POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning in Consultation with the Director of Legal Services

SUBJECT:

Split-Island Gasoline Stations - Full Service Hours

 

INFORMATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

In 1986, the Zoning and Development By-law was amended to include a new use, "Gasoline Station - Split Island", which was introduced into most commercial and industrial district schedules.

PURPOSE

This report provides advice to Council concerning a proposal made by Chevron Canada to amend the Zoning and Development By-law which currently requires split-island gasoline stations to provide at least one full-service pump island at all times the station is open for business.

BACKGROUND

Since the mid-1970s, Council has attempted to ensure that seniors, persons with disabilities, and others who do not wish to pump their own gasoline are provided with a sufficient supply of full-service gas pumps.

In June 1975, Council amended the License By-law to distinguish between full-service and self-service gasoline stations. The By-law only allowed for the issuance of business licenses for self-service gasoline stations in the specific locations already in operation on the date the By-law provision was enacted. In effect, the By-law "grandfathered" the existing 64 self-service gasoline stations and prohibited the issuance of business licenses for self-service stations in any other locations in the City. The By-law provision was challenged, and in December 1980 the B.C. Court of Appeal struck it down, holding that the provision was, in essence, a zoning by-law, not a license by-law.

Four days later Council amended the License By-law again. Rather than limiting the issuance of business licenses to the 64 specific locations of existing self-service stations, the new provision merely limited the number of business licenses that could be issued for self-service stations to 65. The By-law required that the 65 licenses be issued first to the operators of the existing self-service stations, then by lot to applicants who wished to open new self-service stations. This by-law was also challenged, and in November 1981 the B.C. Supreme Court struck it down.

One month later, Council began to regulate self-service gasoline stations through its land use and zoning powers. After controlling the number and location of self-service stations for several years in the Zoning and Development By-law, Council amended the By-law in 1986 to introduce a new split-island use, with both full-service and self-service pumps. Existing self-service stations continued as a non-conforming use. Any new station, or extensively renovated station, can only be approved as a "Gasoline Station - Full Serve" or:

In April 1994, Council further amended the By-law to require that at least two service bays be provided if a station were converted from full-service to split-island, if service bays existed on the site on the date the By-law was amended.

Responding to complains concerning non-compliance with the By-law requirement for the full-service component of split-island stations, in the Spring of 1997 Permits and Licenses staff and the Director of Equal Employment Opportunity Office initiated several meetings with the oil companies in an attempt to find a solution which would achieve the desired result of sufficient late night full-service gas pumps available for those who need, or want, this service. It was believed that strict enforcement of the existing by-law requirement might not achieve this result. Enforcement in the Courts is a time-consuming process and, even if successful, the result of a prosecution for non-compliance is the imposition of a fine.

Over the next two years the oil companies met with several Councillors in an attempt to gauge what might be supported in terms of by-law amendments and to get further direction before proceeding. At its meeting in January 1999, the Special Advisory Committee on Disability Issues considered a proposal put forward by Chevron Canada. Chevron proposed changing the Zoning and Development By-law requirement that at least one full-service pump be available at all times a split-island station is open for business. Chevron's proposal would limit the requirement in the By-law for full-service to "core" full-service hours of 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, with the placement of signage and the provision of a map/brochure after the "core" hours (i.e., from midnight to 6:00 a.m.) directing customers to 24-hour full-service locations.

The Special Advisory Committee recommended that Council be advised that the Committee considered the current By-law to be adequate and appropriate, that the By-law be appropriately enforced, and the Committee requested that its input be sought before any changes were made to the existing By-law.

The Special Advisory Committee's recommendation was considered by the Planning and Environment Committee of Council in May 1999. The City Manager commented on the desirability of having full-service gasoline stations available on a 24-hour basis for people with disabilities and for seniors. She noted, however, that existing City by-laws do not require any type of gasoline station to be open on a 24-hour basis and that the Zoning and Development By-law merely requires split-island stations to maintain a full-service component while they are open for business. She also noted that Chevron Canada had indicated that the economic implications of enforcement of the existing requirement for a full-service component could result in the closure of some split-island stations after midnight. She recommended that, should Council wish to consider the proposal put forward by Chevron, the Planning Department, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services, report back on whether it was technically possible to implement the proposal.

DISCUSSION

Over the years 1993 through 2000, the number of full-service and self-service gasoline stations has decreased, while the number of split-island stations has increased. A summary of the change in the number of the various types of stations during these years is set out in Appendix A. For the year 2000, 34 gasoline stations were licensed as full-service stations, 37 stations were licensed as self-service stations, and 19 stations were licensed as split-island stations.

On Wednesday December 13, 2000, Permits and Licenses staff carried out a survey of all 19 premises licensed as split-island stations illustrated in Appendix B. The survey was conducted between 9:05 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Full-service and self-service stations were not examined, nor was the survey extended past midnight. The survey provided the following results:

· 11 stations: Only self-service pumps open
· 7 stations: Both full-service and self-service pumps open
· 1 station: Closed for the night

The stations with both open and closed full-service pumps were fairly evenly distributed around the City.

The Director of Legal Services has considered the proposal put forward by Chevron Canada and concluded that the Zoning and Development By-law cannot be amended to regulate split-island gasoline stations in the manner proposed by Chevron. Under its zoning powers, the City has the power to regulate land use. Fundamental aspects of Chevron's proposal (e.g., the placement of signage and the provision of brochures directing customers to 24-hour full-service locations) are not concerned with the regulation of land use, and therefore cannot be implemented by amending the Zoning and Development By-law.

Apart from the legal problems inherent in Chevron's proposal, its implementation would not necessarily ensure the availability of sufficient full-service gas pumps late at night. Even if it were legally possible to amend the Zoning and Development By-law to provide for "core" full-service hours for split-island stations with signs and brochures directing customers to full-service stations, this would merely authorize the elimination of the full-service component of split-island stations during late night hours. It would not create any mechanism to ensure that full-service pumps are available at other stations late at night. There is no requirement that any type of gasoline station, including full-service stations, remain open late at night. Customers might be directed to full-service stations by signage or brochures at split-island stations, only to discover that some or all of the full-service stations are closed late at night.

Although staff have concluded that the City cannot regulate split-island gasoline stations in the manner suggested in Chevron's proposal, there are other options available to amend the Zoning and Development By-law to modify, or eliminate, the requirement that a full-service pump island be available at all times a split-island station is open for business . Should Council wish to consider these other options, staff could report back on them. These other options, however, would also suffer from the limitation mentioned above in relation to the Chevron proposal. Because full-service gasoline stations have no obligation to provide 24-hour (or late night) service, modifying or eliminating the requirement that the full-service component of split-island stations be available at all times the stations are open will not necessarily ensure the availability of a sufficient number of full-service gas pumps at night.
CONCLUSION

Presently the Zoning and Development By-law requires split-island gasoline stations to have at least one full-service pump island available at all times they are open for business. The Director of Legal Services has concluded that the Zoning and Development By-law cannot be amended in the manner suggested by Chevron Canada. There are other ways that the Zoning and Development By-law could be amended to modify, or eliminate, the current requirement that at least one full-service pump island be available at all times split-island gas stations are open for business. However, these other options may not ensure the availability of sufficient late night full-service gas pumps because they cannot require that full-service (or any) gas stations remain open during late night hours anywhere in the City.

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APPENDIX A

License Type 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 %change (1993-2000)

Full-service 70 57 52 47 44 38 38 34 - 51%
Stations

Self-service 62 60 59 58 57 52 48 37 - 40% Stations

Split-island 15 17 17 20 18 20 18 19 + 27%
Stations

Total 147 134 128 125 119 110 104 90 - 39%

APPENDIX B

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