Cypress and Los Alamitos residents flocked to the Environmental Impact Report scope meeting on Wednesday, April 3, and expressed their displeasure over the proposed 33-acre Katella Avenue trucking terminal complex.
Cypress and Los Alamitos residents flocked to the Environmental Impact Report scope meeting on Wednesday, April 3, and expressed their displeasure over the proposed 33-acre Katella Avenue trucking terminal complex.
The project, called a logistics facility with 129 truck bays, has residents concerned about damage to the community.
“The city came around and told us this was a plan for homes, shopping, some light industrial and the senior center,” Cypress resident Marilyn Lowe said. “Then we find out about this project under the table, and we had no knowledge. This will have a great impact on me and my neighbors.”
Voters approved the rezoning of the area in June 2012. Los Alamitos resident Beth Piburn did not see anything in the presentation that swayed her fears that the plan would create havoc in the community.
“I’m madder than a hornet,” Piburn said of the plan.
There was a special meeting of the Los Alamitos City Council on Monday, to discuss the project in closed session. Members of the community attended to speak out during public comments. Los Alamitos resident Lois Waddle presented a report she had compiled on the impact of wildlife in the project area. Waddle said she has seen nesting hawks and other wildlife, including migratory birds who use the plot as part of the feeding needs. She noted in her report that not only with the wildlife suffer, but so will residents who want to interact with nature.
“It is truly a wildlife paradise,” Waddle said.
At the April 3 open house, Cypress Planning Manager Doug Hawkins said no decisions have been made by the council, and the process is in the very early stages.
Hawkins reiterated the ProLogis position, and said no company has leased the project.
“The development will be marketed in similarly to the buildings on Katella,” he said. “They will have office space, light manufacturing, a warehouse, and possibly distribution.”
Cypress resident Chris Arfutson said the project will affect more than Katella.
“How do you mitigate diesel emissions,” she asked. “The small particulates are going to kill our children.”
A draft EIR report should be available for review by the public by June.
There will be a 45-day review process,” Hawkins said. The report will have traffic and air studies, and the public can make comments on that report.”
The city is projecting an August date for a vote on the project.
“That will depend on how long the environmental review process takes,” Hawkins said. “The purpose of this meeting is to take public comments on the project.”
The fate of the project still rests with the people.
“If Cypress residents have concerns about this, they need to be at the council meetings en masse, lining up one person after another and express their sentiments during public comments and tell them to get rid of this issue,” Former Los Alamitos Councilman Art Debolt said. “In 1987, Cypress voters took away the council’s authority to change the zone on the racetrack property without a vote of the people. The city wanted to keep it as open space with low impact uses, but the people emasculated the council because of its dealings with Hollywood Park.”