Cypress to Vote on Rezoning Land Near Los Alamitos Track

The City Council voted 5 to 0 Monday to hold a special election April 24 to authorize the rezoning of 75 acres near the Los Alamitos Race Course to accommodate an ambitious redevelopment plan.

If voters agree to change the zoning from public or semi-public use to business-park use, a group that recently bought the race track and surrounding property for $71 million will be able to proceed with a proposal to build office buildings and a hotel on the site.

Lloyd Arnold, who heads the Cypress Development Partnership that now owns the 224-acre property, also plans to build a new or remodeled racing facility and to open a refurbished golf course.

The plan has won approval from Citizens of Cypress for Greenbelt and Open Space Preservation, a citizens group that helped block a previous owner’s plans to develop the site. A proposal by Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises called for a much denser commercial complex and was defeated by voters nearly 3 to 1 in 1989.

“I think we have finally arrived at some sunshine in the city of Cypress,” Councilman John Kanel said just before the vote.

“Everyone is happy,” said Jack Swank, a member of the citizens group. “For the first time in three years, everyone is united.”

The new initiative will call for rezoning 75 acres along Katella Avenue and Walker Street, which border the race track’s parking lot. Under Arnold’s plan, the property would house a business park and offices all along Katella, except where the golf course is located, and along Walker between Katella and Cypress Avenue. A hotel and restaurants would be built on Katella near the former Vessels Stallion Farm.