Cypress Downs Proposal Defeated by Nearly 2 to 1

Cypress voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a 167-acre business and recreational project proposed for one of the largest remaining open spaces in northwestern Orange County, culminating years of debate and legal wrangling over the site.

With all precincts reporting, the special ballot measure was defeated almost 2 to 1.

“We’ve got it. Absolutely,” proclaimed Joyce Nicholson, a leader of the opposition as the vote count progressed. “All we had to do was give the people the facts and they voted on that.”

Cypress, she said, “is unique. We’re like a little tiny town like what you might find out in the Midwest. And we intend to stay a unique community.”

But a spokesman for Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises, the owner of the property, vowed to “vigorously pursue” federal and state lawsuits against the city to permit development at an even greater density.

“We apparently have been defeated on a plan that we think made total sense for the community,” said Don Robbins, executive vice president of Hollywood Park.

Robbins said Hollywood Park has a a $125-million damage lawsuit pending in federal court that “we will reactivate and pursue as vigorously as we possibly can against the city of Cypress.”

Nicholson’s group, the Concerned Citizens of Cypress for Greenbelt and Open Spaces Preservation, had maintained that the Cypress Downs project would increase traffic and reduce property values.

The project’s backers argued that development would produce $748,000 in annual tax revenue for the city, create about 7,000 jobs and provide $10 million in traffic improvements along Katella Avenue.

Councilman John Kanel, who described himself as neutral on the issue, conceded as the vote mounted that “obviously . . . the public wants a different kind of a plan.”

Supporters of the project outspent their opponents by $215,000 to $38,870, according to campaign records. All but about $645 of the proponents’ money was contributed by SDC Development Co., the Newport Beach firm that had agreed to buy and develop the land if voters approved the zone change.

Only Item on Ballot

The zone change was the only item on Tuesday’s special election ballot.

The Cypress Downs project would have transformed a former public golf course surrounding the Los Alamitos Race Course into a business park, office complex, hotel, retail and commercial shops, and 31 acres for churches and schools. Of those proposals, only the churches and schools could be built under the current zoning.

The development site is bordered on the south by Katella Avenue, on the north by Cerritos Avenue, on the west by Denni Street and on the east by Walker Street.

SDC Development Co. agreed in May, 1988, to buy the entire 300-acre parcel, including the 140-acre race track, from Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises for $100 million, contingent upon voter approval of rezoning. Under an agreement with SDC, Hollywood Park would continue to operate the race track even if the measure passed.

The Cypress Downs project is smaller than Hollywood Park’s original proposal for the land. In 1986, at the request of Hollywood Park, the Cypress City Council rezoned the parcel for a business park. In preparation for development, Hollywood Park closed the Los Alamitos Golf Course next to the race track the following year.

Rescinded Zone Change

However, preservationists and supporters of the golf course launched a successful petition drive and the council rescinded the zone change.

Moreover, a coalition of Cypress residents in November, 1987, won voter approval of Measure D, again designating the site’s zoning for semi-public or public use and requiring voter approval of any further zone changes for the parcel.

Hollywood Park sued the city for rescinding the zoning change, and last May an Orange County Superior Court judge invalidated Measure D. The city has appealed that ruling.

Robbins said that Hollywood Park expects to win in that appeal.

“We would have preferred not to have been forced to do that, but we owe that to our 5,000 public shareholders,” Robbins said.

“The public had great difficulty sorting through the facts,” Robbins said of the vote.

Meanwhile, SDC Development and Hollywood Park agreed to put a scaled-down proposal to a citywide vote. And Hollywood Park and SDC agreed to terminate lawsuits still pending against the city if the measure were approved by voters.

But Nicholson said late Tuesday that she was confident the city and her concerned citizens’ group, which also is a defendant in the case, will prevail on appeal.

ELECTION RESULTS Cypress Downs Development 23 of 23 Precincts Reporting

Votes % Yes 3,043 33.4 No 6,061 66.6