Council approves conditional permit for gas station at 922 S. Broadway despite resident concerns

The La Porte City Council voted to approve a special conditional use permit (SCUP 2025-0024) to allow a gasoline station with a convenience store at 922 South Broadway, a 0.3-acre property that staff said had been abandoned since Feb. 15, 2024.

A staff member said the site housed a gas station since about 1977 but became a nonconforming use under a 2022 code change and had been inactive for more than 18 months, triggering the SCUP requirement. "As of this date, the use was considered nonconforming due to that requirement...this gas station ceased operations on or about 02/15/2024, and there is currently no gas station on that property," the staff member said.

Residents and councilmembers raised concerns about additional convenience stores near schools and about prior site conditions. Public commenter Daryl Herron, who gave his address as 2331 Dwayne Drive, told the council he supported reusing the site and noted, "If I'm not mistaken, the tanks are already in the ground...using this for its original intended purpose might go a little bit in occupying another empty building running up and down Broadway." Several councilmembers said they were torn between preventing more neighborhood impacts and avoiding another long-vacant building; one noted enforcement of SCUP conditions had been uneven in the past. After discussion the council adopted Ordinance 2025-5000 granting the SCUP by majority vote.