Rohnert Park prepares to permanently prevent construction of new gas stations

March 21, 2022

On Tuesday, March 22, the Rohnert Park City Council is expected to give its final approval for land use policies that will effectively and permanently prohibit construction of new gas stations.

On Tuesday, March 22, the Rohnert Park City Council is expected to give its final approval for land use policies that will effectively and permanently prohibit construction of new gas stations. The City Council provided its initial vote to approve the first reading of the ordinance on March 8; Tuesday’s vote on the second reading will be the final adoption. If passed, it will take effect in April.

Enacting the ordinance will make Rohnert Park the third city in California — and the third in the U.S. — to permanently prohibit construction of new gas stations. Rohnert Park has 13 stations currently, and City Councilmembers said earlier this year that total is more than enough to serve the needs of the community. The ordinance also prohibits existing stations from adding gasoline or diesel pumps and storage, and stations that cease operations for more than 180 days cannot reopen. 

Petaluma became the first city in the U.S. to adopt this policy in March 2021. Calistoga adopted a citywide prohibition in December 2021. Numerous other jurisdictions in Napa and Sonoma counties have these policies in progress, including the city of Santa Rosa. Sebastopol is in the process of adopting this prohibition, and its City Council will vote on the first reading of the ordinance during a meeting on April 5.

WHAT: Rohnert Park City Council meeting to adopt ordinance that will permanently prevent construction of new gas stations.

Links: Meeting agenda (see consent calendar item 6L) | Staff report and ordinance 

WHEN: Tuesday, March 22, 2021, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET

MORE INFO: The Rohnert Park City Council adopted a climate emergency resolution on March 9, 2021. It imposed an emergency moratorium preventing new gasoline stations citywide in January 2022, and extended that for 22 months during its meeting on March 8. No applications for permits for new stations will be accepted for processing during this time. The city’s proposed permanent ordinance will apply to almost the entirety of Rohnert Park, but city staff need more time to work out an amendment to a development agreement the city approved in 2021 for one section of a planned development called Sonoma Mountain Village. According to city staff, the developers do not intend to construct new fueling stations and cannot do so while the emergency moratorium is in effect. However, the City Council cannot unilaterally impose the permanent prohibition on Sonoma Mountain Village. The city is required to amend the development agreement first, and city staff will work with the developers to accomplish this task in upcoming months. At that point, the permanent prohibition will expand to cover the entire city. With similar ordinances preventing new gas stations in progress in neighboring cities in Sonoma County and given Rohnert Park’s location on the Highway 101 corridor, city staff have advocated that the council enact the city’s gas station ordinance urgently, so gas station developers do not target Rohnert Park for new projects.

BACKGROUND: Since Petaluma garnered national and international attention for adoption of its first-in-the-nation policy last year, momentum has grown substantially in the San Francisco Bay Area to prevent construction of new gas stations. 

Adopting these laws is an effective way for cities and counties to stop buildout of new fossil fuel infrastructure that simply guarantees more combustion of gasoline and diesel while locking in increased greenhouse gas emissions. San Francisco-based environmental advocacy group Stand.earth and its SAFE Cities movement have worked with local groups in Sonoma County such as the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations to build public support for these policies. The transportation sector is by far the leading source of carbon emissions in California. This is also true in Rohnert Park, which is located on the Highway 101 corridor in Sonoma County — transportation accounts for 67 percent of the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

As a result, people who live near highways and major roads are exposed to higher levels of air pollution and will suffer disproportionately worse health impacts. An October 2021 study of 52 U.S. cities found that low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are exposed to 28 percent higher levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is primarily due to their proximity to highways, major roads, and diesel truck traffic. This disparity exists in Rohnert Park and Sonoma County, as it does throughout California and the U.S. In nearby Santa Rosa, a recent analysis by the Press Democrat newspaper found that 44 of the city’s 46 gas stations are located in neighborhoods that feature greater numbers of lower-income residents and people of color. Despite an overall downward trend in the amount of retail gas sales in the U.S. over the past decade, the U.S. still has twice the number of gasoline stations per capita as Europe.

The following cities across Napa and Sonoma counties have taken or are in the process of taking action to prevent construction of new gas stations:

  • Petaluma (Sonoma Co.) – Ordinance adopted in March 2021;
  • Calistoga (Napa Co.) – Ordinance adopted in December 2021;
  • Rohnert Park (Sonoma Co.) – City Council will vote on final adoption of ordinance March 22;
  • Sebastopol (Sonoma Co.) – City Council will vote on ordinance April 5;
  • Santa Rosa (Sonoma Co.) – City’s climate action subcommittee has recommended approval, which moves ordinance onto the Planning Commission and then City Council;
  • Windsor (Sonoma Co.) – Directed staff to draft an ordinance in November 2021; draft ordinance is expected to be presented in May;
  • Cotati (Sonoma Co.) – City staff is developing ordinance, planning for a first review by the City Council in June;
  • Napa (Napa Co.) – City Councilmembers have spoken favorably of crafting an ordinance;
  • American Canyon (Napa Co.) – Moratorium in place;
  • On September 13, 2021, the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority adopted a resolution urging the county and cities to adopt the prohibition.

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Media contacts: 

Peter Jensen, SAFE Cities Communications Coordinator, safemedia@stand.earth, +1 415 532 3817 (Pacific Time)
Woody Hastings, Co-coordinator for the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations, woodyhastings@gmail.com (Pacific Time)