Shock, disappointment, and anger best describe the feelings exhibited at the EIR meeting last week for ProLogis’ proposed warehousing and light manufacturing center between Cottonwood Church and the Residence Inn on Katella Avenue.
Shock, disappointment, and anger best describe the feelings exhibited at the EIR meeting last week for ProLogis’ proposed warehousing and light manufacturing center between Cottonwood Church and the Residence Inn on Katella Avenue.
The development includes at least 129 truck bays. Concerns over traffic, air quality, noise, and safety are my paramount issues and I am sure are the primary concerns of the residents living anywhere near this development.
My wife and I have lived in Cypress for over 20 years and the only exit from our neighborhood is onto Cerritos Avenue. Over the years, we have seen traffic continue to increase on Cerritos due, in large part, to increased traffic on Katella Avenue. This proposed development has the potential to make this situation significantly worse.
Last year Cypress residents approved Measure L, which allowed for these 33 acres to have the following uses: market-rate senior citizen housing, assisted living facilities, professional offices, including medical services, and mixed-use commercial. My wife and I would have voted ‘No’ on this ballot measure if the project, as now proposed, would have been described.
My concerns are further heightened because there is no way to know who the ultimate occupant of the site will be. What we do know is that the developer, ProLogis, is a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust on the New York Stock Exchange. What we also know from their website www.prologis.com is that they specialize in High Throughput Distribution facilities. Their glossary defines High Throughput Distribution as industrial facilities/properties built for speed and located near airports, seaports and ground transportation systems.
Given the vagueness of what this development could ultimately morph into, I don’t want this in my community. I have always appreciated the business friendly approach Cypress leadership has taken to bring an excellent balance to our city. This proposed project, however, is a bad fit. Can you imagine if the truck bays turn over 3 to 4 times a day? That could mean almost 500 more trucks to our streets every day. The capacity of our existing infrastructure is already burdened to sustain existing demand.
To make matters worse, a special election is scheduled in Cypress on June 25, to amend the use of the Cypress golf course property and other property near this 33-acre development. At least 10 acres of the proposed amendment will be for mixed-use commercial development southeast of the race track.
While the ballot measure will propose single-family housing and neighborhood commercial uses for the golf course property, there is no guarantee that it will be built at any time in the future. What we can likely expect is that a mixed-use commercial development will be proposed if this measure passes and based on what we’ve seen so far, it will be more trucks, more traffic, noise, air pollution, and safety issues.
The draft environmental impact report is scheduled to be out in June. It is critical that the residents in Cypress be aware of the issues it presents and let the city council know their position on the project. Voters also need to turn out on June 25 and vote ‘No’ on the ballot measure that, if passed, would make this situation much worse. This is a matter of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
