Bid for Card Club at Track Hits Obstacle : Gambling: Council refuses to put issue to Cypress voters, decides on public hearings.

CYPRESS —  A proposal to build a card club at the Los Alamitos Race Course hit its first roadblock Monday night when the City Council refused to put the issue before Cypress voters.

In a 5-0 vote, the council decided instead to hold a series of public hearings on the issue before deciding whether to call a special election.

“It is important to get all these issues resolved so residents know what they are voting on,” said, Councilman Walter K. Bowman, who made the motion to postpone a vote.

On Monday, race course owner Lloyd Arnold asked the council to call a special election in June to allow voters to decide if they want the card parlor in Cypress. Under state law, the proposal must be approved by residents before gambling can begin.

Arnold presented the plan as a way to fix the city’s dwindling budget, vowing to deposit up to $12 million in city coffers every year. In addition to the casino, he promised to build a theater and banquet facilities and to give residents first crack at the estimated 2,500 jobs the gambling house would generate.

“We think it is one of the ways we can really help the city of Cypress,” he said.

In 1991, Arnold, who along with a Sacramento businessman bought the race course in 1989 from financially troubled Hollywood Park, announced plans to put a 24-hour gambling parlor on 15 acres next to the course.

At the time, word of the informal proposal filtered out and caused shock waves in some parts of the city. Some residents pleaded with the council not to allow more gambling in Cypress, saying it would bring crime and other problems to their peaceful bedroom community.

Following the outcry, the card club proposal dropped out of sight, until this week. This was the first time Arnold has taken the official steps needed to make the club a reality.

On Monday, resident Bernice Place echoed previous concerns.

“This is being put into an area of a lot of churches and at least five schools,” she said. “I am very much against it.”

Arnold can still get the issue before the voters by gathering signatures and petitioning the council. The council also can put it on the ballot after the public hearings.

If it is approved by voters, the Los Alamitos Race Course casino would be the only legalized card club in the county. A similar plan proposed several years ago in Stanton failed to win support.