Church Seeks to Derail Building Ban

The escalating land battle between Cypress and a megachurch over 18 acres of prime real estate in the city will continue Monday when the City Council considers extending a building moratorium on the property for an additional 10 months.

The ordinance would freeze the Cottonwood Christian Center’s ambitious plans for vacant land at the corner of Katella Avenue and Walker Street.

Church leaders said they’ve appealed to their 4,000-member congregation to descend on City Hall on Monday evening to urge council members to vote against the ban.

“We’re not going to be nasty,” said Tom Wilson, a pastor at the church, “but we need to be publicly aggressive.”

The proposed project, located in a redevelopment zone, includes a 4,700-seat sanctuary, a preschool, a bookstore, a coffee shop, meeting facilities and a youth center.

The church, whose services are broadcast to 80 countries, has outgrown its 2.4-acre facility in neighboring Los Alamitos.

City planners said they need the moratorium, which affects six other property owners, so they have time to develop a cohesive plan for the entire redevelopment area near Los Alamitos Race Course.

The development ban began Oct. 30 with a council-imposed 45-day moratorium, weeks after the church submitted plans to the city.

“We are considering whether to pursue a more intense commercial use,” said Felise Acosta, the city’s interim community development director.

City planners envision a town center-style project with restaurants, shops and entertainment businesses, all of which would generate significant tax revenue for the city, she said.

But Acosta said it was too early to determine if a church complex would be included in the mix, and, she added, that decision ultimately rests with the City Council.

Two years ago, church officials went on a $13-million buying spree to secure land from six property owners in the redevelopment area.

Church leaders and their attorneys concede that along the way, they were warned that the church complex might not fit into the city’s redevelopment plans, but that the caveats seemed pro forma.

Founding Pastor Bayless Conley said meetings with city officials--some of whom have since resigned, including the city manager--left his team optimistic enough to proceed with the purchase of the properties, which had gone undeveloped for a decade.

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The Rev. Mike Wilson said the church would bring thousands of people to Cypress each week and would share with residents such needed facilities as meeting rooms, a youth center, a preschool and a parking structure for nearby businesses.

Plus, he said, a church-commissioned financial study showed the project would have a positive effect on the city treasury by drawing people who might also shop and eat in the city. Churches are exempt from paying property or sales taxes.

“It was a very educated risk” to buy the properties, Conley said. “The things that are happening now are way beyond what we ever imagined.”

Acosta said church officials knew their project would be an unusual fit in the redevelopment zone and were told as much by city staff.

She said that when the church went ahead and invested in land without getting entitlements, “that was clearly their choice.”

The matter is muddled enough that both sides show a June 1999 city letter as evidence to prove their point.

“To say it’s not frustrating wouldn’t be the truth,” Conley said. Buying “the property itself was the result of years of prayer and personal sacrifice.”

The council meets at 7 p.m. at Cypress City Hall, 5275 Orange Ave.