Windsor could become first in Sonoma County to repeal its ban on new gas stations. Here's why
Windsor could become the first municipality in Sonoma County to walk back efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by repealing the town's nearly four-year-old ban on new gas stations.
That move, up for Town Council consideration Wednesday, May 6, comes after Mayor Rosa Reynoza requested staff bring forward a proposal last month.
The majority of the council was in favor of a discussion. Council member Sam Salmon said he would vote against a repeal.
The move comes at a time of surging gas prices nationwide amid market upheaval tied to the war with Iran. New electric vehicle purchases also are dropping in California and across the U.S. after the end of state and federal tax incentives.
Windsor's general fund, meanwhile, is ailing, and though gas tax receipts showed local revenue from gas stations climbing at least through 2024, eventually the ban and wider adoption of clean-fuel vehicles, as projected years ago, would have translated into less revenue.
In California, gas taxes are a key funding source that supports municipal road work.
When the Windsor council unanimously enacted the station ban in September 2022, it was touted as an important part of a regional strategy to combat climate change.
At the time, statistics from the county's Regional Climate Protection Authority showed the transportation sector accounted for 60% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the county. In effort to reduce emissions and speed the transition to electric vehicles, Windsor was one of 11 jurisdictions in Sonoma and Napa counties to adopt a ban on new stations between 2021 and 2025.
Sonoma and Napa counties with a gas station ban
Eleven municipalities across Sonoma and Napa counties passed bans on gas stations between 2021 and 2025. Those municipalities include:
* Santa Rosa
* Petaluma
* Rohnert Park
* Cotati
* Sebastopol
* Sonoma County
* Napa
* Calistoga
* Yountville
* St. Helena
* American Canyon
Other North Bay jurisdictions with gas station bans include Novato, San Anselmo and Fairfax.
The ban prohibited construction of new gas stations while allowing existing stations to continue to operate as "non-conforming" businesses under the town's code. While those stations can remodel to accommodate electric vehicles, under the town's new code, they are prohibited from building additional fuel storage or gas pumps.
The bans came as incentives for electric vehicles from the state and federal governments were at an all time high. In 2022, the state's rebate program offered buyers between $1,000 and $7,500 for new vehicle purchases of battery-powered electric vehicles, hybrid plug-ins and fuel cell cars. Other programs, like Clean Cars 4 All, offered up to $12,000 for income-qualified buyers to replace older vehicles. Federal tax credits offered up to $7,500 for new electric vehicles and $4,000 for used electric vehicles.
But the state's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project ended in November 2023. In September 2025, under a shift by the Trump administration, the federal tax credit program ended as well.
Purchases of new electric vehicles dropped, especially in California, where they had risen every year since 2020. Just over 79,000 new electric vehicles were purchased in California in the last three months of 2025, down nearly 38% from the preceding quarter, before the federal credit ended and about 31% lower than the same period in 2024, according to figures from the California Energy Commission.
While purchases of used electric vehicles are surging nationwide, quarterly sales of new EVs continue to drop, to 63,461 new electric vehicles sold in California in the first three months of this year, including 1,001 vehicles purchased in Sonoma County.
How that slump affects Windsor's budget - if at all - was unclear, at least in town staff reports for Wednesday's discussion.
Windsor staff pitched reconsideration of the gas station ban as another way for the town to generate more revenue.
Windsor faced a $19 million shortfall in its 2025-27 two-year budget cycle: $9 million in 2025-26 and $10 million in 2026-27, requiring a $6 million cut in spending and postponement of another $6 million in deferred maintenance. Reserves made up the $8 million remaining shortfall.
With sales tax and operational costs, including for police staffing, continuing to climb, the town projects a general fund deficit of up to $5 million for the 2027-29 budget cycle.
Gas tax revenue accounts for about 8% of Windsor's total sales tax revenue. Those receipts climbed from $292,000 in 2020 to $442,000 in 2024, according to the latest available figures.
Town staff warned that new or expanded gas stations might not necessarily correlate to more sales tax revenue, noting that Windsor drivers could simply redistribute the same number of gas purchases at the new stations.
The council meets Wednesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. at the Windsor Town Council Chambers, 9291 Old Redwood Hwy, Building 400. The meeting is accessible via Zoom, but public comments cannot be made online.
Amie Windsor is the Community Journalism Team Lead with The Press Democrat. She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218.
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