Oppose proposed gas station at Hwy 116/Stony Point Road

“As we face the climate crisis, Sonoma County has taken a lead in trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the use of clean energy.  Gas stations are decreasing and sales of electric cars are soaring.  Who will pay for and clean up the mess when the gas station becomes obsolete?

What would be the cumulative, long-term and perhaps growth-inducing impacts of building a gas station, convenience store and car wash at this site?”

Oppose proposed gas station at Hwy 116/Stony Point Road

Here is an updated and simplified list of requests for action, and contacts, together with a list of talking points.

Please circulate to your lists! Thank you so much.

To summarize, the suggestions for action (with more details below) are:

1.  Sign up to be informed of upcoming public hearings.

2. Attend the Design Review meeting if you can, when it comes up.  It will be on a 1st or 3rd Weds. at 1:30 pm.  We do not know when it will be, and when it comes up there could be only 3 days’ notice.

3. Meanwhile, write to the list of representatives and staff outlined below.

Oppose the proposal to build a 16-pump ARCO gas station with 4 diesel pumps, a 3,764 square foot 24/7 (“AM/PM”) convenience store and a drive thru’ car wash on a 2.87 acre parcel at 7180 Hwy 116/Stony Point Road, in a rural unincorporated area of Sonoma County between Cotati and Sebastopol.

Several large gas station projects in Sonoma County are drawing protests. Going backwards not forward with climate change.

The proposal was presented at a preliminary Design Review Committee public hearing on Feb. 6, 2019, where it was turned down and sent back to the drawing board as being out of place on a scenic corridor, with a list of requests for changes. Design Review Committee is only supposed to comment on design, architecture, color etc. The proposers are working on a redesign and it could come back at any time (from 2 weeks to 10 months) initially for another preliminary Design Review, then if approved to the Board of Zoning Adjustments (Planning Agency) for a Use permit. 

Requests/suggestions for Action:

·         Sign up for notifications of meetings, information and updates on this project. Contact: Kyreen.Gonzalez@sonoma-county.org

·         Show up at the meeting when this is next on the agenda (could be 2 weeks to 10 months?!) Design Review Committee meetings are held on 1st & 3rd Wednesdays at 1:30 pm.

·         Submit comments at any time from now on, including to the Design Review Committee, Planning Agency (can send via Arielle.Kohn@sonoma-county.org), Board of Supervisors, to Tennis Wick, Director of Planning, to Daniel Hoffman, Assistant Planner for the project, and to Kyreen Gonzalez, Planning Project Review Secretary.

Possible talking points include:

Site of proposed mega gas station & carwash.

There are already five gas stations within 2 miles, including four near Hwy 101 in Cotati, and two car washes within 2 miles. A 16-pump gas station is twice as big as any other rural gas station in the county, and bigger than every station in Rohnert Park except Costco.

Existing small, locally-owned businesses on the site e.g. Pond & Garden Nursery, CaliKind tie-dye clothing, The Satellite Guy, Martin’s Market & Deli, would be replaced by a giant out-of-county corporation

The land is zoned Limited Commercial.  The County General Plan states that “Limited commercial land is intended to accommodate retail sales and services for the daily self- sufficiency of local rural or urban neighborhoods or communities in keeping with their character.”  (Page LU-53).  This is just one of many conflicts with the General Plan.

Only neighbors within 300 ft have to be informed by the County. Neighbors further away in the surrounding rural area will also be impacted by increased traffic, traffic congestion, pollution from idling cars, noise, bright lights at night, etc.

This encroachment of urban-style development into the rural area between Cotati and Sebastopol is close to a Community Separator. Community Separators were approved by 81{5fc40a96f14c4a6aa4c2a32569b0a57dcc67c0b31eb04c341474283f11b6cdd2} of Sonoma County voters in November 2016, to protect land between the cities for 20 years. 

Water would come from a well on site. Sewage, wastewater and runoff would all be dealt with on site and have the potential to contaminate nearby creeks, tributaries to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a Wetland of International Significance.  Leaking Underground storage Tanks are

Wetlands next to proposed site.

ubiquitous in Sonoma County.  Even small amounts of pollution from gas stations are a threat to groundwater supplies and public health.

The site lies within an area designated as critical habitat for the endangered California tiger salamander.  Experts have criticized the biological evaluation as inadequate (e.g. surveys were done at the wrong time of year, on site only and not in adjacent areas as required, and correct protocols were not followed). Other studies e.g. on GHG emissions have also been criticized by experts.

As we face the climate crisis, Sonoma County has taken a lead in trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the use of clean energy.  Gas stations are decreasing and sales of electric cars are soaring.  Who will pay for and clean up the mess when the gas station becomes obsolete?

What would be the cumulative, long-term and perhaps growth-inducing impacts of building a gas station, convenience store and car wash at this site?