los Alamitos residents as the Cypress City Council Approved the Disposition and Development Agreement for the Sale of City Owned 13 Acres on Katella Property at the Northwest Corner of Katella Avenue and Winners Circle. The City Council voted to approve this sale by a vote of 3 to 1. Mayor ProTem Johnson, Council Members Peat and Morales voted in favor. Mayor Berry voted against and Council Member Yarc was out of the country.
As if traffic on Katella Ave isn’t bad enough, the future just got bleaker. If developed as proposed by Shea Properties, the 13 acres will include a hotel with 120 rooms; approximately 64,000 square feet of commercial retail, restaurant, and luxury cinema uses; and a four-story 251 apartment complex with a parking garage to serve the apartments. Shea will be acquiring this property for $15.25 million. Although the rendering submitted by Shea Properties indicated that the 251 unit apartment complex which will occupy 4 acres of the site would have a density of 63 units per acre (251/4), the City Council used a definition of density that spreads the density over the 13 acre site indicating the density is only 19 units per acre giving no consideration of the 120 room hotel, luxury cinema, and commercial retail space.
At November 12 City Council meeting, Frank Sherren from the race track indicated that Ed Allred, the owner of the race track, offered $16.25 million for the property which is $1 million higher than Shea. Not only was the price higher, Ed Allred proposed 80 townhomes on the 4 acre site instead of a 251 unit apartment complex as well as the other components proposed by Shea including the 120 room hotel, luxury cinema, and retail space. The residential density for Ed Allred’s proposal when calculated using the 4 acres is 20 units per acre and when calculated using the 13 acres would be 6 units per acre. That’s compared to the Shea project which would be either 63 or 19 units per acre depending on what definition of density is used. Based on the staff report, the staff indicated that the Shea offer was better because one-time park fees generated for the 251 apartments would be $5.9 million which is higher than the $1.9 million in park fees generated by the 80 townhomes in the Ed Allred proposal. The fact that higher park fees is a determining factor is quite a surprise as it ignores the fact that a 251 unit apartment complex will likely mean significantly higher use of our parks and city services than an 80 unit townhome development.
Also reported at the November 12 meeting, Frank Sherren from the race track said that when the 22 community-based meetings were held regarding the rezoning of the race track property, high density was the most significant concern raised by the residents which is why the proposal submitted by Ed Allred was capped at 20 units per acre. Had Ed Allred understood that park fees would be considered as part of the value, it sounds like he would have been better off submitting a much higher density project.
If the average of 3 residents per residential unit that currently exists in Cypress holds up on this project, the apartments will increase our population by 753. This will be equal to a 1.5% increase in our population given Cypress’ current estimated population of 49,000. If compared to the estimated population of Los Alamitos of 11,600, 753 residents will be equal to a 6.5% increase. The Ed Allred proposal of 80 units would increase the population by only 240 which would be .5% for Cypress and 2% for Los Alamitos. The Shea project will bring 500 more residents to the city than the Ed Allred proposal. The Shea proposal brings 500 more people using the parks, requiring city services, creating more traffic, etc. Three times more people in one project compared to the other should have been given significantly more consideration.
This project will require a zoning change to accommodate the apartments since this property currently is not zoned for residential. Parking for the apartments will be in a 4 story parking garage. To my knowledge, this will be the highest density residential development in the city and the first parking garage. I have to wonder if the city didn’t own this property, would the city consider a change in zoning to accommodate a high density residential development on commercial/retail zoned property owned by a private party.
Given the concerns raised in the past by the community regarding high density residential projects, one could likely conclude that if this project went out to a vote of the residents, it would be defeated. I have to believe the City Council knew this and approved it anyway.
It’s also very interesting that the two people that spoke in favor of this project were Bonnie Peat who is Council Member Jon Peat’s wife and Ann Hertz, President of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Anaheim-Cypress where Council Member Jon Peat serves as 1st Vice Chair of the Board.
As this project proceeds through the environmental review, it will be critical that residents of Cypress and Los Alamitos come out to voice their concerns. If you want to stay informed of the future steps being taken regarding this project, postings will be made on the Citizens for Responsible Development of Cypress, CA Facebook page or I would be glad to keep you informed by email. You can email me at georgepardon@gmail.com and I will put you on the distribution list.
George Pardon
Director
Citizens for Responsible Development of Cypress
