Moratorium on New Gas Stations

As the cost of batteries drops and electricity becomes the primary transportation fuel, gas stations will become vacant; converting vacant gas stations to other land uses is costly. They’re sources of local air pollution and groundwater pollution. (Remediation costs vary dramatically from $25,000 to over $1,000,000 depending on the circumstances of the site). A short video on The Urbanist has interesting statistics about stations as a business.

The City of Petaluma – due to public activism against a proposed Safeway gas station development – recently imposed a moratorium on the approval of applications for new gas station uses. In March 2021 the city prohibited new fossil fuel stations and the addition of pumps to current stations in all zones. Four other Bay area cities have done this; Los Angeles and other cities are considering it.