Canyon Gas Station: Tenant Locked Out

Brian Clark, who has leased the historic gas station in Santa Monica Canyon for the last nine years, found himself locked out on Tuesday morning. A chain link fence surrounded the station and Clark was told by Monica Queen, who is selling the property, that he could call and make an appointment to collect his personal belongings. Even though Queen had given him notice weeks ago that the property had been sold and that the escrow could not close until he vacated the premises, Clark said he plans to file an unlawful eviction action. ‘They have no right to lock me out,’ Clark said. ‘I never thought it would come to this.’ Within an hour of receiving Queen’s permission to enter the site, Clark had several workers on the lot stripping the contents of the station, taking away the vintage Coke machines, the neon lights, and the restored gas pumps’all of which he planned to store until a settlement can be reached. As one of Clark’s workers was unscrewing the antique ‘Canyon Gas’ street sign, he was interrupted by Queen, who said the sign belonged to her. Clark, who had painstakingly restored the station, explained that ‘all the fixtures here belong to me. She said she was planning to donate all of my fixtures to the Petersen Car Museum. But how can she donate what isn’t hers? The building and the gas tanks under the ground are what belong to her.’ After being on the market for over a year, the property, which includes the service station on Entrada Drive, went into escrow in early October. Also included in the sale is a 100-year-old house, one of the last remaining homes of the Marquez family, the original owners of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica land grant. The Palisadian-Post was unable to confirm whether escrow actually closed on Monday, as was planned according to Clark. Whoever is buying the 17,000-sq.-ft. lot is believed to be paying close to the $2.3-million asking price. ‘I’ll have to get back to you,’ is all Queen, who lives in the two-bedroom house located behind the gas station, would say when asked by the Post about the status of the sale, which appears related to settling the estate of Queen’s mother, Angelina Marquez Olivera, who died in 2002. While the property is zoned R-1, there has been a conditional use permit since 1925 for the gas station to operate in this residential neighborhood. It is leased for $2,000 a month. Tuesday’s confrontation between Clark and Queen exacerbated a game of cat and mouse which has been going on for the last two months. The wrangling began in September when Clark, along with local realtor Frank Langen, tried to purchase the property on behalf of the community and was rebuffed. ‘I feel betrayed,’ Clark said at the time. ‘We made them a full-price offer. I thought we had a deal. They seemed really happy about the idea of preserving the gas station and maybe turning the house into a museum. Then two days later there are workers here taking soil samples to see if the gas tanks are leaking. That’s how I found out they had sold the property to someone else.’ Now, in a last-ditch attempt to save the station, the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA), which represents neighboring residents, has applied to the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission to have the station, the oldest full-service gas station in Los Angeles, declared a Historic-Cultural monument. The hearing is set for next Wednesday. If SMCCA’s proposal is approved the new owner would not be allowed to demolish, alter or move the station for one year, buying Clark and the community more time. ‘It’s a race to the end,’ said Clark, who has had a lease on the distinctive orange-and-white station since 1996. ‘If escrow closes this week, before the hearing, there is nothing to prevent the new owner from obtaining a permit and tearing the station down. All we can do is hope that doesn’t happen.’ For now, the fixtures of the vintage station are in a storage facility. While acknowledging that if and when the station were to reopen there would still be zoning and variance issues to be resolved, Clark is sure a community buy-out of the property is the best way to go. ‘We can put everything back the way it was. But we need everyone to show up at the hearing on Wednesday,’ Clark said. (Editor’s note: The L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17 at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 200 Spring Street.)