Cypress : Mile-Long Buffer Wall Topic of Special Meeting

The question of whether to build a mile-long, permanent barrier between homes and industrial plants will be before the City Council members and residents during a special meeting tonight.

Already dividing the Mitsubishi and Panasonic properties from their residential neighbors is an earthen berm 8 feet high and 30 feet wide with some landscaping, said Robert Beardsley, Cypress public works director and city engineer.

The berm, already a third of a mile long, would be extended to a one-mile length when building begins on what now are strawberry fields between Valley View Street and Knott Street, Beardsley said.

But because some parts of the present barrier occasionally become deteriorated, council members will consider asking the companies to take out the dirt--at a cost of $50,000--and replace it with a wall, Beardsley said. The wall, to be covered by trees on both sides, would cost about $200,000, he said.

About 150 homes are near the berm, which was built to shield residents from the lights, noise and other disturbances from the industries, Beardsley said. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Cypress Community Center, at 5700 Orange Ave.