No New Gas Station in La Conchita
Kristina.Boero@ventura.org, JRene.Verduzco@ventura.org
A Ventura County Public Hearing on a Proposed Gas Station in La Conchita was planned for Thursday, March 3, that has been postponed. The people of La Conchita appealed the county's decision to permit the new gas station.
Please sign this supporting petition opposing the county's decision. We'll send the petition to the Planning Commission before the rescheduled hearing in support of the people of La Conchita in their vigorous opposition to the new gas station.
In October 2021, the VC Planning Commission approved redevelopment of a gas station in La Conchita (population 300) at the northbound Hwy 101 offramp, at the corner of Santa Barbara Ave and Surfside Street.
The VC Planning Commission must reject this project due to:
geological hazards,
a dangerous RR crossing,
forecasts of coastal storm surges, and
the urgent need to stop building fossil fuel infrastructure and cut tailpipe emissions everywhere.
Over 200 residents signed a petition opposing the gas station. We support their appeal. In the words of CFROG President Merrill Berge, “This is the definition of absurd – a new gas station flooded by high tides exacerbated by climate change caused by oil and gas carbon emissions.”
If geologic hazards and extreme storm surge threats aren’t reason enough to welcome this appeal, a gas station is simply not needed in La Conchita. There is no exit going southbound until 2.5 miles past the village. If you can’t make it the next 12 miles to a Ventura gas station, you have to backtrack 5 miles to La Conchita. If your tank is close to empty while driving northbound, and you forget to get off at La Conchita, there are five more gas stations just 5 miles ahead in Carpinteria.
Please forward the petition to friends and ask them to sign telling the Planning Commission this is a nonsensical and unneeded idea.
Jan Dietrick, Policy Lead, 350 Ventura County Climate Hub
Sponsored by
To:
Kristina.Boero@ventura.org, JRene.Verduzco@ventura.org
From:
[Your Name]
I support the appeal regarding redevelopment of a gas station in La Conchita – project PL17-0153 - because I believe that the county should:
-- Follow both the spirit and the letter of the General Plan/Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas-fueled vehicles by transitioning immediately to green transportation infrastructure.
-- Disallow gasoline storage tanks and sewer lines to a bathroom that would be impacted by flooding from coastal high tide and storm surges forecast in the county’s Resilient Coastal Adaptation Project.
-- Honor the demands of communities in the planning process, particularly regarding health and climate-destructive fossil fuel infrastructure, thereby empowering VC communities to self determine the future we desire/envision.
-- Require a rapid transition away from the use of oil and gas in response to the escalating Climate Crisis.
By 2035, the State of California will no longer allow any sales of new cars with combustion engines. To address the Climate Crisis, many cities and counties in California are passing local laws to reduce or altogether end the extraction of oil and gas and to prevent the construction and operation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure, including gas stations, in their communities. Ventura County must contribute to, rather than undermine, their efforts.
In conclusion, we urge you to support this appeal and reject this gas station, because freeway drivers don’t need it and the people of La Conchita don't want it …for ample good reasons.