The News Enterprise Article by the reverend, Mike Wilson, fears for Cottonwood Church. While a great ghost story for Halloween, it ignores the real nightmare Cypress residents are facing under Measure GG.
It is very important to note that while the Race Track and Golf Course owners own the land, they do not own the rights to develop the property. Those rights belong to the residents of Cypress. Many, many residents I have spoken with want to maintain the property as largely open space land.
The News Enterprise Article by the reverend, Mike Wilson, fears for Cottonwood Church. While a great ghost story for Halloween, it ignores the real nightmare Cypress residents are facing under Measure GG.
It is very important to note that while the Race Track and Golf Course owners own the land, they do not own the rights to develop the property. Those rights belong to the residents of Cypress. Many, many residents I have spoken with want to maintain the property as largely open space land.
By asking residents for a zone change under Measure GG, as they did under Measure L, the LARC and GC (Los Alamitos Race Course and Golf Course) owners are asking for a massive windfall profit while leaving Cypress residents with all the problems. Measure GG proposes a massive overdevelopment for Cypress where there is no guarantee of one more police officer, firefighter or teacher, or the opening of one more school. It will invariably impose a major increase in traffic, with thousands more cars per day on already congested Cypress streets. It will drain our already dwindling water resources. It will overburden our police and emergency services when crime rates are increasing. It will add more students to Cypress schools that are already impacted by over use of portable classrooms and shrinking playgrounds.
The author almost invokes images of ghouls and zombies taking over the LARC/GC property if it were to close. The reality is that the owners are obligated to maintain health and safety standards according City and State Code, up to and including demolition of the property.
More frightening is the massive overdevelopment the owners are proposing—nearly 1,300 new residences, 150 acres of open space consumed and 1.5 million square feet new buildings constructed. Cypress residents have been adamant in their opposition to such development as noted in the recent City Ventures development on Orange Ave. Mayor Mariellen Yarc sought and obtained both unit density and building height reductions in acknowledgement of residents’ opposition to excessive development.
While the owners have offered a park, it is less than 10% of the original LARC property, despite residents’ pleas to them to maintain a greater amount of open space. Further, this proposed park is located at the site of the LARC stadium. We have no idea when the park might be added and whether or not the residents will be burdened with the costs of the stadium’s demolition.
The 170 acres proposed for rezoning in Measure GG is the remaining acreage of the original LARC property that was 300 acres. 130 acres have already been developed since Measure D was approved by residents in 1987. No park was provided as part of any of the developments in the 130 acres, which have included all the buildings on Walker between Cerritos and Katella including Costco; SeaCoast Grace Church; Cottonwood Church; and the 33-acre senior housing development proposed on Katella.
Overall, Measure GG is just bad for Cypress.
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.”
Therefore, I advise Cypress Voters, do not be tricked this Halloween on Measure GG— it’s no treat!
David L. Rose is the Chairman of Cypress Citizens Preserving Open Space