By Jenny Blaker
Sonoma Group life member
Late breaking news in the Petaluma case is that the first legal hurdle in the No Gas Here case against the Safeway Gas Station has been cleared. An official preliminary ruling favorable to the gas station opponents was issued on Oct.21, which included an injunction against demolition of the existing building on the site.
For more info on that case visit: https://www.opposepetalumasafewaygas.com/
Llano Road Gas Station Proposal
Individuals have been working to oppose this proposal since July, just after the proposal for a new gas station at Hwy 116/Stony Point Road had been withdrawn. By the time we heard about the 5300 Sebastopol Ave. site (Hwy 12/Llano Road), the proposal had already been approved by the Sonoma County Design Review Committee. As of late October, about 100 letters/emails have been submitted to the county opposing the project, plus about 12 letters from organizations, and over 800 petition signatures
been collected.
It is only recently that this proposal has come to the public’s attention, but it’s been in the works since 2013 and much has changed since then. There is an exponentially greater awareness of the climate crisis, and we are now living with the constant awareness of the threat of fire, which makes the idea of yet another gas station, with above ground fuel storage tanks to boot, next to the Joe Rodota trail, an idea from an era that has come and gone. What we need to do now is to prepare for and work toward a very different clean energy future.
The coalition opposing new gas stations had its inaugural in-person meeting on Oct. 23 at the Sebastopol Grange. This is the group that helped defeat the 116/Stony Point mega-station, and is now primarily opposing a proposed new gas station with carwash, RV storage and mini-mart, at 5300 Sebastopol Ave. between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, in the unincorporated area of Sonoma County.
Oct. 23 was the first time most of these individuals met around the table face-to-face, to come together to review where we’ve got to, and strategize as to next steps. It quickly became apparent that there are two main directions for the group: First, oppose this particular gas station proposal; second, look at a potential countywide moratorium on new gas stations until the county has had a chance to review and update its permitting policies for gas stations. This led to a discussion of strategies for a more sustainable approach to transportation in general.
The next meeting is being planned for January 15.
In the meantime, take action!
Send in a letter to the Press Democrat! Email: letters@pressdemocrat.com
And send letters to the County: Send letters/emails to:
County staff: Daniel Hoffman dhoffman@migcom.com Kyreen Gonzalez Kyreen.Gonzalez@sonoma-county.org
Planning Commissioners (D-5): Pamela Davis p.davis479@gmail.com John Lowry johnlowryca@gmail.com
Lynda Hopkins (supervisor, D-5) lynda.hopkins@sonoma-county.org
For further information and to be added to mailing lists etc. please contact Woody Hastings, woodyhastings@gmail.com