Court sides with Camas residents on gas station

Opponents of a gas station proposed for the corner of Northeast 13th Street and Northwest Friberg-Strunk Street prevailed court earlier this month.

Residents of the Morning Meadows, Katie’s Hill and Evergreen Tract Acres neighborhoods had fought the project since 2024 when they heard that a gas station and an accompanying car wash and convenience store were planned nearby.

They worried the project would contaminate the area’s watershed and nearby water wells, increase traffic, and endanger drivers, pedestrians and others traveling through the area.

“It’s a crazy idea,” said Tom Small, who lives on Northeast 16th Street, just a few blocks away from the project site. “It’s a tiny little lot for what they want to put on there.”

The same residents expressed gratitude and relief earlier this month after a Clark County Superior Court judge put a halt to the project.

“There are no words,” said Ruth Small, Tom Small’s wife.

“It’s a miracle that it turned out the way we wanted,” Tom Small added.

Despite numerous objections, including evidence of nearby drinking water wells and a critical aquifer, the city approved the plan in September. Neighborhood opponents then filed an appeal under Washington’s Land Use Petition Act against the development and argued their points before Camas Hearings Examiner Joe Turner during a five-hour public hearing in December.

The group claimed that by approving the project, the city ignored several of its own municipal codes, including one that describes critical aquifer recharge areas, and another that prohibits “fuel and/or gas stations” in critical aquifer recharge areas.

“We presented all these concerns, and they (the city) still green-lighted it. But their own code said that they could not do it,” 16th Street resident Russell Wegner said.

On Dec. 30, Turner ruled that “increased traffic generated by this development will not create a significant hazard.” He called the neighbors’ environmental concerns “speculative” and said the same risks exist at all gas stations and that “there is no evidence in the record that (underground fuel-storage) failures actually occurred or that this project poses a higher risk of such failures or a higher than usual risk of impact if such failures occurred.”

Less than three weeks later, the neighbors filed a lawsuit against the city, as well as gas station developer Taz Khan and one of the engineering consultants, asking the city to reverse its approval.

“The gas station is not allowed at the proposed location under the plain language of the Camas Municipal Code. The examiner committed a clear error of law when he approved the application. The examiner’s decision should be reversed, and the land use application should be denied,” Bryan Telegin, the residents’ attorney, wrote in an opening brief statement.

During a land use hearing Aug. 4, Judge Camara Banfield sided with the residents, finding that the city’s initial approval was incorrect under its own zoning ordinances.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the area surrounding the proposed gas station as a sole source aquifer, which makes it a critical aquifer recharge area Camas’ municipal code, Banfield wrote in her ruling.

“The examiner’s conclusion to the contrary … represents an erroneous interpretation of the law and a clearly erroneous application of the law to the facts,” Banfield wrote.

City staff are reviewing Banfield’s decision and evaluating potential next steps, said Alan Peters, the city’s community development director.

“We respect the Superior Court decision regarding the appeal of the 13th Street gas station project,” Peters said. “The city approved the permit application and defended that decision when it was appealed; however, this was not a city project. The city’s role was to review a private development application.”

Doug Flanagan: 360-735-4669; [email protected]