CYPRESS, Calif. -- An Orange County mega-church is being forced to sell 18 vacant acres to make way for a Costco store, according to the Associated Press.
Cypress officials are using the city's eminent domain power to end a two-year battle for the Cottonwood Christian Center property. The move is an effort to boost the city's tax base, city officials said. Churches don't pay taxes.
"Our reasons are to protect the city's vision for Cypress - the creation of jobs and revenue," said David Belmer, the city's economic-development director.
The city has offered the church $14.5 million for the land and the option to buy 17 nearby acres for an undisclosed sum. Cottonwood officials claim the church property is more valuable and the land offered by the city is less desirable.
Cottonwood purchased the property in 1999 for $14 million, planning to build a $50 million worship center on the property's corner lot. The church sued the city early this year after the city refused to consider its construction permit application, filed in 1999.
Cottonwood's suit invoked the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which restricts cities from limiting church development, according to the AP. The suit is still pending.
