Gas stations in the future in Manteca — unless they are already entitled and are built before their approval lapses — may not be going in neighborhood commercial zones.
And they may have to adhere to higher architectural standards and have greater setbacks from residential property as well as other conditions such as no more than two on any given intersection.
The Manteca Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously recommended the City Council when they meet Sept. 1 to approve zoning changes and conditions regarding site development that were devised by municipal staff.
What was not among the staff recommendations was requiring the actual installation of vehicle charging stations even though several council members during various council meetings since November regarding gas stations said they wouldn’t mind such a measure being weighed.
The proposed fueling station rules were the first opportunity to weigh in on requiring additional EV charging stations in Manteca in connection with development since the city adopted its climate action plan update last year.
When former planning commission member Leonard Smith — who also served on citizens’ climate action advisory commission — pressed in a dissent letter to the council that they require EV chargers at new gas stations, staff indicated it would be considered in the future.
The council’s direction to staff to rethink gas station rules arguably was the ideal situation to consider such a requirement especially given gas stations that would likely have to adhere to the proposed new rules arguably won’t be built for three to five more years.
Among the EV charger related goals in the climate action plan was requiring actual charging stations as part of new development and not just having then pre-wired for them for future installation.
Among the proposed future restrictions for gas station site development are:
*Fueling stations must be 500 feet apart, however, two fueling stations would be allowed at the same intersection.
*Gas stations will only be along arterial and major collector roadways at signalized intersections designed to accommodate high traffic volumes, or at intersections determined by the City Engineer to safely accommodate projected traffic volumes.
*Parcels where gas stations are located must be at least 0.5 acres.
*Access points for gas stations must be a minimum of 150 feet from intersections and a minimum of 300 feet from the property line of any parcels zoned for residential use.
*Where a fueling station is located adjacent to residential zoning, a masonry wall with a minimum height of seven feet shall be constructed.
*A fueling station shall provide no less than six double-sided fuel dispensers.
*A minimum of 20% of the lot area shall be landscaped. Of that, a minimum of 70% of the landscaped area will be covered with a combination of live landscaping, such as lawn, ground cover, trees, or shrubs, and not more than 30% can be covered with impervious materials.
*Primary buildings will utilize high-quality architectural materials, including brick, stone, decorative concrete, architectural metal, glass, and stucco.
*Building will incorporate projections and recesses, changes in wall plane, parapets of varying heights, gables, canopies, awnings, recessed entrances, tower elements, decorative trim, cornices, pilasters, columns, changes in exterior materials or colors, public art, decorative lighting, and other architectural features that provide visual interest and avoid long, uninterrupted building facades. Blank wall lengths exceeding 40 feet are prohibited.
*Fuel dispensers, fueling canopies, underground storage tanks, and associated fueling equipment shall not be located within 300 feet of any adjoining property zoned for a single-family residential use.
The council at the Sept. 1 also will consider a temporary moratorium on applications for future gas stations.
The goal would be to provide time for any changes the council makes to the zoning and development rules for gas station to go into effect.
If the council on Sept. 1 does adopt a temporary moratorium on accepting new gas station applications until new rules are in place, it would go into effect for 45 days. The council would have the ability to extend it once for a maximum of 10 months and 15 days.
There are already 33 gas stations in place, five with entitlements needed to build and four others in the planning process
Manteca, in the past three years, has seen five new gas stations open plus a major expansion of the fueling pumps at Costco.
That brought the number of gas stations to 33.
It translates into 3.5 gas stations per 10,000 residents versus 3.62 per 10,000 in Modesto.
The area average is 2.6 per 10,000 residents while the state average is 2.65 per 10,000.
And if the five entitled stations and the four that are in the planning process are built and the city’s population does not increase, the ratio will jump to 4.3 per 10,000.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
