APC recommends UZO amendment to limit and set new standards for gas stations, including decommissioning and one-year fee waiver for three existing sites

The Area Plan Commission recommended approval of an amendment to the Unified Zoning Ordinance (UZO) that would tighten where and how gasoline service stations, fueling centers, truck stops and similar uses may be sited and built.

Amanda Esposito, APC assistant director, told the commission the amendment responds to Lafayette City Council resolution 2025-05 seeking action on what staff described as the "rapid proliferation and attendant oversaturation of gas stations" in the city. Esposito said the amendment would restrict gas stations allowed by right to NB, GB and HB zones (removing NBU and CB), increase canopy setback from the right of way from 10 feet to 30 feet, add separation requirements between fueling centers and between stations and residentially-zoned or -used properties, and include new building and materials standards. She said the amendment would also add a decommissioning plan requirement—placed in chapter 5 of the UZO—that must be approved by the administrative officer and recorded prior to issuance of an improvement location permit and that requirement cannot be varied.

Esposito said the change would create several legally nonconforming gas stations and specifically identified three stations currently in CB and NBU zones that would become legally nonconforming under the amendment; the city plans to notify those businesses. The ordinance committee recommended the city-proposed provision to waive the $500 rezone fee for any of those three businesses that seek a rezoning to become conforming; the commission amended that recommendation so any waived-fee application would be accepted for one year from the amendment’s final passage. Esposito described the decommissioning plan requirement as new for fueling centers and related uses.

Jackie Chosnick, Lafayette city attorney, asked the commission to support the ordinance on behalf of Mayor Tony Roswarski and the city; "I would ask that you support the ordinance," she said. Commissioners discussed how many stations would become nonconforming, the limits of variances for architectural standards, and whether a one-year waiver period was reasonable; after discussion a motion to waive the $500 fee for a one-year period passed and the commission cast a unanimous ballot recommending approval of the ordinance amendment. The APC staff packet will be sent to Lafayette and other local jurisdictions so each may consider adopting the amendment locally.