LOS ALAMITOS : Developer, 2 Cities Settle Park Suit

The cities of Los Alamitos and Cypress this week settled their lawsuit over a proposed Cypress business park, with the developer of the complex agreeing to pay Los Alamitos most of the costs of accommodating the traffic the project will generate in that city.

Los Alamitos sued the city of Cypress and the developer, Cypress Development Partnership, in May, seeking compensation for the traffic problems the project would be expected to cause. Under the terms of the settlement, the developers of the proposed Cypress Business and Professional Center will pay Los Alamitos $1 per square foot of the 75-acre development, for an estimated $1.8 million, according to Los Alamitos City Manager Robert C. Dunek.

The developer is to make an initial payment of $100,000 in the next two months, Dunek said.

The terms also call for Cypress to pay Los Alamitos $10,000 a year for the next 20 years to maintain Katella Avenue, which the center will abut, Cypress officials said.

At a press conference Tuesday, Cypress Mayor Cecilia L. Age said the city may reimburse the developer for up to $275,000 of its payments to Los Alamitos. The level of reimbursement, Age said, will depend on the success of off-track betting at the Los Alamitos Race Course, which would bring more money to the city.

“I am really pleased” with the settlement, Age said. “It’s a win-win situation.”

The center will be next to the race track. Katella Avenue, a major Los Alamitos thoroughfare, would be the most direct route to a freeway.

The lawsuit halted development of the business park, angering Cypress officials. There were years of thwarted attempts to develop the property before voters finally approved the business park proposal in April.

“This project has torn up the whole community for such a long time,” Age said. “We are so pleased.”

Dunek said he anticipates that the Los Alamitos City Council will request that money received from the settlement be put into a special account for street maintenance, rather than having it go into the general fund.

“I think the council will ask at some future point that we put (the money) into a separate account for street improvements,” Dunek said.