The Point Reyes Station Village Association wants an advocate to battle the proposed remodel of West Marin’s only gas station. It won’t be county supervisor Dennis Rodoni.
During a tense meeting last week, Mr. Rodoni informed the group that he plans to recuse himself from voting on one of the most controversial issues to roil the village in years: a renovation that would add five apartments and a large convenience store at the trickiest intersection in town.
Mr. Rodoni cited a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from voting on projects within 500 feet of their property. Mr. Rodoni and his relatives own a house on Third Street that lies 489 feet from the gas station.
That 11-foot overlap prompted County Counsel Brian Washington to advise Mr. Rodoni to step aside from voting on the issue when it comes before the Board of Supervisors in July.
“When you are an elected person, you have a higher standard that you have to meet, and there’s a good reason for it,” Mr. Rodoni said. “In this case, I have to recuse myself from this project.”
The supervisor’s declaration was met with surprise and disappointment from several village association members, who urged him to press the county counsel to reconsider.
“We’re in a situation where we have no representation from the one person who represents West Marin on something that affects West Marin and the town very seriously,” Point Reyes Station resident David Morris said. “It’s an unacceptable situation.”
He asked Mr. Rodoni whether he was willing to seek an exemption from the ethics law that outlines the 500-foot requirement. Mr. Rodoni replied that exemptions are rarely granted and that seeking one would require mounting an argument that was unlikely to win.
“The other supervisors are your representatives and are going to represent you,” Mr. Rodoni said. “They do represent the whole county.”
Yet association members questioned whether the other supervisors had sufficient understanding of the village’s issues to provide robust advocacy on behalf of those who oppose the project.
“I don’t feel that we have an advocate,” Pamela Bridges said. She expressed concern that Mr. Rodoni might have to recuse himself from other future projects—with serious implications for the town. “I’m thinking that now is the time to ask for an exemption,” she said.
Redwood Oil, which owns gas stations across northern California, argues that the Point Reyes Station renovation would provide both badly needed housing for the county and badly needed income for the station, where revenues have fallen 17 percent in recent years due to the rise of electric cars.
A deputy zoning administrator approved the project in February, finding that it complied with state laws intended to address California’s housing crisis and would help meet the county’s housing targets.
But the village association appealed, arguing that the project posed health concerns and would draw more traffic to the busy intersections of Highway 1 with A Street and Mesa Road. The group also objected to the planned removal of the building’s front porch, which they regard as a crucial historical feature, and the expansion of the convenience store to 1,900 square feet.
After the Marin County Planning Commission attached several conditions to the project intended to meet the association’s concerns, Redwood Oil appealed to the Board of Supervisors, which is expected to rule on the appeal in late July.
The project would not change the footprint of the gas station but would enclose the front porch to make space for a full-scale convenience store to replace the station’s cramped, 200-square-foot kiosk. The renovated space would include two three-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments, including one affordable unit. The current tenants, Blue Waters Kayaking and Ink Paper Plate, would be forced to move.
During last Thursday’s meeting, Inverness Park resident Gordon Bennett recommended that Mr. Rodoni place his share of the Third Street property into a blind trust so he would not need to recuse himself.
“It may be too late for this particular controversial situation, but it appears to be a potential ongoing problem that could be permanently solved if there were a blind trust set up,” he said. “I wouldn’t want our local communities to be deprived of your representation on these issues.”
Mr. Rodoni said he wasn’t sure whether a partial owner of a property could place their share in a blind trust. And, he said, “I don’t consider that a very fair request, given that I’ve worked my whole life to earn what I have.”
Toward the end of the meeting, Mr. Morris again pressed him to seek an exemption. Mr. Rodoni did not give a direct response but said he might confer with the county counsel once more.
“I just wanted him to say yes or no, but I’m not getting a yes or no,” Mr. Morris said.
Although the meeting became heated, Steve Antonaros, the association’s president, later told the Light that he and other members of the leadership council do not disagree with Mr. Rodoni’s decision to step aside.
“It stirred the neighbors up, but its consequences may not be that bad,” Mr. Antonaros said. “Our case needs to be overwhelmingly clear and unbiased. His recusal would support that.”
The association has hired a lawyer to argue its case to the four other supervisors and will begin lobbying them individually. “It makes our case stronger if we bring it to each supervisor and educate them on the issue,” Mr. Antonaros said.
Mr. Rodoni owns 20 percent of the property at 155 Third Street, which has been in his family since the 1940s. Four other family members own the rest.
Mr. Antonaros, who is an architect, put together county assessor’s maps and calculated that the distance between Mr. Rodoni’s property and the gas station was 499 feet and 8 inches.
In an email sent to the Light this week, Mr. Rodoni said he has asked the county counsel’s office to confirm whether the distance from the house to the gas station is indeed 489 feet. He also said he would ask Mr. Washington whether he might be eligible for an exemption to the state’s conflict-of-interest rules.
“Fortunately for the community and the applicant, this appeal will be heard by four very knowledgeable supervisors who represent the entire county,” Mr. Rodoni said. “I have confidence that they will base their decision on the rules and policies in the Marin County codes.”