Category Archives: Beyond Fossil Fuels

Activists protest plans for gas pumps at new Rincon Valley 7-Eleven

Will Schmitt, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Santa Rosa Planning Commission will need to approve the company’s plans before any work on the project can occur and has not put 7-Eleven’s proposal on an agenda, said city planner Adam Ross.

7-Eleven’s plan to demolish one of its east Santa Rosa stores and several surrounding buildings to build a sleek new convenience store and add gas pumps has sparked opposition from activists who oppose new fossil fuel outlets in Sonoma County.

Texas-based 7-Eleven aims to replace the existing shop at Highway 12 and Middle Rincon Road with a new 24-hour convenience store and at least six gas pumps, according to an application filed with Santa Rosa planning officials.

Designs call for demolishing the store, a martial arts studio and at least one adjacent home, forcing longtime tenants to find another place to live.

To local climate activist Woody Hastings it doesn’t make sense to displace a family to make way for fuel pumps, noting that the Santa Rosa City Council weeks ago formally declared a climate crisis.

“If we’re going to extricate ourselves from the fossil world, we’ve got to start now,” said Hastings, who was leading about two dozen protesters outside the 7-Eleven on Monday. They held signs and chanted their opposition to the proposal.

7-Eleven in 2017 bought a chunk of land surrounding its store including an adjacent house occupied by a family. Company officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the redevelopment plans. 7-Eleven has more than 70,000 stores worldwide and 11 in the Santa Rosa area.

The company plans to hold another neighborhood meeting to “address concerns,” said Kim Barnett, director of national programs for Tait & Associates, a Rancho Cordova-based firm working with 7-Eleven on the development of the new store and gas station, in an email. She did not provide a date for the meeting.

Barnett described the Rincon Valley project as “a state of the art 7-Eleven” with “fresh foods,” featuring charging stations for electric vehicles and solar power. Though plans call for a car wash, Barnett said “there will be not be a car wash.”

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10693433-181/plans-for-new-east-santa

Favorable ruling for No Gas Here

The Petaluma Safeway gas station proposal is still in the courts. On Oct. 21 there was a final ruling in Sonoma County Superior Court that:
• Safeway must wait on all demolition and construction until the matter is fully settled by the court.
• Save Petaluma has a case and can move forward to hopefully get an Environmental Impact Report.

This is a favorable ruling and good news. The full ruling is available here.

After this ruling, Safeway filed a writ of petition, claiming the judge’s decision was wrong. Long story short, the judge gave Save Petaluma another month and set a date for Jan. 23 to go over the administrative items and set to a date for another hearing. Safeway continues to try and get the case thrown out.

For the latest check: https://www.nogashere.org/

Coalition persists against new gas station proposals in Sonoma County

Woody Hastings and Jenny Blaker, Sonoma Group

There are now at least three active new gas station proposals in Sonoma County. The Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations is asking Sierra Club Sonoma Group members to help flag newly emerging proposals as the mission is to oppose any new gas stations in the face of the climate crisis. Here is the rundown:

PETALUMA: Corner of Maria Drive & South McDowell Boulevard
The Petaluma Safeway gas station proposal is still in the courts. On Oct. 21 there was a final ruling in Sonoma County Superior Court that:
• Safeway must wait on all demolition and construction until the matter is fully settled by the court.
• Save Petaluma has a case and can move forward to hopefully get an Environmental Impact Report.

This is a favorable ruling and good news. The full ruling is available here.

After this ruling, Safeway filed a writ of petition, claiming the judge’s decision was wrong. Long story short, the judge gave Save Petaluma another month and set a date for Jan. 23 to go over the administrative items and set to a date for another hearing. Safeway continues to try and get the case thrown out.

For the latest check: https://www.nogashere.org/

UNINCORPORATED SONOMA COUNTY: 5300 Sebastopol Road (Highway 12 & Llano Road)
This proposal for a 12-pump gas station, car wash, mini mart, RV storage yard, with three large, above-ground fuel storage tanks is still slated to be on the agenda at a future Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting. Regularly scheduled meetings are on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 1 p.m. every month. Special meetings may also be calendared, but we have been assured of receiving 30 days’ prior notice regardless of the date, as there will be a CEQA hearing (which requires 30 days’ notice) concurrent with the BZA meeting.

The main thing needed right now are letters to the Press Democrat and other local papers. For the PD, email letters of no more than 200 words to letters@pressdemocrat.com Include your full name and home city for publication.

For other local papers—Bohemian, Gazette, Sonoma West Times & News, etc.—please visit their websites for instructions. Important note: we are purposely not providing a template letter. We have reason to believe that planning commissioners and others are discounting letters that appear to be from the same template. All you need to do is write a brief letter in your own words that says you are opposed to the gas station.

SANTA ROSA: Elm Tree Station874 N. Wright Rd.
The Coalition only recently learned of this proposal, thanks to Terri Moon. By the time this edition of the Needles hits the street, a public hearing on the proposal will have taken place on Dec. 12. The notice for that meeting describes the project as a “minor subdivision to create a park site and retail parcel for gasoline, electric charging station, and a neighborhood market.” The application was filed by Dhillon Mangal (File # – CC18-004).

Once again, we have a proposal for a new gas station in the Laguna, adjacent to the Joe Rodota Trail, in this case with a whopping 14 operational gas stations within five miles. This is due to the fact that the site is near the downtown core of Santa Rosa. Also of note in this case, the facility would be constructed on undisturbed land, increasing the urban footprint of the city for a purpose that runs counter to Santa Rosa’s climate action commitments.

The contact person at the city of Santa Rosa is Adam Ross, city planner, 707-543-4705 or aross@srcity.org. Additional information can also be obtained at the Planning & Economic Development Department at Santa Rosa City Hall, 100 Santa Rosa Ave., Room 3 during the following times:
• Mon, Tues, Thur: 8-4:30pm
• Weds: 10:30-4:30pm• Fri: 8-12pm
The staff report and attachments related to this project are available as of Dec. 12 at srcity.org.

Please send comments and questions to woodyhastings [at] gmail.com. The coalition will next meet on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the Sebastopol Grange from 6 to 8 p.m.

Gas station proposals: One down, two to go

Woody Hastings & Jenny BlakerSonoma Group members

In early May the Redwood Chapter leadership agreed unanimously to oppose the mega-gas station proposal at Gravenstein Highway (116) and Stony Point Road based on a long list of environmental and other concerns. On June 25, many Club members and other Sonoma County residents attended a public meeting on the project in Cotati and forcefully voiced their opposition. On July 8, the developers withdrew their application.

While we celebrate that victory, we remain concerned about the fate of the David v. Goliath struggle between local residents and Safeway over the recently permitted gas station in Petaluma, which is now in the courts.

Yet another gas station proposal, at Llano Road and Highway 12, is wending its way through the County’s permitting process. This one is in unincorporated Sonoma County, just east of Sebastopol, in the middle of the Laguna de Santa Rosa with gasoline fueling, carwash, and minimart, all on a well. The applicant has made no case that this project is necessary; because it is not necessary. There are 7 stations within a 5-mile radius of the project address, 5300 Sebastopol Road.

The new location is a rural area with historically agricultural and rural residential uses and the project is in conflict with countywide commitment to city-centered growth. There are significant concerns about traffic congestion and adjacency to the Joe Rodota trail. The project location is in a priority groundwater basin and underground fuel storage tanks are always at risk of leaking, and the site is within California tiger salamander critical habitat.

Continue reading Gas station proposals: One down, two to go

Great news! Applicant retracts proposal for new gas station

The gas station proposal at 116 and Stony Point Road has been withdrawn!

On to the next:

5300 Sebastopol Road (Highway 12 & Llano Road)
This proposal for a 12-pump gas station, car wash, mini mart, RV storage yard, with three large, above-ground fuel storage tanks is still slated to be on the agenda at a future Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting. Regularly scheduled meetings are on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 1 p.m. every month. Special meetings may also be calendared, but we have been assured of receiving 30 days’ prior notice regardless of the date, as there will be a CEQA hearing (which requires 30 days’ notice) concurrent with the BZA meeting.

Vallejo cement plant dies a slow, anguished death

Shoshana Hebshi, Redwood Chapter Communications Coordinator

After weeks of speculation, the contentious Orcem cement plant and deep-water terminal project slated for South Vallejo has been withdrawn as of Friday, May 24.

“We are celebrating all over Vallejo,” said Solano Group Chair Joe Feller, who has been an indefatigable force in rallying opposition to the project during the last two years.

Feller received a notice from the City of Vallejo that the project proposed by Vallejo Marine Terminal, LLC, had been withdrawn after an appeal of the city planning commission’s denial of the plan, known as the VMT-Orcem Project.

The City Council was set to hear the appeal at a May 30 meeting, and that meeting has been canceled.

VMT has been working since September 2013 on turning the former General Mills factory, also known as the Sperry Mill, in a working-class neighborhood along the Napa River into a “green” cement factory and deep-water terminal to ship materials in and out. Once the community got wind of the idea, understanding that the cement plant would contribute much air and noise pollution, introduce a huge amount of large truck traffic and degrade the neighborhood, there was a wave of opposition coming to city meetings to decry the project.

Solano Group got involved in 2017 and linked up with Fresh Air Vallejo in fighting the project. Feller helped educate the community and build a grassroots movement that put tremendous pressure on city officials and staff to reject VMT-Orcem.

The appeal came after the planning commission denied a major use permit in February 2017 citing concerns over environmental and quality-of-life impacts to residents. VMT was supposed to conduct a new Environmental Impact Report, after the first appeared to be highly flawed. Since then, VMT has failed to come back to the city with the updated EIR and other required documents and payments to keep the project going.

While the company was stalling, activists and organizers began to speculate that the project was dying.

“We finally got our answer and some very happy closure,” Feller said. “This project was wrong for the neighborhood, wrong for Vallejo and wrong for the planet. We need to think about how the city can transition into a carbon-neutral scenario as we move forward. More pollution, more dirty industry is not the answer.”

Petaluma city council votes for moratorium for future gas stations

On Monday, the Petaluma City Council voted unanimously to approve Item 4b, the Moratorium on Approval of Applications for New Gas Station Users as written. Safeway asked that specific wording excepting the Safeway Gas Station be approved and D’Lynda Fischer made a motion to amend, but the other council members did not support the amendment. The Moratorium only prohibits future gas stations.

Safeway strongarms Petaluma city council in gas station fight

Despite clear public opposition to a proposed Safeway gas station in east Petaluma, the city council on April 1 approved Safeway’s plan without requiring an environmental impact report. Opponents, including Sierra Club Sonoma Group, spoke out demanding the city require environmental review on this project, as it would have undisputed harmful effects on residents and schoolchildren in proximity to the gas station.

Not only are health concerns an issue, but in a time when lawmakers and leaders should be working hard to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change, adding a new gas station is going in the wrong direction. That in addition to there are already two other gas stations nearby, and the proposed site is adjacent to schools and playing fields. Yet even with all the information presented and its constituents pleading for it to do the right thing, the council succumbed to pressure from the corporation, which threatened to sue the government if it did not get its way.

Sierra Club and the grassroots group No Gas Here are not finished fighting this project, however, and other projects that pose this kind of human health and environmental threat to the community. We turn our attention to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which will need to issue a permit for the gas station. We will continue to monitor the process.

Petaluma Safeway Fuel station next to school

A new Safeway gas station in Petaluma is planned next to McDowell Elementary School which would expose children to exhaust fumes from idling cars and benzene in fuel vapor. Benzene is a carcinogen – it has been found in large amounts over 300 feet from gas stations, while this station will be only 60 feet from an on-site preschool.

Action: To support the local group fighting the station see the No Gas Here page on Facebook.