Sacramento City Council (again) denies Crocker Village gas station. Is 7-year saga over?
The Sacramento City Council Tuesday again rejected a special permit for a controversial Curtis Park gas station — potentially putting an end to the seven-year saga.
The item went to the council Tuesday, the result of a court-ordered appeal from Crocker Village developer Paul Petrovich’s lawsuit.
But despite a recommendation from city staff to approve the gas station, just south of the Crocker Village Safeway near Sutterville Road, the council again voted it down. The vote was 7-0, with Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela and Councilman Jay Schenirer recusing themselves.
Valenzuela recused herself because she was active in organizing against the project before she was a council member, she said. Schenirer, who represented Curtis Park until recently, recused himself due to a court order, he said.
“I’ve been waiting six years for this,” Petrovich said on video during the virtual council meeting. “This has been an emotional journey for me ... I’ve been to hell and back.”
The saga began in 2015 when the council denied a special permit to allow Petrovich to build the gas station within the new housing and retail development. Petrovich sued the city claiming that vote was due to prejudice against him. In 2020, a state appeals court ruled the council did not give Petrovich a fair hearing, prompting Tuesday’s redo.
The council heard more than two hours of presentations and public comments on both sides. But despite the years that had passed, and the addition of new council members, the result was essentially the same.
Rick Jennings, who now represents Curtis Park due to redistricting, said the gas station was too close to the Sacramento City College light rail station and was inconsistent with the city’s long-term planning document called the general plan.
“An auto-oriented use around the transit station would draw additional traffic,” Jennings said. “And this is inconsistent with the city’s policy of discouraging auto-oriented uses.”
The other council members echoed similar issues, as well as concerns about the gas station’s impact on the environment. Some callers expressed concerns it would cause long lines and congestion, similar to the Costco in North Sacramento.
Petrovich said the Safeway gas station would be much smaller than the one at Costco. He said without the gas station, the Safeway store might need to close. While the store had increased sales during the start of the coronavirus pandemic, now that people are getting groceries delivered from non-unionized grocery stores, the store’s sales are down, Petrovich said.
After several members had spoken out against the gas station, Petrovich threatened additional litigation.
“The council’s purview here is to address the four points of appeal,” Petrovich said during the meeting. “Those four points of appeal did not include general plan inconsistency. It would be another writ of mandate (lawsuit) if the decision to deny this fuel center is based on general plan noncompliance.”
Petrovich did not respond directly to a question Wednesday about any additional planned litigation.
This story was originally published January 19, 2022 at 10:41 AM.
