Local News in Brief : Fountain Valley : Voters Will Decide on Southpark Development

The city’s voters will decide whether a large commercial development called Southpark should be built.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to hold a citywide election Feb. 23 on the project, which would be located on a 140-acre parcel that is now a strawberry field and is bounded by Slater and Talbert avenues, Euclid Street and the Santa Ana River.

After the council had approved an ordinance Sept. 1 allowing the construction of Southpark, the Citizens for Maintaining the Quality of Life in Fountain Valley’s Environment collected enough signatures to qualify the issue for a referendum. They argued that city officials had not addressed the group’s concerns about traffic and noise.

Council members said they believe that the estimated $32,000 cost of the election is justified because Southpark could generate 14,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in taxes.

Price Co., the San Diego-based discount chain that was to put a Price Club in the development, yielded to community opposition to Southpark and announced Oct. 30 that it had withdrawn its plans.

Council members have said they hope that Price Co., which would generate an estimated $1.5 million in annual sales tax revenue for the city, can be lured back if voters support the development.