Why Did Union 76 Close?

A Sprouts and Shutters article published November 9 announced the closing of the Union 76 Gas Station at East Fifth and Military East and generated this comment:

Freedomisntfree123

8:00 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012

The city limited their ability to advertise and expand the food eating area on their property. Benicia's unfriendly business policies ran them out. They are going to open again in vallejo.

According to Community Development Director Charlie Knox, Union 76 needed a conditional use permit in order to have outside seating.  The parcel where the station is located is zoned general commercial.

City staff had been patiently waiting for the station’s owner, Musto Gunan to provide documentation and money needed so the permit approval process could move forward. 

A copy of the letter sent to Gunan by the city is attached to this article.  The checked items have been provided to city staff.

The permit fee is $1,275, but according to Knox he has the authority to reduce or wave those fees.  In this case, Gunan never appealed to Knox to have the fees reduced.  The fees are meant to cover staff time required to review the use permit application.

The county, which is responsible for inspecting establishments that serve food doesn’t have any regulations regarding outdoor seating near gas pumps.  “The only regulation we have is that the preparation be done in an enclosed area,” said Ricardo Serrano, an inspector with the Solano County Environmental Health Department.

If Freedomisntfree123 is correct and Gunan does plan to open a gas station with a grill in Vallejo, he better get ready for some sticker shock.  According to Bill Tuikka in the Vallejo planning department the cost of the use permit will be about $3,600.

A call to Gunan has not been returned.

Do you subscribe to the Benicia Patch newsletter? It brings our latest stories, blogs, announcements and the day's calendar events to your in-box early each morning. Follow Benicia Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you have opinions, experiences and views to share? Consider becoming a Benicia Patch blogger!

If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor JB Davis at 707-628-0051 or email him at benicia@patch.com.