Judge Inclined to Oppose Cypress Warehouse Project

In a tentative ruling Wednesday, an Orange County Superior Court judge said he is inclined to rule against Cypress city government and side with residents who oppose a controversial carpet warehouse project that has divided the city and caused a recall drive.

Judge Francisco Firmat said he will write his final opinion on Monday, and attorneys expect it to be made public on Tuesday.

In his tentative ruling, Firmat said the proposed carpet distribution warehouse should not have been approved by the Cypress City Council without an environmental impact report.

“I think the city failed to conduct a proper EIR,” the judge said from the bench.

Firmat issued his tentative ruling Wednesday morning but allowed additional arguments most of the day.

Robert W. Loewen, attorney for Warland Industries, the proposed warehouse developer, disagreed with Firmat’s decision. Loewen told Firmat that the court “is without jurisdiction” in the warehouse issue because the residents failed to raise the EIR matter during a public hearing in September.

“You’re talking about the judiciary stepping out and interfering with the duly elected responsibilities of the City Council,” Loewen said. In his concluding remarks Wednesday, Loewen charged that the residents are trying “to use the court as a hand grenade to throw under a project and try to blow it up.”

But Daniel Wildish, an attorney for the residents who oppose the warehouse, said the judge is correctly looking into the need for an environmental impact report.

“An EIR is an environmental alarm bell for the citizens,” Wildish said. He charged that the Cypress City Council failed to follow state law by not getting an EIR before approving the proposed 439,650-square-foot warehouse. The warehouse, which would allow 24-hour operation of trucks, would be built in a business park at the intersection of Warland Drive and Valley View Street.

Residents in the Valley View area attempted in vain on Sept. 26 to persuade the City Council to delay action on the warehouse. Residents said noise and pollution from truck traffic would ruin their neighborhood.

After the City Council refused to reconsider the matter, residents launched a recall effort--which is still in progress--against Mayor Cecilia L. Age, Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry and Councilman Walter K. Bowman. Two other council members who voted for the warehouse did not run for reelection last November.

In his tentative ruling Wednesday, Firmat disagreed with Loewen’s argument that residents failed to raise specific legal issues during the Sept. 26 public hearing.

“I don’t believe we have to have lawyers at every City Council meeting,” the judge said. “I think the city had notice that people were concerned as to noise and traffic and so forth.”