The Denver City Council’s members will join elected leaders in neighboring Lakewood early next year in deciding if they want to significantly clamp down on where new gas stations can be built within the borders of their respective cities.
The Denver Planning Board voted 5-0 on Wednesday to recommend a proposed package of new restrictions on gas stations to the council. The goal, according to the policy’s backers, is to leave more room in the city for needed housing and other community-serving development that’s too scarce.
The new rules would prohibit any new public-serving gas stations from being approved within a quarter-mile of an existing gas station, within a quarter-mile of a rail transit station or within 300 feet of low-density residential neighborhoods. Projects that would build a gas station in connection with a large-scale retail business — like a grocery store — would be exempt under the rules.
The council’s process will begin with a hearing before the Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 7. That panel could advance it for a public hearing and final vote by the full body on Feb. 18, according to city documents.
The measure is being co-sponsored by council members Amanda Sawyer, Paul Kashmann and Diana Romero Campbell. Council members first discussed ideas for the zoning amendment earlier this year.
A company representative from QuikTrip Corp., the Tulsa-based gas station and convenience store chain, urged the board and the council on Wednesday to delay their consideration and fine-tune the proposed regulations. The company, which has two locations in Denver and others in planning phases, warned of unintended consequences, including price inflation due to decreased competition.
But that argument did not resonate with Planning Board members. The five yes votes represented just a portion of the 11-member board. Four members were absent for the hearing, and board chair Caitlin Quander and vice chair Fred Glick both recused themselves from the matter.
Kashmann, speaking at the hearing, emphasized that the central motivation for the restriction was to preserve more land, particularly on major corridors, so it can be used to address Denver’s housing shortage. He did not want to minimize the impact of fuel price increases on low-income residents, but he said working to bring down housing costs by increasing supply was a much more impactful goal.
“(If) gas prices go up, there are people that it’s taking their last couple of bucks. Absolutely, any fee goes up, it’s taking their last couple of bucks,” he said. “But the opportunity to make a change — a real broad change — in the cost of living in Denver is what we’re aiming to do.”
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