The number of gas stations in Ceres is a bone of contention that Planning Commission Chairman Gary M. Condit has with the city of Ceres.

Condit lost his push to have the Ceres City Council enact a moratorium on new gas stations and car washes. But he claims that city staff presented inaccurate numbers which make the saturation of stations appear smaller than reality.

At the August 10 council meeting Mayor Javier Lopez not only said he doesn’t support a moratorium but disputed Condit’s claims about Ceres having 20 gas stations, saying the number is closer to 16 which he said is “about average for the population.” The mayor suggested that Condit presented “exaggerated numbers … to justify intervention from the government in a private market.”

A July 20 staff report to the Ceres Planning Commission gave a count of 17 gas stations with three more approved to build. The report was dismissive of the notion of market oversaturation.

Condit pointed out that the city didn’t include or count the Triple R gas station (currently closed), or George’s Gas & Grill. When he tried to include the Union 76 station on Joyce Avenue a stone’s throw from the Hatch Road overpass, the city split hairs, noting that its location in technically outside the city limits.

Condit, however, supplied the Courier with a list of gas stations, noting that four more gas stations have been approved by the city but not yet built. They include the Maverik station for Mitchell Road which has been stymied by legal action taken by Sunny Ghai, an existing gas station owner. The city’s legal team said enacting a moratorium would not halt development of those four approved applications.

Condit said the Ceres public is tired of getting more than its fair share of gas stations, car washes and mini-storage facilities and says permitting such uses pre-empts land being used for types of businesses which the city has thus far failed to attract.

The issue is expected to figure in the upcoming council race. In District 1, Condit faces Dorie Perez, another member of the Ceres Planning Commission who has pushed back against a moratorium. In the District 2 race, incumbent Rosalinda Vierra has opposed a moratorium but her two opponents, Jorge Guerrero and Galen Guzman have voiced their approval of a moratorium.