Changes to Los Alamitos Race Track’s vision plan for the future of the property were presented to the public last week during meetings on April 19 and 21.
A modified vision plan that included the erasing of a business district and the increase to a 20-acre park in the approximately 170-acre area was shown to residents in a conference room at the Courtyard Marriott last week.
Despite making revisions to the plan, which was first shown in March, several residents in attendance were still not convinced about how closely the plan would be followed in the future. The development is expected to occur as early as 10 years from now, said Frank Sherren, project manager for the racetrack. Sherren expressed that the racetrack isn’t planned to close right away but that eventually there won’t be a racetrack in the area.
Distrust in the Cypress City Council, Sherren and his team, and potential developers, was felt by many residents in attendance.
Sherren said he and his staff had received several comments about the lack of trust in the city council to keep its word. That’s why a provision that would require a vote by residents for any major change to the plan will be included in the final vision plan, said Sherren. He expects the vision plan to be finalized this week, and the ballot initiative that would come before Cypress voters is currently in the works. Voters will have the final say on whether the proposed land uses in the vision plan become solidified during the November election.
As it stands, the vision plan will add almost 800 single family homes and more than 300 multi-family residences to the area. Sherren said that the density of potential homes is something his team is looking at reducing following the public meetings.
The effect of that many families moving into to the area would have on traffic, schools and law enforcement is still unclear through the plan. Sherren said that currently the school district boundary line would mean half of students in the single-family residence area (light brown area on the map) would go to the Los Al School District and the other half would go to the Cypress School District.
“It would be fantastic,” said Dr. Sherry Kropp, who’s Los Al School District’s Superintendent, when asked about the potential influx of students due to the development. “We would reduce the amount of inter-district students to accommodate for the new students. [The District] loves having more residents and will accommodate for those students,” said Kropp when the issue of available space for the students was asked.
“We will serve any children from our area,” said Anne Silavs, who’s Cypress School District’s Superintendent. “The Cypress School District has many closed sites that could be open to serve those children if need be,” said Silavs when asked about the amount of room currently available in the district.
A big change to the original vision plan was increasing the size of the park. The developers bumped up the size to 20 acres and added a lake to the mix. Residents were not convinced by the size, placement or amount of amenities included. The suggestion of adding a bike path to the plan was also brought up by residents and was noted by Sherren and his team.
Also in the mix is a town center area that would potentially span 33 acres and face Katella Ave. 12 acres of the proposed town center is currently owned by the City of Cypress.
Despite making changes voiced by the community in the first round of meetings, the revised plan was still looked at with distrust as past development in the area caused controversy. This notion was felt strongly at the recent meetings, and as one Cypress resident noted to the News Enterprise, part of the reason for distrust in the racetrack and potential developers.
“My sense of the community’s concerns based on the residents attending the most recent race track development meeting are that the residents are not only concerned about losing the remaining vestige of open space in our area but even more concerning is the potential of setting the community up for another bait and switch such as what happened with Measure L and the Prologis nightmare,” said George Pardon. “Many residents from both Cypress and Los Alamitos strongly stated that they are not interested in more traffic and more housing. They want to save open space which was the basis for the passage of Measure D passed by the residents in 1987.”
Many at the meeting also voiced lack of trust in the Cypress City Council to keep its word. Los Al Mayor Richard Murphy said the distrust wasn’t with the current Cypress City Council but “unfortunately it’s from past experiences.”
The potential for another bait and switch scenario is what worried many residents at the meeting. The 14-acre mixed-use area was cited by some at the meeting as a potential area where something of the sort could arise.
“I’m worried about a hotel popping up next to my home,” said Lois Waddle at the meeting. Though the plans for the mixed used is purely conceptual, Sherren and his team designed the area so it could be used for either residential, business, or town center purposes. And if solidified in November, no major changes to the proposed land uses could come about unless done so through a public vote by Cypress residents.
Sherren and his team are currently still taking in suggestions via their website and will soon release a finalized vision plan. For more information visit www.cypresstowncenter.com, or call 714-820-2728.
“We are trying to be as transparent as possible and create a plan that best serves the community,” said Sherren.
