Redwood Oil has appealed a Marin County Planning Commission decision that would restrict its controversial Point Reyes Station gas station renovation plan. The regional company argues that the proposal would provide badly needed housing, decrease the scope of commercial activity at the site and address falling revenue from the shift to electric cars.
“The project will be a positive addition to the Point Reyes Station community, providing five new units of desperately needed housing and enhancing the existing gas station and convenience store via a modest alteration to the existing building,” states the appeal, filed on April 17.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to hear the appeal in July.
Opponents of the project appealed an earlier decision by a county zoning administrator to approve the project. Led by the Point Reyes Station Village Association, they maintained that an expansion of the cramped gas station kiosk into a full-scale convenience store would draw more traffic to the busy intersections of Highway 1 with A Street and Mesa Road.
But the company’s appeal emphasizes that the project would result in a 50 percent reduction in commercial space because it would eliminate two other businesses operating at the site—Blue Waters Kayaking and Ink Paper Plate.
Redwood Oil’s appeal includes one significant concession to the project’s opponents: dropping plans to sell commercial propane from a 1,000-gallon tank next to A Street.
A deputy zoning administrator approved the project in February, finding it met zoning requirements and would help the county meet ambitious state-mandated targets for new housing. The proposed renovation would create two three-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments, including one unit of affordable housing.
After hearing the appeal from the village association, the Planning Commission approved the project last month but imposed several conditions.
Responding to the neighbors’ concerns, planning commissioners required Redwood Oil to reduce the proposed 1,900-square-foot mini mart by more than 50 percent and eliminate the propane tank. They also required the company to retain or replace the building’s front porch, agreeing with residents who argued that it was an important historical architectural feature.
Although the company has dropped its plan for selling propane, it requested permission to install the tank anyway for the exclusive purpose of fueling a backup generator during power outages. It also argued that there was no basis for declaring the porch a historic feature.
“It has been widely accepted that the existing porch at the property is not original and has been modified over the years,” the appeal states.
In fact, Redwood Oil argues, the porch has attracted after-hours loiterers and become a nuisance to the building’s tenants and neighbors. Enclosing it would create space for the convenience store and generate income needed to combat a sharp decline in gas revenues due to the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. The company says fuel sales at the station fell by 17 percent between 2016 and 2023.
The village association’s appeal cited a provision of the county’s Local Coastal Program that limits the size of gas station convenience stores to no more than 15 percent of the square footage of the building that houses them. That rule would restrict the mini mart to no more than 840 square feet.
Yet recent changes to state law allow local officials more flexibility to approve housing projects that include affordable housing units, and county staff told the commissioners they had the discretion to approve the larger store. Redwood Oil’s appeal argues that state law in fact requires the county to approve the increase, provided it does not impede coastal access or threaten coastal resources.
“Even in the coastal zone, community character cannot be used as the basis to deny or reduce the size of a housing project or a mixed-use project,” the appeal states.
Redwood Oil did not address environmental concerns raised by opponents who argue that it is unsafe to locate housing so close to gas tanks. Steve Antonaros, president of the village association, said the group planned to raise that issue when supervisors hear the appeal this summer.
Village association members say they support building more housing in town but believe the gas station proposal needs significant architectural modifications before moving forward—particularly to preserve the porch.
“We would welcome any sort of compromise and collaboration with the owner, but we’re also seeking legal advice,” Mr. Antonaros said.