Judge Rules Against Cypress Zoning Law : Decision Seen as Defeat for Measure D Group That Sought to Block Business Park Project

In a major defeat for a Cypress citizens group that sought to exert control over development in the city, an Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled invalid a measure that requires voter approval of zoning changes on public-use property.

Judge Tully H. Seymour, in a preliminary decision Monday, ruled that the measure violates state statutes which require a city’s zoning codes to be made consistent with its general development plan “within a reasonable time.”

The suit that led to the ruling arose over the closure of Los Alamitos Golf Course, a 160-acre site next to Los Alamitos Race Track, owned by Los Angeles-based Hollywood Park Realty Inc.

In 1986, Hollywood Park asked the city to rezone the golf course land to allow development of a business park. The City Council then approved an amendment to the city’s general plan changing the status of the parcel from public or semi-public use to business park use.

Council Makes Changes

The council later adopted an ordinance changing the zoning of the golf course to conform with its new business park status. But supporters of the golf course mounted a petition drive challenging the ordinance. In response, the council rescinded the zoning change but did not change the general plan amendment.

Closure of the course, one of the few parcels of open space left in the city, brought together a coalition of golfers and preservationists and resulted in Measure D, the “greenbelt and open space initiative” that passed by a 53%-46% vote in November’s election.

The initiative, passed 13 months after the council’s action amending the general plan, sought to revert the parcel back to its original public or semi-public use status and also required voter approval for future zoning changes.

Hollywood Park sued the city, alleging its constitutional rights were violated when the city rescinded the zoning change.

In Monday’s ruling, Seymour held that “the city had a mandatory duty to conform the zoning of Cypress Plaza (the golf course) so that it was consistent with business park uses. . . . The referendum challenging the adoption of the zoning ordinance was illegal on its face, which leads to the conclusion that the action of the council in repealing that ordinance was a breach of the council’s mandatory duty to zone (the property) consistently with the general plan.”

The decision is a victory for Hollywood Park Realty, which was cast as a fallen Goliath against upstart citizens after the successful initiative campaign, and means the Los Alamitos Golf Course property can be developed into a business park.

Park Official ‘Delighted’

“Obviously we’re delighted, we got all we asked for,” said Don Robbins, general manager of the Hollywood Park Operating Co., a subsidiary of Hollywood Park that manages the property. “Our original plan to develop the land and sell it was thrown off substantially and that cost us a substantial financial commitment. But we would hope to be able to sit down with the city and residents in the community and resolve any any remaining problems.”

Cypress City Atty. Jerry Patterson said no decision has been made on an appeal.

“We will analyze the decision and hope to find out more specifically what the judge is trying to say,” Patterson said. “On first reading, (the decision) could be interpreted as having an impact on the entire referendum process but that remains to be seen.”

Joyce Nicholson, co-chair of the citizens group that organized the ballot initiative, expressed surprise at the judge’s decision and said the ruling would anger many in the city who fought to see Measure D approved.

“It sounds like we will be forced to have something there that we don’t want there,” Nicholson said. “It seems the council’s inaction (to bring the general plan in line with the zoning change) is the problem and people who worked long and hard on this are going to be looking for someone to put the blame on.”