Edward Pollard requests pause on new gas stations

Does Houston have too many gas stations? 

Houston City Council member Edward Pollard thinks so. He asked his colleagues on the City Council to temporarily halt new gas station projects near residential neighborhoods, citing concerns about crime and safety. But, Pollard says he is holding off on bringing his proposed 90-day moratorium on new gas stations for now, choosing instead to let Mayor John Whitmire’s administration respond to his request first.

Asking the city to temporarily stop approving new gas station applications that would place fuel pumps within 200 feet of residential property lines, Pollard recently sent a letter to Whitmire. He said the request grew out of weeks of outreach from his office to neighborhood leaders and civic organizations, who raised concerns about what happens when gas stations cluster near homes.

“They [resident organizations] have concerns regarding some of the dynamics that are created when you have a gas station near a neighborhood that could attract loitering, public safety risk, drug sales, or other illegal activity that happens…a lack of true security at some of these establishments,” Pollard said. “When you have property that’s near residential areas, and each available piece of land goes for gas station development, it diminishes the opportunity to have other commercial businesses come in that may make it a more diverse…retail, restaurants, banking, office buildings.”

In response to Pollard’s request, Whitmire told the Defender that his team is strategizing the next steps.

“My administration has reviewed the request and is in the process of determining the best strategy for moving forward. Testing and data analysis will be included in our recommendations,” Whitmire told the Defender.

A 90-day pause

The letter Pollard sent is careful to frame the request as temporary and narrow. It would not affect gas stations that already have construction approval, and it is not meant to shut out the industry.

“It won’t disrupt any current gas station or any current construction of a gas station,” Pollard said. “But it will give the community an opportunity to express their issues and concerns and see if it’s valid and if there needs to be more change or not.”

Instead, the 90-day pause is framed as a chance for the administration, City Council, the Houston Health Department, neighborhood representatives, and industry stakeholders to gather data and work out whether additional safeguards or policy changes make sense.

Concerns from organizations

More than 40 organizations across Houston, including 10 super neighborhoods and several neighborhood clubs and associations, sent a letter to Whitmire. The council supports the temporary administrative hold on gas station development near homes.

“You have already heard from residents about this issue, and from the Houston Health Department, whose preliminary testing near an operating station found elevated benzene levels at the fenceline, where benzene is a known carcinogen,” said the letter, obtained by the Defender. “This is concerning to our residents, to our organization collectively, and to impacted people across the city…This limited administrative hold would apply only to gas station development that fits these criteria and is meant to allow time for the Health Department to complete its study and recommend safeguards.”

As for next steps, Pollard said his office reached out to the mayor but has not received a direct response to the letter itself, though he said Whitmire’s chief of staff indicated the administration is discussing the request. 

“This is not my idea. This isn’t anything that I put forth as an individual or individual office,” he added. “This was something that was brought to me from dozens of community associations, and I’m carrying it on their behalf. I want to continue to let them be the lead on the actions.”

For now, Pollard said he does not plan to bring the moratorium to the council floor as a formal proposition, preferring to give the administration room to consider it. In the meantime, he said he has encouraged the neighborhood groups behind the request to start attending public council sessions to voice their concerns directly.