League City City Council postponed voting on whether to award a special use permit to build a gas station near a residential area to its March 24 meeting after several residents voiced their opposition to the project at the Feb. 24 meeting.
Why it matters
The motion to postpone passed by a 7-1 vote on a special use permit for the Anchor Bay Gas Station, located near FM 270 and Austin Street, to give the developer more time to address residents' concerns.
Council member Tom Crews voted against postponing the vote.
Those opposed
Several residents and a homeowner’s representative voiced concerns about the development’s potential to impact traffic and drainage in the surrounding area.
“I would love a formal copy of the drainage report that's been completed by a hydrologist to better understand how this property will not negatively impact all of the property adjacent,” Leslie Holloway, a representative of a nearby homeowner, said at the meeting.
Other residents pointed out that the area already has several gas stations and that adding another could lower their property values.
“Approving another fuel station sets the precedent that this area is primarily for fuel-intensive vehicle-dominant development,” resident Will Spear said at the meeting. “It does not align with the broader, long-term planning goals. This decision is not about opposing business. It's about balanced development and responsible land use.”
Those in favor
Ernie Ramos, an architect with Dallas-based Dimensons Architects, said Anchor Bay Gas Station is not a typical gas station, in that it will feature premium masonry construction, 30-foot landscaping buffers and an underground drainage system, and is part of a larger commercial development.
“My firm does gas stations throughout the state, and we do everything from what you would consider the eyesore—the metal building that is just there for the purpose of selling fuel,” Ramos said at the meeting. “This is not it. This is a quality build.”
Speaking to drainage concerns, Ramos also said the site had underground detention.
What they’re saying
Council member Tommy Cones told residents who opposed the gas station that the land is ultimately privately owned, and the property’s neighborhood commercial development zoning allows for a variety of high-traffic businesses, such as a strip mall, to be built without a permit—something the current applicant is only having to do in order to add fuel pumps.
“You guys clearly don't want this in your backyard, right?” council member Courtney Chadwell said at the meeting. “I don't usually bend to the will of the people, but I'm going to support you and vote no for this, but I'm going to tell you what, something is going to get built there, and you may not like it. They may not have to come up and get a [special use permit] for what they build there.”
Mayor Nick Long said he ultimately supported the property rights of the developer, but wanted to see more assurance for drainage and light nuisances before he called for the vote to be postponed.
“I think fundamentally, people have the right to develop their property,” Long said at the meeting. “When it comes down to it, we can't say if there's too many gas stations or if there's not enough gas stations. That's for the market to decide.”
