ARCO Trees Will Be Cut; Station Will Be Cited?

In a follow-up to her weblog post about a San Jose permit request to cut down trees from a local gas station, WG resident Katy Dickinson reports that the trees have lost the battle.

With a twist: Although the trees will be cut down so the ARCO Station on Alma can install a federally-required vapor recovery system, the station may still be cited for illegal lighting and late-night operations:

It seemed clear that they were going to approve the request simply because of the “federal rules require us to let the gas station install a vapor recovery system by April 1″ excuse, and they did. The trees lost out to a masonry wall, a reference to a federal requirement and a promise to plant replacements – there wasn’t even anyone from the gas station there to answer questions.

It turns out that the bright canopy lights are illegal and must be removed, and that there is a chance that the graffiti and tagging will be cleaned up. The planning dept was surprised that the station was open all night (is it? The lights seem to be left on all night…). …

The summary is that the three old trees will be cut down and replaced with much smaller trees; however, some of the problems of the gas station may diminish because we called attention to them during the hearing process.

Katy reports the City has already followed up with her, and has opened a case code to investigate illegal spotlights and improper graffiti removal procedures.