CYPRESS : Residents to Protest Zoning Change Plan

About a dozen angry residents are expected to attend tonight’s City Council meeting to protest a proposed change in zoning from single-family residential to high-density multifamily along a short stretch of Orange Avenue.

“That’s not the place to put multiple dwellings, and I don’t think we need any more apartments and condominiums in the city of Cypress,” said Mary Jane Wozniak, who has been living near the area of the proposed zoning change since 1967.

“We don’t want multiple dwellings here because it will devalue the surrounding homes and bring lots of problems,” she said.

Wozniak and her neighbors have collected more than 100 signatures on a petition circulated among residents who oppose the proposed zoning change.

City officials said that if the City Council votes in favor of the change, it would have no reason to reject a developer’s proposal to build 10 two-story, single-family townhomes on two adjacent lots--4921 and 4931 Orange Ave. The lots total 33,840 square feet.

Those who live near the lots fear that such new development, which would replace two single-family homes, will bring overcrowding and parking problems to the neighborhood.

The development proposal only requires that the zoning be changed to medium-density dwellings, but neighbors don’t want any zoning changes whatsoever.

The zoning change “will result in spot development, which will decrease the value of the existing surrounding homes and increase the crime problems here,” said Anne Mocniak, who lives behind one of the two Orange Avenue homes.

Her neighbor, Dan Jarecki, agrees.

“I’m concerned about the density,” he said. “The new zoning eventually will bring rental and apartment-type housing and I’m concerned about the potential for an increase in burglaries and lack of privacy.”

Doris Bodwell, who owns the 4931 Orange Ave. property, said that without the zoning change, she will not be able to sell her home.

“The house is in escrow now,” she said. “All we’re waiting for is the zoning change so the developer can build. But anything (Bilt-Mor Development) does, the neighbors are not going to be happy with. I don’t see where they have any complaints at all. They have no valid reasons” to oppose the zoning change.

Mayor Gail H. Kerry said Monday that she had no idea how the council would vote on the zoning change proposal. However, “I believe the council is sensitive to the community and is for whatever is realistic for the area,” she said.

Council members can either vote to change the zoning to high-density or medium-density housing or to retain the existing low-density designation.