EVANSTON — Local residents packed the Evanston City Council chambers last month as dozens of residents opposed a decision made by the Evanston Planning and Zoning Commission to approve Dominion Energy’s application to build a natural gas regulatory station at 209 Center Street. At that meeting the council voted to call up the decision for further review at a special meeting, which took place last week.

At the special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, the council chamber was once again filled with residents coming to oppose the decision. Half a dozen Dominion Energy employees and their attorney, J.D. Kesler, were also in attendance to present their reasons for using the proposed location.

David Welling was excused from the meeting, citing a conflict of interest. Evan Perkes was excused from the meeting for personal reasons. Council members present were Tim Lynch, Jesse Lind, Mike Sellers and Jen Hegeman, along with Mayor Kent Williams.

City attorney Mark Harris opened the public hearing and cited city code rules for providing testimony and the time limits for each speaker.

First sworn in by Harris was Kesler, who said the regulatory station contains valves that convert the high-pressure gas that comes into it to a lower pressure for distribution to homes and businesses. He said the original regulatory station was built in the 1930s, and there is not enough space at that site to upgrade the station.

“In answering the question of the residents as to why build at 209 Center,” Kesler said, “the facility is a bridge between high and low pressure and this location will minimize the number of pipes and work that will need to be done. In order to get the gas supply to a community, you have to have a regulator facility, and the site chosen is based on the distance, the number of users and the high-pressure coming in.”

Kesler said the company can modify their plans to address concerns of the residents in the neighborhood. It can be placed farther back on the property on an exclusive easement and make it small enough to accommodate a new residence in front, with the facility hidden behind it. He added they are not putting a heater on the site at this time.

Residents were sworn in by Harris as they spoke and stated their names and addresses. Many residents, including Karen Deyo, Dan Morrow, Trevor Sumsion, Lori Andreason, Carol Anderson, Kathy Cook, Jim Hill, Darlene Wallace and Shawn Sabon, spoke out in opposition. Major concerns included the use of fireworks in the neighborhood on July 4, and the danger of hitting the regulatory station; the unappealing look of an 8-foot-high concrete wall around the lot and its effect on property values; possible increase in home insurance; and the sound emitted from the valves.

Sheldon Hughes asked Kesler why the facility couldn’t be built somewhere else due to safety concerns.

“There is always a danger of a gas leak,” Hughes said. “In February of 1976, there was a fire at the existing regulatory station and people had to be evacuated. My family and I stayed in our Suburban for the night until they got the gas back on.”

Kesler said he wasn’t aware of the problem in 1976, but Dominion had a clean safety record. If there is an emergency, the system can be shut down in Salt Lake City by pushing a button and it would take less than an hour for employees to arrive.

Kesler said Dominion Energy has thousands of regulatory stations and there has never been a problem unless someone inadvertently digs close to one and causes a leak. He said the sound emitted from the station during cold days would be diminished by the 8-foot-high concrete wall around the facility.

Resident Kathy Cook said, referring to planning and zoning commissioner Tim Ridenour, “I question the transparency of planning and zoning commission when they allowed a member to vote who owns the building where the current Dominion site is. Also, why would they allow an 8-foot-high fence in a residential neighborhood for Dominion when they denied a 6-foot-high fence for a grandmother who just wants to protect her grandchildren?”

Williams asked senior planner DuWayne Jacobsen if the allegation concerning the commission member was true. Jacobsen said that the member did own the building where the current site is and he did not excuse himself from voting, and there would have been a split vote if Ridenour hadn’t voted.

Planning & Zoning commission chair Maryl Thompson (without being sworn in by Harris) said the commission member who owned the building would be losing money when Dominion moved out so she approved him voting.

RaeAnn Pace, who spoke in opposition at the planning and zoning meeting and at the first council meeting concerning this project, spoke next. She gave council members a photo of what an 8-foot-high concrete fence would look like, and a photo of the current station when it was built in the 1930s.

“When the first regulatory facility was built it was on the outskirts of town at that time,” Pace said. “There are other locations, one over by Walmart and another by Maverik behind the Chevron station but Dominion said they were all too expensive. You can’t put a price on the safety of our children and it will be just a matter of time before they come back to get a permit for a heater at the site. I’m asking the council why they wouldn’t want to protect the residents who live there.”

Ozzie Knezovich, the owner of the property that Dominion Energy purchased on Center Street, said his son, who is a police officer, lives in the house next to the property and is not concerned about the safety of the facility. Kesler said he sold the lot for $75,000, and the realtor thought that was within current price levels.

Councilmember Jen Hegeman said, “If the current site was not in a residential area at the time it was built and the community just built up around it, why wouldn’t it behoove Dominion to move it somewhere that is not high density? What other areas did Dominion actually look at and would it incur more money to build other places? If your CEO can make millions, why would there be an increase in prices to the customer if you build somewhere else? Besides who would want to build a house right in front of the regulatory station if you move it to the back of the lot?”

Kesler said they have to go with cost-effective decisions and he was told some of the other sites were not available. When they found this property was for sale, they stopped looking.

Williams asked Harris what the options were for Dominion. Harris said if the application was denied that Dominion could come back with another plan.

Councilmember Sellers asked Harris what he would have done about the planning and zoning commissioner not excusing himself.

Harris said it was not up to him and closed the public hearing at that time. He read the code to the council regarding their duties to approve, conditionally approve or deny the application/decision of planning and zoning.

Councilmember Lind said if there had never been a regulatory facility in a residential area, he would say no and then made a motion to approve the conditional use permit for Dominion Energy with conditions. Councilmember Lynch seconded, and discussion followed.

“My concern is we should do it right the first time,” Sellers said. “Dominion’s attorney saying they will not build a heater at this time concerns me that we will have to come back and go through this again.”

Harris said if the council states what the conditions are, that is what Dominion Energy will have to abide by.

Williams called for a vote and Lynch, Lind and Williams voted to approve, with Sellers and Hegeman voting against the project.

Dominion Energy was granted the conditional use permit with the following conditions: the facility will be build on an easement not to exceed 4582 square feet; will be surrounded by a concrete wall of which the height and appearance will be determined by the commission and approved as part of a site plan approval by staff; no line heater shall be constructed or placed on the property without separate approval; a landscaping plan must be approved by planning staff; the station/facility shall utilize automated valves for pressure reduction or gas flow stoppage and planning staff must approve a final site plan for the station/facility.