An effort to impose a 45-day moratorium on the planning, consideration, approval and construction of gas stations and car washes in Yucaipa while the planning division arrives at a new set of standards for such projects fell two votes short when the city council took up the matter at its last meeting in July.
According to a staff report dated July 28, 2025, prepared for that evening’s city council meeting by Fermin Preciado, Yucaipa’s director of development services and city engineer, and Benjamin Matlock, the deputy director of community development and city planner, “Within the city’s approximately 28 square mile jurisdiction, there are currently 14 fuel station facilities in operation and an additional four that have been entitled, three of which are under construction. In combination, a total of 18 fuel stations could be in operation in the near future. In addition, there are currently 10 existing carwash facilities, with two that are under construction. These car facilities include a mix of accessory washes to to a fuel station, several ‘full service’ carwashes, several express carwash tunnels, or coin operated washes. The City of Yucaipa has a current population of approximately 55,000 people, and a general plan buildout of approximately 80,000 people Due to the relatively high sales margins of these specific, uses, the City has seen a proliferation of these businesses.”
According to Preciado and Matlock, during discussion by city officials, “[I]t was recognized that the city has seen substantial growth with these two land uses, and that community members have expressed concern over the saturation of those uses. In addition, [the] council has recognized that the oversaturation of car washes in the city provides minimal economic benefit to the city or city residents, as that use results in low sales tax revenues, and does not hire a significant number of employees. The city council also recognized that the development of these saturated uses would result in the loss of commercially zoned land in prime areas of the community that could otherwise be developed to provide a significant benefit and revenue to the community “
Preciado and Matlock’s report said the city council had the option of initiating a complete prohibition of new fuel stations and carwashes, a partial prohibition of new such facilities limited primarily to along the freeway corridor, a prohibition of just car washes or just fuel stations or it could make no change in policy.
The city had a fifth interim option of a temporary ban.
“[T]he city council may find it prudent to halt any approvals for new facilities while a formal policy is developed,” Preciado and Matlock wrote.
While Mayor Jon Thorp and Councilman Justin Beaver expressed willingness to adopt the temporary ban based on Beaver’s motion to do just that, it failed on a 3-to-2 vote.
In California for a local governmental jurisdiction to impose a moratorium on any specific type of building that ban must be passed by a four-fifths vote of its governing/legislative body. I
In the face of Beaver’s and Thorp’s embrace of the proposed emergency ordinance on July 28, council members Chris Venable and Bob Miller expressed vocal opposition to making a blanket denial of any such development applications and they were ultimately joined by Councilwoman Judy Woolsey in voting down the measure, which was to come in the form of an ordinance.
Based on the city’s zoning codes and zoning map, projects that comply with the city’s general plan are entitled to passage. Both car washes and gas stations are a type of specialized commercial use. If a land owner or developer proposes a project that is out of compliance with the city code or zoning on the particular property involved, go-ahead for the project can still be obtained if the city council grants a variance, a zone change, an amendment to the general plan and a conditional use permit.
Beaver was the most vocal about the proliferation of gas stations in Yucaipa. He noted that the nature of the business consigns land developed as a gas station to retain that use, while most other businesses can be converted to another form of commercial use. “If you open a gas station, it’s going to be a gas station,” Beaver said, and he railed against “irreparable fueling stations,” with underground gasoline tanks that could leak and contaminate the environment. “We can be serving our citizens better by entertaining builds and development of things that are more needed than a gas station and a car wash,” he said.
Miller, however, said that entrepreneurs willing to risk investing in a potentially viable business operation in Yucaipa should be accommodated rather than discouraged. Economic growth is what Yucaipa needs, he said.