Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Planners reject Town's proposal for natural gas station on Lark

Neighbors say project would be unsightly and dangerous

More information needed

By Clarence Cromwell

Fearing noise, traffic, unsightly equipment and even explosions, more than 50 Los Gatans packed the Town Council Chambers May 28 to tell the Planning Commission that a natural gas filling station doesn't belong at Lark and Winchester avenues.

"Would you like to sit on this kind of a powder keg?" asked Newell Avenue resident Ann Burns.

Commissioners said they didn't have enough information to make a decision, nor did they have enough time to gather more information because state law requires final action on the application by August.

Just before 1 a.m. the commission unanimously refused permission to town officials to place at the intersection a storage tank and pumps that would fill the town's fleet of natural gas-powered police cars and cars from other cities.

The proposal would have meant a bank of three above-ground storage tanks, along with a compressor enclosed by a bunker and an eight-foot cinderblock wall. Cars would fill up at a gas station-style filling pump outside the bunker. The property is currently occupied by a Goodwill semi-trailer.

The project would be funded by a $125,000 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and a $225,000 grant from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Although PG&E and the town's staff insist the tanks would be safe, residents said they fear that a tank could explode, especially if an earthquake strikes. The gas inside the tank would be compressed to 3,000 psi, while gas in the high-pressure line supplying the tank runs at 35 psi.

In addition to expressing concern about the danger of explosions, many neighbors also complained that the station would increase noise and traffic.

Neighbors were concerned about increased traffic due to vehicles from a number of other jurisdictions, including the city of Campbell, filling up at the station.

A number of residents said they thought the compressor would make high-pitched noises or rattles that would cut through background noises. Maintenance superintendent Steve Regan said the compressor wouldn't be audible over noise from traffic.

Neighbor Anne McEneaney asked that trucks not be allowed to fuel at the site, in order to prevent additional noise.

Further complicating the project is PG&E's application for a substation just a block away, at 14750 Winchester Blvd. The proposed four-transformer substation and the town CNG station together have neighbors worried that their neighborhood will begin to look like an industrial area.

One speaker said the CNG station would become an "eyesore."

"I know if this project was put in your neighborhood, near your house, I don't think you'd vote for it," Los Gatan Jack Aiello said.

Elle Stern protested the CNG station by saying, "Los Gatos is a different kind of community."

Aiello said a full environmental impact report on the project should have been prepared. The current environmental review states that no EIR is needed.

Neighbors asked that the station be placed at the town corporation yard on Miles Avenue or at some other site.

Regan said the Miles Avenue corporation yard is too small, isn't adequately wired for the electrical pumps and is too far from high-pressure gas lines, whereas a high-pressure line runs under the street in front of the Lark Avenue site. And although both sites offer access to Route 17, the Miles Avenue parcel would cause additional traffic in a residential area, town officials said.

The town also considered placing the CNG station at a Unocal or a BP station, but both companies decided against the deal because they didn't have enough room.

[ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ]