In November 2024, Cypress voters approved Measure S by a 63.6% margin, raising the cap on residential units that could be built on land surrounding the Los Alamitos Race Course from 1,250 to 1,926. The race track itself is not going anywhere. The 134 acres around it are what's in play.

The city released its draft Environmental Impact Report on March 16, 2026. The project being analyzed — "Specific Plan 3.0 Buildout," formally the Cypress Town Center and Commons Specific Plan 3.0 — proposes 1,791 residential units and 440,000 square feet of non-residential space on that surrounding land at 4961 Katella Avenue. The public has until April 30 at 5:00 p.m. to submit comments. No community meeting on the draft EIR has been publicly scheduled or held by the city.

The traffic math does not work out

Orange County's vehicle miles traveled significance threshold is 13.21 VMT per capita — that's the line a project has to stay under to avoid a formal traffic finding. The race course project, at full buildout in 2050, is projected at 14.94 VMT per capita. That's 11.6% over the threshold.

The DEIR identifies mitigation measures: pedestrian improvements, bike network upgrades, transit incentives. After those mitigations, the projected VMT is still 10.4% over the threshold. The document formally classifies the traffic impact as "significant and unavoidable." The project does not qualify for the transit area exemption because local bus service does not meet the frequency requirement.

To be precise about what that means: the significance threshold is itself set at 15% below the regional average. The project's VMT exceeds the threshold by more than a rounding error, and the consultants say there is no feasible fix.

Voters said yes before the EIR was done

Worth noting, not as a legal complaint but as a factual sequence: Cypress voters approved Measure S on November 5, 2024. The Notice of Preparation for the environmental review was not issued until April 4, 2025 — five months later. That is standard CEQA process; environmental review follows voter authorization, not the other way around. But it does mean voters weighed in before knowing what the city's own consultants, LSA Associates, would find about traffic.

Now they know.

A lower-density alternative — and a state housing law catch

The DEIR presents a Reduced Development Alternative at 1,253 units and roughly 308,000 square feet of commercial space. That number is almost identical to the 1,250-unit cap that existed before Measure S. In other words, the reduced option essentially returns to where Cypress was before voters approved the ballot measure.

There is a catch. If the City Council approves the lower unit count, state housing law may require Cypress to zone those displaced units somewhere else. The city's Housing Element already identifies Lincoln Avenue as a corridor for 1,643 units. That's where the overflow would likely go.

There is also the matter of the Yamaha campus. Yamaha Motor Corporation is relocating its U.S. headquarters from its 25-acre property on Katella Avenue to Georgia by end of 2028. That site is being vacated and will presumably be sold. Whether it could absorb some housing units — and relieve pressure on the race course parcel — has not been publicly addressed by the city.

How to comment

Comments on the draft EIR (SCH No. 2025040377) are due April 30, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Send written comments to Alicia Velasco, Planning Director, City of Cypress, at avelasco@cypressca.org. The full City Council can also be reached at citycouncil@cypressca.org.

The comment period is the public's formal opportunity to put concerns on the record. Anything not raised during the comment period is harder to raise later, including in any legal challenge.

The City Council has not voted on the project yet. That vote comes after the comment period closes, comments are responded to, and a final EIR is certified. What happens between now and then depends in part on how many residents show up in writing before the April 30 deadline.