Church Attempts Commercial Appeal
Cottonwood Christian Center church leaders have asked their 4,000-member congregation to dine and shop in Cypress for the holidays, despite the City Council’s putting a freeze on the megachurch’s ambitious development plans.
Church members will take part in the “Blessing Businesses in Cypress” campaign, designed to show the city the congregation’s buying power. With each purchase, cards from the church will be left behind with the merchants.
The Los Alamitos church has spent $13 million to buy 18 acres of vacant land in a Cypress redevelopment zone near the Los Alamitos Race Course.
But the council recently extended for 10 1/2 months a moratorium on all building in the zone. Planners asked for the stoppage so they could come up with a cohesive plan. City staffers said they envision a town-center-type development, with shopping, dining and entertainment.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
