Why are there so many gas stations in Rancho Cucamonga?
When planners started analyzing gas stations in Rancho Cucamonga, they found three intriguing trends:  1.There are a lot more in this All-America city than in any nearby city. 2. Sales tax revenues from service stations are falling. 3. Calls for police and fire services are rising, nearly doubling in four years. That caused the City Council to hit the pause button. On June 2, the council enacted a 10-month moratorium on new gas stations and also on expansions of existing ones. Only a few already through the planning phase can proceed. Also, only modest improvements such as a new paint job are acceptable during the moratorium. While stopping new gas stations from being built and existing ones from expanding is a pause, not a panic, the emergency moratorium will give staff time to further analyze whether the city needs more of them and whether they are the best use of limited land in a world class city, according to a staff report on the matter. Rancho Cucamonga has 34 gas stations. That compares to 21 in Fontana, 20 in Ontario and 17 in Upland, representing 0.69 service stations per square mile, city senior planner Mike Smith reported. Of those 34 stations, 32 are active and two are being redeveloped and have been approved to reopen but have not as of early June. Also, the majority are in the southwest and central areas of the city, with 13 in District 2 and 11 in District 3, leading to environmental justice issues since these areas have more dense and older housing stocks. Finally, the city staff said use of gasoline stations is declining, as more people drive electric vehicles. The acceptance of electric vehicles leads to more charging stations used as an alternative to gas stations, Smith told the City Council. The city released details in a preliminary report:   Sales at gas stations, including fuel, convenience items and at 23 of the 34, alcohol, have been plummeting. Annual sales tax revenue fell from $2,042,400 in 2008 to $1,496,364 in 2020. There has been a slow decline in sales tax revenues since 2008, Smith reported.  Calls for public safety from gas stations have increased from 636 in 2016 (about 0.44% of all service calls in the city) to 1,059 (0.74% of all calls) in 2020. On average, police spent 1,870 hours attending to calls for potential crimes at gas stations between 2016 and 2020. On the issue of police calls, City Manager John Gillison said identify theft of patrons using credit or debit cards is a crime often reported at gasoline stations. This often occurs at those clustered on Foothill Boulevard, he said. We know from past experience we have identity-theft issues, Gillison explained to the City Council. Theyll hit a location, drive a few miles, hit another one. When they (stations) are in a row it tends to make it easier.  Those open 24 hours seem to generate more police calls, the staff surmised, a topic of further study requested by Councilman Ryan Hutchison. Data released by the city show the following were the top three in calls for service in 2020: 95 calls at 11800 Fourth St., the Costco gasoline station; 85 calls at 10550 Town Center Drive, a Circle K gas station and convenience mart; and 72 calls at 8808 Foothill Blvd., a Shell gas station, which had the highest five-and-a-half-year total for calls at 348. In addition to problems when operating, defunct gas stations can leak gasoline and other chemicals from service bays into the ground, potentially contaminating the ground water, the report said. These so-called brownfields can be expensive to clean up. There could be environmental impacts resulting from long-term use and fuel storage, the city reported. The moratorium runs through April 20, 2022.