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Langley council adopts six‑month moratorium on new service‑station permits after strong neighborhood opposition
Summary
The Langley City Council voted unanimously to impose a six‑month interim moratorium on accepting or approving applications for new service stations to allow staff time to draft site‑specific design standards required by state law, after multiple residents raised health, safety and environmental concerns about a proposed station on Cascade Avenue.
Langley’s City Council voted unanimously on May 18 to adopt a six‑month interim moratorium on the acceptance, processing and approval of applications for new service stations, a measure council said is intended to buy time for staff to draft design standards specific to service stations and to ensure compliance with Washington state law.
Community Planning Director Meredith Penny told council the moratorium is prompted by a recent preapplication inquiry and the city’s current lack of design regulations specific to service stations. “A moratorium would provide the necessary time for the development of updated design regulations that are specific to service stations and that comply with house bill 12 93,” Penny said, referencing the state requirement for clear, objective exterior‑design rules.
The decision followed more than an hour of council questions about zoning, environmental review and permit conditions and an extended public‑comment period in which residents living near the proposed site urged the city to block the use. Neighbor Rebecca Birdsong, who said she lives next door to the planned lot, cited health and safety concerns and recent research: “Medical research from this year, February, links residential proximity to a gas station with an elevated risk of childhood leukemia,” she said, adding that risk is highest within 100 meters.
Other speakers described liquefaction and bluff‑stability concerns, potential groundwater pollution, noise and light impacts, and the lack of late‑night transit that would concentrate day‑long parking demands. Council members pressed staff on the authority to impose conditions — including bonds or annual tank testing — and whether zoning could ban service stations outright; Penny said such policy questions would require legal review and that the hearing examiner makes final permit decisions after staff and agency review.
Mayor Kennedy Horstman closed discussion by calling the vote; councilors voiced assent and the motion passed without recorded dissent. Councilors said the moratorium can be renewed for additional six‑month periods if needed while staff develops design standards and coordinates with state agencies for technical review.
The moratorium does not itself prohibit demolition work (a demolition permit may still be required), and staff said applicants would still need to submit geotechnical, SEPA and traffic analyses when a formal application is filed. Staff indicated the council will revisit related code changes and implementation procedures before accepting new service‑station applications.
