Norwalk

The City Council has unanimously approved a zoning change that will permit construction of an office and shopping center complex on the site of vacant Gettysburg School.

The action, effective Feb. 27, will change the zoning from single-family residential to commercial office for the 5 1/2-acre campus at 12324 Gettysburg Ave. Plans call for building a 70,000-square-foot office, shopping center and restaurant complex on the site of the former Little Lake district school, said Don Rouly, planning director.

The land is being leased from the district by the Downey Savings and Loan Assn. Construction will begin within four months and the complex is expected to open during the first quarter of 1986, said Ron Holley, vice president of real estate for Downey Savings and Loan.

The city Redevelopment Agency has hired Michael J. Wagner of Cerritos as its first director.

Wagner, 36, was selected from more than 40 applicants, officials said. He holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from Cal State Northridge and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Cal State Fresno.

Wagner formerly was president of Michael J. Wagner & Associates in Cerritos, has done redevelopment work for private companies and municipalities and is a former Fresno city planner. He will earn $43,000 a year in his new job, which began Wednesday.