DANA POINT : Plans for Gas Station, Mini Mart Rejected

Bowing to the concerns of residents from two cities, the Planning Commission has turned down plans for a gas station and mini mart.

Nearly all of the 29 people who spoke at an emotionally charged meeting Tuesday were from Laguna Niguel. However, planning commissioners called the gas station proposal a community issue and turned down the project on a 3-2 vote.

Although the station received a favorable report from the city staff, Commissioners Lynn Dawson, Bob Montgomery and Robert Nichols cited concerns over traffic, noise and pollution.

The gas station would have been built at Camino Del Avion and Niguel Road, across the street from Laguna Niguel. The property is owned by O’Hill Partners of Newport Beach.

Two commissioners expressed concern because in an earlier hearing the developer had said the station would be occupied by the Shell Oil Co. However, at the Tuesday meeting, representatives of the developer acknowledged that the oil firm had not signed a lease.

However, at least one commissioner who voted in favor of the project said the commitment of a prospective tenant was irrelevant to approval of the gas station.

“They’re not going to build the station if they don’t have a tenant,” said Planning Commissioner Carlos Olvera, who supported the plans, along with Commissioner Jim Hyde.

“I think people mostly didn’t want a gas station in their back yard,” Olvera said. “However, if I was to apply their logic and rationale broadly, there would never be another gas station in Orange County.”