Cypress OKs Seizure of Church Land

In a standoff that has drawn national attention, Cypress officials voted late Tuesday to toss Cottonwood Christian Center off property where it plans to build a church, clearing the way for a Costco store.

Legal experts say the situation could be a test case for a federal law intended to protect churches from unfair zoning restrictions.

Tuesday’s City Council session drew emotional testimony from church members, religious leaders and land-use experts who pleaded with officials not to seize the 18-acre property by eminent domain in the name of redevelopment.

But council member Tim Keenan said after the unanimous vote, “We’ve been the object of a nationwide and, frankly, a worldwide propaganda campaign that can only be described as malicious. My conscience is clear.”

Hundreds of Cottonwood members came to the meeting in buses. They filled the council chamber and spilled onto the Civic Center lawn, where some sat or stood watching the proceedings on large TVs that the city set up for them. Some carried signs reading, “Please don’t take Cottonwood’s land” and “Thou shalt not covet God’s property.”

Among those addressing the council was Brenton Hall of Cypress, a church employee. “Cottonwood has changed my life,” he said. “I oppose you taking Cottonwood’s land to put a store there.”

Some proponents of the Costco project set up a small table on the sidewalk outside the Civic Center. Bill Wostenberg of Cypress Residents for Planned Commercial Development said, “Cottonwood just came in and bullied the city.... Now they’re saying everyone against Cottonwood is going to burn in hell.”

His group argues that Cypress is a small city that already has 32 churches. What it needs is tax revenue.

The 4,000-member church has filed a lawsuit against the city under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which prohibits any land-use regulation that is a “substantial burden” on the practice of religion.

“This type of case is an extreme example of abuse that the law was specifically adopted for,” said Jon Curtis, an attorney for Cottonwood.

City officials say they have a legal right to force a sale of the property to stimulate the local economy and generate sales-tax revenue. The property, now vacant, is at Walker Street and Katella Avenue, one of Cypress’ busiest intersections and an area that city officials say they have long envisioned as a bustling town center.

“This site is in the heart of our business park,” said David Belmer, the city’s community development director. “We see it as critical to the overall health of the project and, to a certain extent, the whole city.”

The city says it told Cottonwood officials months before the congregation bought the land in 1999 that it was in a redevelopment area targeted for commercial use. Church officials deny that.

Cottonwood’s lawsuit is one of more than 30 filed nationwide under the 2-year-old federal act. Dozens more are expected, legal experts say. Many of the lawsuits involve “megachurches” like Cottonwood that are too big for residential areas but do not generate sales-tax revenue.

While expressing sympathy for Cottonwood’s plight, many planners and land-use experts have said the law goes too far and may violate constitutional separation of church and state. Vivian Khan, an Oakland planning consultant, said earlier this month, “No one has an absolute right to use property the way they choose.” Cypress officials are confident the courts will either strike down the federal law or interpret it to stop short of blocking a city’s right to take land by eminent domain.

Meanwhile, the city is negotiating exclusively with Costco on the site. Belmer said that if Costco decides not to build a “big box” there, the city would offer it to another store.

The city’s eagerness to court the giant discount retailer highlights how dependent many California cities have become on big stores to generate tax revenue. Experts say the situation is an unintended consequence of Proposition 13, the landmark ballot measure that capped residential property-tax increases.

A Costco can generate more than $500,000 a year in revenue for a city. When Lancaster faced the prospect that its Costco might move out of town, it gave the chain prime parkland for a new store.

Cottonwood officials say Cypress’ cash flow is the wrong reason to force the church from its own property.

“This has nothing to do with public health or safety,” said Mel Markoff, a land planner for the church. “It is about revenue, and that is not a good enough reason to take the church’s property and hand it over to another owner.”