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Published on 06/08/1998 All articles from this issue

Council votes to shut down gas station

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue

Town Crier Staff Writer

More than 50 residents and interested folks packed city hall, sitting on the center-aisle floor, lining all the walls, spilling out into the foyer and entry area.

After hearing emotional presentations both for and against a gas station continuing on a busy corner in south Los Altos, the city council said no.

In a 5-0 vote June 9, the council denied the appeal from the owners of the Gas 'N' Save station to continue operating with their nonconforming use permit. The station has been on the corner of Fremont Avenue and Grant Road for 32 years. The permit expired in 1994.

"Would we approve a gas station there now?" asked Los Altos Councilman Francis La Poll. "No. It's not appropriate to put that nuisance in that neighborhood."

The council has given the station 30 days to close its doors.

The county approved the station in March 1966, shortly before the property was annexed into the city of Los Altos, said senior planner Jim Mackenzie and interim city manager William Zaner.

The zoning in Los Altos at that time for that corner was residential, and the station was given an eight-year permit for nonconforming commercial use. Through various negotiations during the years, the station was allowed to remain.

In 1979 the city bought the land for Marymeade Park, and part of the deal was to allow the station to remain for another 15 years. In 1987 the city updated its general plan and zoned the land for public and community facilities.

Estate Drive, behind the gas station, was developed in 1987 and residents said they bought their homes with the expectation that the station would close when its permit expired in 1994. But it didn't.

Nobody objected or noted the expiration until last fall when the land was sold and the station was leased to a new owner.

Then residents of Estate Drive brought it to the city's attention, they said.

Rick Ronald of San Francisco, a partner of the new owners of the property, said they closed escrow quickly and did not call Los Altos about the use permit.

"When we move quickly, sometimes we don't check out all the details. We bought with the assumption that it would continue to be a gas station," he told the council.

The day escrow closed, Phuong Le signed a 20-year lease for the gas station, Ronald said. And she's "on the hook" for the rent, "whether or not it's a gas station," Ronald said.

"I sold my small business and bought this station," a weeping Le told the council. "Now my whole family depends on income from my gas station," she said.

Residents on neighboring Estate Drive have been complaining of noise, fumes and traffic and presented a petition with 32 signatures, all opposed to the station, to council.

An equal and opposite out-pouring came from area residents who don't want the station to close. They cited convenience, low prices and good service from a family-run business.

Cecily Talbert, the station's attorney, presented the council with petitions signed by 850 station customers, half of whom live in Los Altos, all of whom want the station to stay open.