Lakewood : Longer Moratorium Asked

The Lakewood Planning Environment Commission has asked the City Council for a one-year extension of the moratorium on permits to develop the 33-acre Chevron Oil tank farm. The council will hold a public hearing on the request at its meeting Tuesday night.

The tank farm, in the northeast portion of the city at Downey Avenue and South Street, was declared surplus property by Chevron Oil in February, 1986. That same month, the council enacted the one-year moratorium, which expires Wednesday.

“The ordinance (moratorium) was passed to permit the city to study all possible future uses for that property,” city spokesman Don Waldie said.

The Planning Environment Commission has conducted two study sessions about the site but has not reached a decision on development standards that would protect surrounding neighborhoods, according to City Administrator Howard Chambers, who said that at least 40 developers are interested in the site.

Mayor Robert Wagner suggested that staff and council members consider developing senior citizen housing on the site. “I would suggest some kind of mixed use of the property, like residential and commercial,” Wagner said. “This is the last major piece of open land we have to develop. I think we should think this over carefully.”