The Cupertino Courier

Landmark mini-mart loses second bid

By Pam Marino

Plans for a new Chevron gas station and mini-mart in the heart of Cupertino are still not distinctive enough to suit the planning commissioners, they said at a meeting last week.

It was Chevron's second try for approval to tear down the existing station and repair center at the corner of Stevens Creek and DeAnza boulevards and build a new mini-mart in its place.

At an October public hearing, the commissioners told a Chevron representative that the plans were "very nice" but did not fit their vision of what belonged in the "Heart of the City," Cupertino's design plan for its two main corridors. Some commissioners said the building was too tall and would obstruct views of the hills from the as-yet-to-be-built Four Seasons Park across the street.

So last week Chevron officials brought plans for a shorter, less obtrusive building, only to be met with disapproval from three of the four planning commissioners present. Commissioners Orin Mahoney, David Doyle and Donna Austin said the building needed to be more of a landmark.

"On the one hand, 'landmark mini-mart' is an oxymoron," Mahoney said, admitting the difficulty in turning a gas station into something more distinctive.

"You're not going to make a monument speedy mart," commission chairwoman Andrea Harris said, arguing in favor of approving Chevron's plans.

"There's no getting around the use," Chevron representative Kevin Cornell said. "We're a gas station; that's a bitter pill to swallow sometimes, I know."

Mahoney and Austin told Cornell to look at plans for a gas station and carwash that the planning commission approved last year for the corner opposite Chevron. That proposal included a waterfall and other distinctive architectural details. The City Council later rejected those plans in favor of replacing the gas station with a combination retail/commercial center.

None of the four commissioners present said they would approve Chevron's request for 24-hour operation of the mini-mart. They said they would allow gas pumps to be open 24 hours, as they are now.

The proposal was continued to the next Planning Commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 24, at 6:45 p.m., at City Hall, 10300 Torre Ave.

[ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ]