Willows ARCO station getting a beauty makeover

The Willows ARCO will soon get a face lift.

The Wood Street business is one of three fuel stations located at the city's high-traffic freeway interchange, but is the last to upgrade to energy-efficient lighting and a new modern look.

The proposed re-imaging project — which will include an exterior paint job and new LED lighting — pleased members of the Willows Planing Commission, who last week granted a conditional use permit for the work to begin.

"It's going to look very nice," said Commissioner Kerri Warren. "It will be nice not to see that rainbow."

ARCO, which includes the am/pm convenience store, is a subsidiary of BP (British Petroleum) West Coast Products, a United Kingdom company.

The station is to be painted a pearl color with BP's trademark blue trim, which will blend better with the city's earth tone requirements, said Karen Mantele, the city's contract planner.

The 60-foot pole sign that identifies the station from afar and the gas price monument will not change, but changes to the lighting and canopy are in addition to the new paint.

The company plans to replace the old canopy lights with new LED lights, which are more energy efficient.

The interior of the store will not change, Mantele said.

The only condition the Planning Commission put on the project was for the company to remove some of the incidental signs on the door and in the front windows of the business.

Mantele said windows and doors covered with product advertisement makes Willows police officers a little nervous about not being able to see inside, especially in the event of a robbery or hostage situation.

Chevron and Shell, located directly and diagonally across the streets from ARCO, had the same stipulation when they made changes to their structures, although Chevron has slowly allowed the number of product signs to creep back up, city officials said.

Mantel said the city has never formally adopted an ordinance restricting product signs, but has typically made their removal a condition of approval when design changes are requested.

Mantele said the city doesn't want to hamper any business's ability to advertise product availability and pricing, but doesn't want signage completely blocking law enforcement's view to the interior.

The Willows police also asked for additional lighting to be installed around the east, west and north sides of the building.

The Fire Department's only stipulation was the building comply with fire code regulations that require address signs to be visible from the entrance and contrasting in color from its background.

Work will likely begin when weather is permitting, city officials said, but calls to BP West Coast Products for confirmation were not returned.

CONTACT Susan Meeker at 934-6800 or smeeker@tcnpress.com.