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Santa Rosa council overturns Planning Commission, approves Elm Tree Station gas station project
Summary
After hours of public testimony and a split Planning Commission recommendation, the City Council voted 5–2 to accept an appeal and approve a conditional use permit and CEQA addendum for the Elm Tree Station mixed-use project at 874 North Wright Road.
The Santa Rosa City Council voted 5–2 on Aug. 26 to accept an appeal of the Planning Commission’s denial and approve a conditional use permit and CEQA addendum for the Elm Tree Station project at 874 North Wright Road, a mixed-use proposal that includes a fueling facility, two small retail spaces and one residential unit.
Council members who voted to approve the appeal said they were honoring the city’s earlier decision to allow applications that were deemed complete before the city’s 2022 ban on new gas stations to continue through the review process. Opponents — including nearby residents, health professionals and environmental groups — told council that locating a fuel-dispensing facility adjacent to the Joe Rodota Trail and near residences and a school posed health, safety and climate risks.
The project site is near the western Santa Rosa boundary, adjacent to the Joe Rodota Trail and close to Highway 12. Planning staff told the commission and council that the application had been deemed complete on Dec. 17, 2021 and that, under the city ordinance adopted in Sept. 2022, applications that were complete before the ordinance’s effective date could…
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