CYPRESS : Residents, Officials Cheer Election Vote

Residents and city officials on Wednesday were cheering the results of this week’s election, which ended more than four years of controversy over development of the Los Alamitos Race Track.

“I am delighted,” Mayor Cecilia L. Age said. “We can move forward now.”

The passage of the initiative allows the owners of the property to convert 75 acres of land surrounding the track into a business complex. But for the citizens and officials of this bedroom community of 43,000, it means the end to a long-standing dispute that, over the years, has included million-dollar lawsuits and attempted recalls of City Council members.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Roger Gueyer, a leader of Concerned Citizens of Cypress for Greenbelt and Open Space Preservation, the group instrumental in the defeat of prior proposals to develop the race course property.

The complex is expected to generate almost $1 million each year for the city, as well as an undetermined number of jobs. Also, developer Lloyd Arnold has agreed to continue to restore the adjacent golf course and race course.

The only murmur of dissent came from the neighboring city of Los Alamitos, where City Manager Robert C. Dunek said, “We have major concerns about how it will affect the city of Los Alamitos.” But he said he is optimistic that a compromise will be worked out.

For residents of Cypress, Tuesday’s vote puts an end to many potentially explosive issues, including two lingering lawsuits involving the property.

After an unsuccessful attempt to get a much denser business project passed, the then-owner of the property sued the city for $125 million. The current owner has agreed to drop the suit.

Also, the city has agreed to drop an appeal of a decision that invalidated Measure D, which was a citizens initiative giving residents the ability to determine zone changes on large parcels of property in the city.

And city officials agree that the proposal has helped mend the rifts that once divided the council.

“It has been getting better. We don’t fight as much as we used to,” Councilman John Kanel said.