IRVINE : City Rejects Plans for Gas Station, Carwash

After more than four hours of debate stretching past midnight, the City Council early Wednesday morning overturned Planning Commission approval for a combination carwash, gas station and lube shop near a residential neighborhood.

It has been an eight-month battle for residents of the nearby San Joaquin Village area who filled the council chambers Tuesday night. Residents argued that the development proposed for Culver and Michelson drives is too ambitious for the 1.7-acre lot. They warned council members that it would create traffic hazards and bring increased noise into their neighborhoods.

There is currently a closed gas station at the site.

The City Council action marks the second time this project has been turned down by council members after previous approval from the Planning Commission. The council first denied a conditional-use permit for the business in September. But developer J.M. Burnstine Co. of Lake Elsinore brought a revised plan back to the Planning Commission, which again approved the project in January.

Council members are concerned that the company had not received prior approval for the project from the Irvine Co., which has deed restrictions on the property. Mayor Michael Ward cast the only vote in favor of the project, on the condition that the developers delay construction of the lube shop while considering eliminating it from the proposal.

Councilman Barry J. Hammond abstained from voting because he works for a firm associated with the gas station industry.

Charles Gardner, chairman of a neighborhood group formed to fight the development, said he expects the developer to try again.

“We know it’s a commercial site,” Gardner said, “but we want them to come up with something that’s not so invasive to the community.”