Cypress Ca Development And Redevelopment

A group has been formed to oppose the recall of two City Council members and simultaneously support a controversial carpet warehouse. The recall drive was launched last month by city residents angry at the City Council's Sept. 26 vote to allow construction of a large carpet distribution warehouse at 11400 Valley View St., where trucks would enter and leave 24 hours a day.

Construction of industrial buildings on land used by Tanaka Farms near Katella Avenue and Valley View Street will begin in April, a spokesman for the property owner said. The City Council unanimously approved plans for manufacturing and warehouse facilities presented by Shurflo, a Garden Grove water-pump manufacturer, earlier this week. The property included a popular stand for customers buying organic fruits and vegetables.

A group of investors Friday offered to pay $60 million for the Los Alamitos Race Course under a plan that would improve track operations and expand an existing golf course while developing a low-density office complex on the surrounding land. If the purchase goes through, officials say it could end a 5-year controversy between track owners, Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises and Cypress residents who opposed previous plans for high-density office development on the site. The purchase offer is being made by two prominent men in the quarter-horse racing industry and SDC Developers in Newport Beach.

Members of a Cypress church are planning to fight on in their quest to build a new church complex despite a moratorium imposed by the City Council. The council imposed the 10 1/2-month moratorium Monday night on 300 acres of land that includes the 18-acre parcel owned by the Cottonwood Christian Center, despite the pleas of hundreds of churchgoers who packed council chambers.

Nobody paid much attention Thursday when the Cypress Golf Course and Country Club opened for business. Only a handful of golfers and some ducks wandered by to christen the sloping greens and pristine fairways. Gone were all signs of the legal wrangling, bitter election battles and closed-door deals that took place over nearly five years. But for some residents of this community of 45,000, Thursday was a day of triumph.

Shaw Industries, the nation's largest carpet manufacturer, will build a major warehouse in a Cypress business park where it will consolidate its Southern California operations, the Georgia company's broker said Tuesday. CB Commercial said that Shaw Industries signed a deal to build a 363,000-square-foot warehouse in the Warland Cypress Business Center at Valley View Street and Warland Drive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

More than 10 years ago a penniless Jim Sakurai became pastor of the Orange County Holiness Church and decided to help the struggling congregation establish itself in Cypress. It was one of the few Japanese-American Christian churches in the county and lacked a regular place of worship or many congregants. To create a following, the former engineer-turned-minister began knocking on doors looking for converts.

A Sacramento harness racing group appears to have beaten an Orange County-based racing group by a nose in efforts to purchase Los Alamitos Race Course, sources close to the negotiations told The Times. The buyers will pay close to $75.5 million for the 300-acre Cypress property that Hollywood Park purchased five years ago for $58 million, the sources said.

Construction of industrial buildings on land used by Tanaka Farms near Katella Avenue and Valley View Street will begin in April, a spokesman for the property owner said. The City Council unanimously approved plans for manufacturing and warehouse facilities presented by Shurflo, a Garden Grove water-pump manufacturer, earlier this week. The property included a popular stand for customers buying organic fruits and vegetables.

At a public hearing tonight, the City Council will consider a request to build nine detached residential units south of Lincoln Avenue at Walker Street. The developer would subdivide two properties into 10, a proposal that complies with the Lincoln Avenue Specific Plan. The council will meet at 7 p.m. in chambers, 5275 Orange Ave. Information: (714) 229-6700.

Plans for a church complex on 18 acres of prime Cypress real estate drew about 600 proponents to a public hearing Monday as the City Council considered whether to extend a 45-day building moratorium it imposed in late October. A battle is escalating between the city and Cottonwood Christian Center over how to develop church-owned acreage at Katella Avenue and Walker Street. Earlier this month, church's leaders appealed to their 4,000 members to lobby City Hall.

The escalating land battle between Cypress and a megachurch over 18 acres of prime real estate in the city will continue Monday when the City Council considers extending a building moratorium on the property for an additional 10 months. The ordinance would freeze the Cottonwood Christian Center's ambitious plans for vacant land at the corner of Katella Avenue and Walker Street.

More than 500 church members converged Sunday afternoon on a sprawling asphalt--and controversial--empty lot in Cypress: race track on one side; tall, corporate buildings on all the others. Just for a little extra insurance on the 18 acres they own, members of the Cottonwood Christian Center lifted their eyes and palms heavenward and asked God to bless the land--and the Cypress City Council.

City officials will consider allowing retail development in an area surrounding the Los Alamitos Race Track that is currently designated for professional offices. The City Council approved a study on the matter this week, after receiving a number of requests from the community. A large portion of the area--about 90%--is undeveloped.

The City Council postponed a vote Monday on a developer's proposal to build 21 two-story condominiums on Sprague Avenue after the plan met with opposition from some neighborhood homeowners. Residents complained that the condos would bring traffic, crowds and too many curbside trash containers to the street, lined with elementary schools and family homes in the north end of the city.

Completion of the Lincoln Avenue improvement project and renovation of the Arnold/Cypress Park loom as the top priorities for the city this year. The city hopes to reinvigorate a three-mile stretch of Lincoln Avenue beginning at the Coyote Creek bridge and ending at Valley View, said City Manager Mark Ochenduszko. Landscaping plans include a park-like environment on both sides of the street, with widening of the median and narrowing of the lanes.