Lake Elsinore Rejects Embattled Walmart Gas Station Proposal

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — A widely contentious proposal to build a Walmart-branded gas station and convenience store within Lake Elsinore's Walmart Supercenter has been formally denied.

The Lake Elsinore Planning Commission on Dec. 16 unanimously approved resolutions to formally reject the project the retail center at 29260 Central Ave., citing concerns that it would snarl traffic and cause hazards in the area.

The commission adopted resolutions denying Conditional Use Permit No. 2024-04 and Commercial Design Review No. 2024-02 for the project, which would have included a Walmart-branded fueling station with a 5,419-square-foot overhead fueling canopy, a 1,618-square-foot single-story convenience store and 16 fueling pumps on an approximately 1.10-acre site within the existing Walmart parking lot.

The commission says the proposed gas station was not consistent with the city’s General Plan and would have adverse impacts on public health, safety and welfare. The findings cite concerns related to traffic congestion, circulation, land-use compatibility and the character of Lake Elsinore.

While the applicant submitted a Traffic Impact Analysis with recommended mitigation measures, the commission found those measures were insufficient to reduce traffic impacts to an acceptable level. The findings state the project would continue to generate congestion at key intersections and along primary access routes, adversely affecting roadway capacity and emergency response times.

The commission also found the project would contribute to an over-concentration of similar uses in the vicinity, contrary to the city's goals to promote balance between developments and neighborhoods.

As previously reported by Patch, the proposal drew heightened scrutiny from commissioners during public hearings on Oct. 21 and Dec. 2, when concerns were raised about worsening traffic conditions along Central Avenue and the saturation of gas stations in the area.

Commissioners also questioned whether placing a fueling station within the Walmart parking lot would exacerbate circulation and parking challenges at the busy retail center.

Opponents of the project pointed out that multiple gasoline stations already operate along the Central Avenue corridor near Walmart, and that commissioners expressed concern the project would further intensify traffic near major intersections and Interstate 15 on- and off-ramps.

In 2015, the city previously denied a similar Walmart-branded gas station proposal.

Following the close of the public hearings, the commission voted to deny the project and directed staff to prepare formal resolutions reflecting that action. Those resolutions were brought back on the Dec. 16 consent calendar, where they were adopted unanimously and took effect immediately.

The 6 p.m. Dec. 16 Lake Elsinore Planning Commission meeting took place at the Cultural Center, 183 N. Main Street.