One year later, Indio moves to rein in gas stations, adds parks and youth centers to protection list

The Indio Planning Commission voted Wednesday to recommend that the City Council adopt sweeping new regulations for fueling stations — rules that would restrict where gas stations can be built, require more landscaping and electric vehicle chargers, and mandate fresh food offerings at convenience stores.

The commission also added its own revisions to the draft ordinance before sending it forward, including a recommendation that parks, community centers, and youth centers be added to a list of sensitive receptors that new fueling stations must not be located adjacent to.

Community Development Director Brian Halvorson presented the proposed amendments to the city’s Unified Development Code, which have been more than a year in the making.

“We’ve been working on this for about a year, when the first comment or concern from the Commission came up about we may have too many gas stations,” Halvorson said.

The city currently has 31 fueling stations, including those that are approved or pending but not yet built. The proposed code changes grew out of a council directive and were shaped through multiple Planning Commission study sessions, an economic gap analysis, and a series of moratoriums that began in December 2025. The current moratorium is set to expire June 18.

“So the goal is present to the commission, get a recommendation in the next month before the deadline, bring the draft code amendments to council,” Halvorson said.

Among the key provisions in the draft ordinance: no more than two fueling stations would be permitted at any single intersection; new stations would be prohibited within 700 feet of the centerline of several major corridors, including all of Indio Boulevard and parts of Jefferson Street, Monroe Street, Jackson Street, and Golf Center Parkway; and new stations could not be located adjacent to residential parcels, schools, licensed childcare facilities, or senior care facilities.

The commission recommended that parks, community centers, and youth-oriented facilities — such as Boys and Girls Clubs and similar organizations — be added to that sensitive-receptor list before the council takes final action.

The ordinance also would require new stations to dedicate at least 20% of their site area to landscaping, up from the current 7%, and to plant trees capable of providing 50% shade coverage over parking areas within 10 years. Convenience stores of 1,000 square feet or more would be required to dedicate at least 5% of retail display space to fresh food, including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and prepared meals.

On electric vehicle infrastructure, the ordinance as drafted requires a minimum of one EV charging station regardless of the number of parking spaces on site. The commission recommended that stations seeking an exception to the corridor restrictions be required to install at least two EV chargers rather than one.

The commission also recommended that the city publish an interactive parcel map on its website showing where new fueling stations would and would not be permitted — a step commissioners said would make the information more accessible to residents and applicants than the static maps included in the staff report.

One element was removed from the ordinance before the vote: the proposed prohibition on new fueling stations along State Highway 111. Halvorson said staff needed additional time to complete tribal consultation before that restriction could be formally adopted, noting that the original Highway 111 Specific Plan required coordination with tribal nations.

“We’ve sent the letters out, but it’s a 90-day review period, and so we want to make sure legally that we’re protected,” Halvorson said.

The Highway 111 corridor restriction will be brought back to the Planning Commission as a separate item after that tribal coordination is complete, and will then go to the City Council.

The commission also heard two public comments before voting. A former planning commissioner urged the body to go further than the draft ordinance, calling for a 1,500-foot minimum spacing requirement between fueling stations, a hard cap at the current 31 stations citywide, and a full parcel-eligibility analysis showing how many sites would remain available under the proposed rules. Those recommendations were noted but not incorporated into the commission’s motion.

The ordinance, with the commission’s recommended changes, now moves to the City Council for consideration and possible adoption.

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