Update / Follow-up on the news

The City Council has given final approval for the closure of Orange County’s last functioning drive-in movie theater and construction of a large retail center on the property.

Construction could begin within months on the 25-acre Hi-Way 39 property at Beach Boulevard and Trask Avenue. Plans call for a 240,000-square-foot retail center anchored by a Wal-Mart store, with a fast-food restaurant and corner gas station.

Councilwoman Margaret Shillington said she objected to the gas station but voted for the project anyway.

“I thought we should have had a nice restaurant there, but I support the Wal-Mart,” she said.

Nearly all of the residents who spoke at the public hearing supported the plan.

“This is a long time coming,” Stan Hirsch said. “Wal-Mart will bring a lot of money into the city.”

The retail center is expected to generate $500,000 a year in tax revenue.

The strongest objections were not about the development itself but the 80-foot sign that will be erected.

“That’s equal to six stories,” resident Ed Ewin said. “And it will be lit up like a Christmas tree.”

In recent years, drive-ins in La Habra, Fullerton and Orange have closed to make way for more lucrative retail projects, leaving Hi-Way 39 as the last such theater in Orange County.

The Wal-Mart, which will be the county’s eighth, is expected to open in time for the Christmas shopping season.