A gas station, convenience store, quick-serve restaurant and car wash sailed through the Santa Maria Planning Commission approval on Wednesday night.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve several items for the project proposed for the northwest corner of West Betteravia Road and the newly built Walker Avenue. Commissioner Yasameen Mohajer abstained from the discussion and vote.
The project includes a 10-pump Chevron fuel station, 6,100-square-foot Chevron ExtraMile convenience store with a second-story office and storage area, and a drive-through fast-food eatery about 2,500 square feet in size. A nine-space electric charging station and a car wash will also be built on the 2.9 acres.
“I think this is a good project. I would be for it,” Commissioner Robert Dickerson said.
“I think it will be a good asset to that stretch of Betteravia as you’re heading out of town,” Commissioner Tom Lopez said, before adding “to The Hitching Post” and sparking laughter.
“This is an incredible project. We’ve so morphed into this capture of the American consumer,” Chair Tim Seifert said before ticking off the various aspects of the project.
Approval came after commissioners asked about traffic circulation on the site and nearby streets, stacking of cars in the drive-through line, car wash noise and more.
Planning staff said queuing studies determined the average maximum length for a national burger chain is 8.5 vehicles, while the project proposes 10 slots for vehicles waiting in the drive-through lane.
“The project provides sufficient queuing for a restaurant like Del Taco, Dairy Queen or Panda Express which are the types of restaurants ithat I mentioned previously are anticipated to go into this type of location,” said Carol Ziesenhenne, a city planner.
As a precaution, a condition of approval would required the applicant to take measures to avoid excess queuing for the restaurant business.
The project also would have 12 more parking spaces than required so some customers awaiting orders could be directed to those slots to await their food.
As part of the car wash, vacuum cleaning stalls would sit under a canopy with a single motor inside a building which is expected to reduce noise compared to facilities with individual canister vacuum cleaners, planning staff said. Vacuums could only be used between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. the and operator would be required to monitor the facility and make sure customers don’t blare stereos while cleaning vehicles.
The gas station project is part of the larger Betteravia Plaza on West Betteravia Road between the Santa Maria Police Station and the railroad tracks. The project also calls for 443 apartments, which were approved last year.
For several months, crews have been working on grading the Betteravia Plaza site and installing infrastructure including new roads, sidewalks, a Betteravia Road median, traffic signals and more.
The Planning Commission postponed talking about The Vernon Group’s application to construct a six-story, 75,340-square-foot mixed-use building with 5,760-square-feet of ground floor commercial space, 82 apartment units, a rooftop deck, outdoor plazas, parking, and a firefighters’ memorial on a 1.49-acre site in the Gateway District of the Downtown Specific Plan.
The project would occur at the southeast corner of Main Street (Highway 166) and Broadway (Highway 135).
The Planning Commission is expected to consider the item during the Sept. 6 meeting.