Ojai planning staff and commissioners weigh zone change, CUP as gas station seeks to add alcohol sales

Ojai Planning Commission members reviewed a concept plan on June 18 for a zone change that would reclassify the property at 1124 Maricopa Highway from Business Professional (BP) to C1 (commercial) so an existing gas station and a convenience store could be made conforming and the site could seek to sell beer and wine. No formal action was taken; the meeting was a conceptual review and staff and the applicant were seeking comments.

The matter reached the commission because the convenience store was added to the property without a permit after the gas station’s conditional use permit (CUP) was granted in 1996, staff said. Under the Ojai Municipal Code the BP zone does not permit service stations or standalone convenience stores, while the C1 zone allows convenience stores and permits alcohol sales (subject to a CUP or licensing requirements). Lucas, planning staff, told commissioners, “no decision is being made tonight. It's a conceptual review,” and outlined two main routes: a legislative zone change to make the existing uses conforming or a discretionary conditional use permit to expand or amend the existing approvals.

Why it matters: the parcel sits between medical offices and a Caltrans storage yard, is across the street from a shopping center that includes an off‑site alcohol retailer, and is approximately 748 feet from Matila Junior High School, staff noted. The property’s proximity to other alcohol retailers and to a school and residences means state licensing rules administered by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) could affect whether a new retail…