Buellton’s about to get one of the only art deco Arco’s in the United States.
After seven long years of fighting the city over its Avenue of Flags design requirements, Arco gave in!
“I think you guys know me very well by now. We’ve been here many times,” Alex Cuevas told the Planning Commission, which finally approved AGC Design Concept’s Arco gas station on Avenue of Flags! “I can’t tell you how difficult it’s been for us because we’ve been the middle person.”
Cuevas and company has negotiated between a national gas station chain with a pretty specific look and Buellton, which wants its “big” street to pay homage to the 1920s. I’m not sure why. Is it competition with the Denmark of California?
In 2022, Cuevas told the commission that Arco was insistent on being itself—red, blue, and white all over (my words). It seems that Buellton is the little city that could.
“I’m glad you guys finally came up with a very nice art deco plan,” Planning Commissioner Marcilo Sarquilla said. “This is unique, and it’s a nice way to come into Buellton.”
It’s important that Buellton have very nice, unique gas stations, you know? That way it can set itself apart from other roadside stops with more than half a dozen gas stations per square mile.
I wonder if the bathroom will have a lounge—with eclectic wallpaper, thick carpet, a fainting couch, and an ensconced gold-framed mirror or three. That would be nice. I need a spot to relax and eat my recently purchased Flaming Hot Cheetos and guzzle my Arizona Iced Tea while I gas up on the cheap right off Highway 101!
It didn’t come up. But the Shell station down the street is also getting an art deco revamp—gas stations need to be classy in Buellton—and the bathroom will apparently be something to see!
“It’s going to be best in class for us,” Conico Oil Company company representative John Yu told the commission. “When you think of gas station bathrooms, … you open up the door and you hope that there’s no dead body inside.”
While there’s no guarantee you won’t find that in this particular gas station, at least it’s going to feel like another world. Don’t worry about that dude slumped against the wall, you know? This bathroom is going to be sexy—no key attached to a well-used broom-stick handle over here.
“There’s an aversion in the planning community to gas stations,” Yu said. “I know it’s not sexy … but it’s still a necessity.”
Art deco is sexy. If planners need to create sexy gas stations, Buellton is the place!
And if anyone is thinking about putting a battery energy storage facility in Santa Maria, think again! The city is in the middle of placing a de facto ban on the things for public safety concerns over their potential environmental and hazardous impacts.
I feel bad for the developer who already has a permit approved to build such a facility in Santa Maria and now has to beg for a time extension—a usually pretty standard ask. Well. It’s not going to be so standard this time. Santa Maria is a no-fly zone.
The Canary always flies over Santa Maria. Send maps to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 24 – May 4, 2025.
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