Posted by PumpItUp, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm

This is a good decision and I bet the home owner 23 feet away is pretty darned pleased as well. This station is funny, I always wondered why my gas tank consistently accepted more fuel there than other stations.

I recall pumping over 15 gallons into my 15 gallon tank when my indicator light wasn't even on. I stopped going there but wonder if others have noticed this as well.

Posted by Ron, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 2:45 pm

You should be more careful with your comments. Not because you don't have free speech, but because you are rather blatantly implying theft on the part of the gas station. Gas stations are regulated to the n'th degree. It would be almost impossible for one to get away with such a thing without being quickly shut down or heavily fined. Your comment just damages his business with other readers with no proof.

Posted by Alex M., a resident of the Willowgate neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 3:11 pm

Stating a suspicion that a gas pump is inaccurate isn't libel, it's just an observation. Inaccurate gas pumps (google for it) are a widespread problem. There are requirements for the accuracy tolerance of the fluid flow meters (there is a permissible level of error), but the meters can go off spec and they often aren't re-calibrated. I remember reading a Wall Street Journal article a few years back saying that gas station owners are cheated just as much as gasoline consumers.

Posted by NeHi, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 3:11 pm

This location seems to be across an intersection from Harv's car-wash or did nobody notice??

Posted by J. Kline, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 3:26 pm

actually a simple software program can easily manipulate the pump and can be turned on/off with a single click. Not saying this happened here, but I recall seeing an investigative news story focusing on how easily and common this manipulation can be, and the regulators commented on how difficult enforcement was getting. Just sayin'

Posted by PumpItUp, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Oh Ron, thanks for the concern, but maybe you should warn every user of YELP that ever (actually) spoke negatively about a business.

I simply stated my observation and asked if others observed the same. The only implication of theft was in your mind and later in your post.

I appreciate your concern though. Cheers.

Posted by the_punnisher, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 4:38 pm

Just the BLOWERS alone would break the developers dB requirement. Living 23' away from a set of giant hair dryers running every few minutes would

take the cake. The developer would have to add insulation to keep the wash quiet when the pump and high pressure wash is operating to maintain a permitted dB level.

The only place I have seen this kind of " full service station " is in a heavy business district, where the resident neighborhood is several blocks away behind a strip mall. Others as mentioned before are along Interstates and are shared with truck stops for big rigs.

I have seen only one exception to this setup; an area where I-70 was run through Denver in an elevated causeway. There are some very inexpensive residential houses sandwiched between the fast food joints, truck stop and the " full service station "..Anybody wanna buy a single family residence on the CHEAP?

Posted by PH, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 6:17 pm

I know the owners, buy almost all my gas from them and make deliveries to many of their stations. They rebuild old ugly stations into well kept new ones and would very likely do whatever it takes to keep those around this station happy. Maybe people should give this a second thought as it might be a good idea after all. I'm sure they would work with the neighbors to come up with a good solution to the noise problem.

Posted by Oh Ya, a resident of the Rex Manor neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 6:35 pm

The Council errored in favor of a minority no-growthers and pandering politicians.

Posted by nikonbob, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 8:03 pm

@Oh Ya...your command of the language is impeccable. What in the world are you trying to say?

I guess my question is why does the zoning administration approve projects like this in the first place? They could have saved a lot of time and money on everyone's part by doing their homework.

It just seems that city staff is in love with development, regardless of what it is and how it impacts our great city.

Really, what's the hurry to build up Mountain View? It's pretty nice the way it is.

Posted by Otto Maddox, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Jun 27, 2012 at 10:12 pm

Comparing El Camino to Paris.. really?

But the best part is the council trying to be our parents, again.

"sugar, salt and fat" content of the food? How is that the concern of the City Council of Mountain View?

Worry about the noise, parking, so be it. But stop with all the nanny state nonsense.

Posted by Hmmm..., a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 8:28 am

Hey "Nincompoop," As the owner stated earlier there was a community out reach meeting in January which no one came to voice there opinion. So six months later after the owner has spent more money on plans and preparation to go forward the naysayers show up to complain? The zoning administration did there home work! The questions and concerns were addressed and the owner came up with a viable solution to the noise. How is the zoning administration suppose to know the concers of the residents if they don't show up to the community outreach meetings? As to your last statement "what's the hurry to build up mountain view?" City services are getting expensive. If new revenues are not created through new business the expense fall on the residence through higher tax's and more fee's.

Posted by nikonbob, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 3:35 pm

@Hmmmm...

Name calling? Really?

Just asking a question and stating my opinion.

So where does the "higher expenses requires more growth which leads to higher expenses with requires more growth" spiral end?

I'm not opposed to reasonable growth, but having lived in MV for 30 years, it seems that there is an urgency to approving new projects that hasn't been there before. It could be just that we're emerging out of a down cycle in the economy and this is part of the recovery.

I understand that developers want to do projects, but should staff approve everything that doesn't cause an uproar by the residents? It seems like that's the current approach.

Posted by QM, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 8:24 pm

How do you tax someone who does not pay taxes?

Posted by QM, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Isn't There a car wash on Shoreline and Sterling that is for sale and already zoned as a car wash?

Posted by Crissa, a resident of another community, on Jul 8, 2012 at 5:47 pm

That's the dumbest complaint I've ever heard. Replacing a gas station with a gas station? Oh noes! It has a minimart!

Posted by GC, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 8, 2012 at 6:57 pm

The City Council overturned the Zoning Administrator's approval of the project. Who is working the zoning? In the real world they ask the neighbors first, about changes additions not wait for a town meeting.