The Denver City Council may hear a proposal in February to limit the number of gas stations built in the city. The Denver Planning Board on Thursday approved the proposal to slow down the building of gas stations, which proponents said would preserve more land for housing.

Denver City Councilmembers Amanda Sawyer and Paul Kashman are co-sponsoring a bill with Council Pro Tem Diana Romero Campbell that would amend the city’s zoning code to prohibit the building of new gas stations within 1/4 mile of an existing station, 1/4 mile of a light rail station, and within 300 feet of “low-density” residential neighborhoods.

“We started getting all of these emails in from residents, saying like, this is getting crazy. What is going on here?” Sawyer said. “We are desperate for housing. Where larger multi-unit housing should go is along transit corridors… and that land is being bought up and gas stations are being built there.”

Sawyer said research from the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Retailers Council shows fuel demand in Denver remains flat, and more gas stations are not needed.

“Denver’s a landlocked city, and we need to be sure that we’re making the best use of what little available land we have,” Kashamnn said. “We started getting calls a few years ago from people wondering why the heck we’re continuing to build gas stations in areas that already have a proliferation.”

The plan, though, was met with pushback at the Planning Board meeting by an executive from QuikTrip Corp.

Quiktrip, which did not return 9NEWS’ request for comment on the proposal, argued the plan would have unintended consequences. The Quiktrip executive argued the areas along the transit corridors are less desirable for residential use, and fewer stations would bring less competition and higher prices.

According to the executive who spoke at the meeting, Quiktrip has two locations in Denver and others in the works. He warned that a one-size-fits-all approach would not work.

“Take additional time to study some of the unintended consequences that will come from the gas station zoning amendment,” the representative from the corporation said.

But that argument fell flat among some councilmembers.

“People aren’t moving out of Denver because of the price of gasoline,” Kashmann said. “They’re moving out of Denver because they can’t afford to live here. “

Gas stations that submitted plans to be built before mid-May 2024 would be exempt from the zoning. Existing stations would be allowed to add on to their current stations.

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