The effort to curb alcohol consumption near Pacific Beach hasn’t stopped the owner of the Pacific Beach Shell Station, 2830 Grand Ave., from asking the San Diego Planning Commission for Conditional Use Permit to include the sale of beer and wine, according to a report by the San Diego Development Services Department.
The Planning Commission has moved for a continuance to hear an appeal to of the Hearing Officers decision to deny the request for a Conditional Use Permit to remodel the currently closed down gas station.
The hearing has been scheduled for November 2, 2006, according to Project Manager Sandra Teasley.
The Shell station has been closed down since 2004.
On May 10, 2006, the owner of the stations argued before the Hearing Officer in favor of the Conditional Use Permit which includes: expand the existing convenience store, installation of a new sidewalk from Grand Avenue to Mission Bay Drive and updating all posted signs in accordance with city-wide coastal sign regulations, according to a Development Services Department report issued July 27, 2006.
After public testimony, the report said, the Hearing Officer approved the request to expand and remodel but denied the Conditional Use Permit request to sell alcohol. The hearing officer cited information gathered from the San Diego Police Department that found the station in a high crime rate area.
The station has existed at the intersection of Mission Bay Drive and Grand Avenue, “prior to the requirement for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for service stations.”
Any licenses to sell alcohol or expansions to the property must now be in accordance with San Diego Municipal Code.
“In a situation like this where the project site doesn’t meet the criteria, meaning it’s in a high crime rate [area], or there is an over concentration of licenses or they’re within what is called a Sensitive Use Area, like a school.
“To operate just means they have to go through the Conditional Use Permit process and have a scheduled hearing before the Hearing Officer to make the decision to approve or deny the request,” Teasley said.
The gas station has existed since 1963. The 519-square-foot convenience store was issued a liquor license from 1984 to 2004 but expansion to a 1,619 square-foot store requires a CUP in accordance with San Diego Municipal Code, the report said. The CUP requirements, in this case, include conditions concerning signs that are located in a “public right of way, or over the allowable height limit.”
The current ordinance requires the signs be replaced with signs satisfying the height and size conditions, or removed.
Currently the site is subject to Limited Use Regulations under the San Diego Municipal Code. Under the code the site is within 600 feet of a school, public park, playground, recreational area or within 100 feet of a residentially zoned property. The station is 80 feet from Mission Bay Park.
The CUP requirements for the “off-site” sale of alcohol at the station, if approved, would include environmental conditions to be satisfied. Requirements that the station would satisfy are appropriate lighting, no loitering signs and keeping the area “free of litter and graffiti at all times” according the municipal code. The regulations allow for the Planning Commission and other “decision makers” an opportunity to impose various policies such as limiting the hours of sale of alcohol between 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and not allowing pinball and arcade style attractions, according the report.
If the Planning Commission approves the CUP to include the sale of alcohol, the station would be subject to restrictions and monitoring through community feedback.
However, why the Shell station is still covered with black tarps and fenced off is still a mystery since the permit to remodel the station has been authorized for months now. The station is one of the first businesses people see when coming off the I-5 northbound into Pacific Beach
“[The operator] could remodel right now if he wanted to” Teasley said. The owner of Pacific Beach Shell station could not be reached for comment.