Cypress Panel Chooses Costco Over Church

The Cypress Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously Monday to accept a proposal that would put a Costco store on a parcel near the Los Alamitos Race Track instead of the large church favored by the land’s owners.

“This was part of the process,” City Councilman and agency member Tim Keenan said after the vote. “Our hands were tied.”

But the Rev. Mike Wilson, a pastor at Cottonwood Christian Center, had a different reaction.

“We feel it’s been unfair,” he said in anticipation of Monday’s decision.

“We’ve been negotiating with them for months and we don’t feel they’re being honorable.”

About 200 Cottonwood members attended the Monday night meeting, many of them speaking forcefully in favor of the church.

The church bought the 18-acre property at Walker Street and Katella Avenue in 1999 in hopes of moving from its current 2.4-acre site in Los Alamitos.

According to Keenan, the city is trying to work out a land swap that would allow both the Costco and the church to be built.

“We’re negotiating and we think it can be resolved in the next few months,” he said.