I made up a checklist, and surveyed 20 gas stations in London. I placed an ad, and hired a woman to drive me around for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. We were looking for any gas station that had a residence beside or behind them.
My checklist included the intersection, type of gas station, with notes about adjacent residences, location of tire compressor, location of underground storage vents. I also took photos of what was documented.
Of 20 stations surveyed :
- 20/20 had a convenience store
- 4/20 were Independent stations meaning they were affiliated with a little known or unknown gasoline brand
- 14/20 had at least one freestanding house on either side of the station or located behind the station
- 6/20 were located by a duplex, townhomes, condos or an apartment building on either side or behind the station
Dumpster and garbage handling:
- 13/20 had an enclosure for their dumpster
- Of the 7/20 that did NOT have a dumpster enclosure – 6 had a dumpster location that was not visible from the residential side, and 1 had garbage cans in a visible location
Fences:
- 18/20 stations had a fence between them and the nearest residence
- Of the 2 stations with NO fence, one had a parking lot estimated to be at least 50 feet wide between them and the closest residence. The other had a large expanse of lawn or yard between it (30+ feet) and the nearest multi-story apartment or condo building
- 2/20 stations had a chainlink fence
- 1/20 stations had a 4′ chainlink fence between the station and closest residence
- 1/20 station had a chainlink fence, 7′ or taller, with tall bushes/vines planted
- 11/20 stations had a wood fence, between 5 – 7 feet tall between the station and the closest residence
- 7/20 stations had a masonry fence between the station and the closest residence
- 1 station had both wood AND masonry fences
Tire Compressor Location in relation to estimated property line:
- 16/20 stations had tire compressors in a location far away from the closest residence (20 feet or more)
- 3/20 stations had a tire compressor approximately 20 feet or less from the presumed property line
- 1/20 station had a tire compressor approximately 5 feet from the presumed property line
Traffic Safety and Raised Curbs :
* 17/20 stations had raised curbs
* 3/20 stations had no raised curbs. These were all independent stations
(Raised curbs help direct the flow of traffic, making it safer for pedestrians who can anticipate where vehicles will enter/exit)
Underground Vent Location in relation to presumed property line (at fence):
* 10/20 were placed as far away as possible from the closest residence
* 6/20 had vents that were 15 feet or more from the property line for the closest residence
* 1/20 had a vent that was 10-15 feet from the property line of the closest residence
- 1/20 had a concealed vent location that could not be detected (presumed to exit adjacent to carwash building) approximately 15 feet from the property line
- 1/20 had a vent located ON the property line, although the neighbouring residence was set back approximately 25 feet
- 1/20 had a vent located less than 4 feet from the presumed property line. This was next to a narrow driveway, the front door and many windows of this bungalow residence. This location was truly egregious. The age of this house pre-dated the gas station in its current configuration.
Fire Safety:
- 20/20 stations had fire extinguishers mounted on their pumps
How did these 20 stations compare, statistically, to my gas station neighbour ?
- My neighbour has a convenience store (100% common)
- My neighbour had a chainlink fence (10% common) that was shorter than 95% of the other stations with fences
- My neighbour’s dumpster was completely exposed and visible from residences, like 0% of other stations
- Like only 1/20 other stations, my neighbour’s tire compressor was within 5 feet of the property line (5% common)
- A vent location very close to the property line was 10% common
- My neighbour’s lack of raised curbs was 15% common
- The lack of fire extinguishers at the pumps was 0% common.
Black Picket Fence 