All nine Montgomery County council members voted Tuesday afternoon to establish a 300-foot buffer between large gas stations in the county and community spaces such as parks, schools and pools.
But the vote left unclear what was on everyone's minds: whether Costco would be able to build its proposed gas station at Westfield Wheaton.
Councilmember Marc Elrich, the lead sponsor of Zoning Text Amendment 12-07, made a key last-minute change to the bill, reducing the buffer zone from 1,000 feet to 300 feet, in order to gain the necessary votes for passage.
"They would have beat me yesterday, 5-4," Elrich said afterward.
The ZTA applies to gas stations that dispense more than 3.6 million gallons per year. Costco, which has been at the center of the controversy surrounding ZTA 12-07, has plans to build a gas station at that is projected to dispense 12 million gallons per year.
All gas stations in Montgomery County must go through a special exception process.
It is not clear whether Costco's proposed gas station is located within this 300-foot buffer zone from the in Kensington Heights, because the 300 feet will be measured from the edge of the special exception zone, whereas the original 1,000-foot buffer would have been measured in a direct line from the gas pumps.
Costco representatives say they plan to measure the new distance and re-submit their special exception packet.
Costco's special exception process came to a halt after , and the county's Board of Appeals decided to await the outcome of the council vote.
Check it out: Wheaton Patch has created a page where you can see all our Costco gas station coverage in reverse chronological order.
and parking are next to impossible already to navigate. Add the gas station, no matter how many pumps and you have more gridlock in the mall than you already have on Connecticut Ave./University Blvd. Where is the wisdom???
Viviane Pescov
No one says (3) out loud anymore, but statements prior to the divisive decision made clear that it was a big concern to certain Councilmembers, including those who don't live near Wheaton (much like many of the business owners themselves). For that matter, it appears that groups focused on maintaining lower business rents have some Councilmembers' ears. Remember the recently proposed "Wheaton Revitalization Implementation Working Group"? That wording meshes closely with the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton's "Small Business Pledge" (http://astrongerwheaton.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/wheaton-redevelopment-small-business-written-pledge-5-18-12.pdf): "Create a Wheaton Redevelopment Implementation Committee in part composed by members of the Coalition to regularly review and advise on the implementation of the ... redevelopment project." My concern is not the Coalition. It's certain Councilmembers' willingness to hear from them while not listening to Wheaton's residents.
"Once you know something, you can't unknow it." - Councilmember Marc Elrich, May, 2012. Kensington Heights has at least 250 single-family residences and about 1,000 people within 1,000 feet of the gas station as proposed. Please check out the graphics and images uploaded above - it will be by far the busiest retail fuel station in the entire County, and just the risk for cancer due to benzene could go up 40 or 60 fold for the nearest homes. What about other various volatile organic compounds, what about carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and ultra-fine patriculate matter? Nobody should be able to "uknown" these things. Respectfully.