OAK PARK : Texaco Proposes Gas Station, Store

Officials from Texaco Inc. have unveiled plans to build a state-of-the-art gas station and convenience store in the heart of the small, unincorporated community of Oak Park.

Company officials want to build the facility on 3.7 acres at the corner of Lindero Canyon and Kanan roads near the Oak Park Shopping Center.

The company is in negotiations to buy the land, and made a presentation Tuesday to the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council. Phil Blackburn, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc., said company officials are seeking community support for the project.

“We would like to purchase it as soon as possible,” he said. “There are no service stations in that area and we think demand is sufficient to build a first-rate station.” The station, which would include a fast-food restaurant, would occupy about one acre, Texaco officials told members of the Oak Park advisory council. The rest of the land would be heavily landscaped to shield apartment residents east of the proposed station from noise and the sight of the facility.

Councilman Kent Behringer said he would welcome a gas station.

“As long as we can discuss it and reach an agreement on the way it looks, I have no objections to a facility of this type,” he said.

Other council members said they wanted more community input.

“Ultimately, if anything like this is going to come here, there is going to have to be a lot of input from the community,” Councilman Todd Haines said.