DANA POINT : Gas Station OK Gives Residents Heartburn

To the dismay of most of the overflow crowd of more than 200 people at City Hall this week, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the installation of a controversial 12-pump gas station at the corner of Niguel Road and Camino del Avion.

The approval overturned an August vote by the city’s Planning Commission. Since that time, the issue has generated a tremendous outpouring of cards and letters to City Hall, mainly from residents who argued that the gas station would generate undesirable traffic and pollution.

“This has created an unbelievable emotional response,” City Councilman Mike Eggers said. “You would think we were considering an oil refinery instead of a service station.”

But Dr. Ernest Hayward of Laguna Niguel, one of the organizers of those fighting the gas station, said the issue also revolved around the developer’s methods.

“It’s not just the gas station,” he said. “This is perceived to be a developer’s intention to put something in a neighborhood where it’s not wanted. This promises to be largest gas station in Dana Point. What got people mad was (that the developer) didn’t notify anybody of this proposal until after the fact.”

Officials of the developer, Newport Beach-based O’Hill Properties, deny that. The idea of the station was born out of comments from people in the area who said they needed a gas station in the area, he said.

“When we were in the process of developing Monarch Beach Plaza (just across the street), people kept asking us to put in a service station,” said Joe Garrett, the project manager. “Enough people seemed interested, and we had a commercially zoned piece of property, so we proceeded.”

The original idea for a gas station with a mini-mart and carwash caused an uproar, however. The stir did not die down when the developer backed off of the mini-mart and carwash portions of the project.

Standing-room-only audiences greeted city planning commissioners at each of the project’s public hearings. People trooped up to the podium to rail against traffic, lighting, noise and pollution problems they said the station would cause.

“The people got organized--you’ve got to hand it to them,” said Commissioner Carlos Olvera.

“But the arguments for denial of the project, in my opinion, were very, very weak.”

In the end, the council agreed. “I, personally, don’t have a problem with the proposal,” Eggers said.

Controversial Call: City Council approves 12-pump gas station