Self-Service Gasoline to be Decided Tonight

Last week, Town Meeting members significantly lessened restrictions on leaf blowers and shot down a proposed bottled-water ban. Tonight, they’ll decide whether or not to lift Arlington’s long-standing ban on self-service gasoline.

Town Meeting member Carl Wagner, of Precinct 11, submitted the self-service article, technically a town bylaw amendment, by petition. In early March, the Board of Selectmen endorsed the change in a 4-1 vote.

“I enthusiastically support this,” Selectman Joseph Curro Jr. said at the time.

Three of Curro’s colleagues echoed his sentiments. Selectman Diane Mahon, who cast the dissenting vote, did not.

“I haven’t heard from a person in my precinct, including business owners, who is in favor of this,” she said.

At the meeting, the board considered making full-service a mandatory option at every station in the wording of the article but ultimately decided against it. Self-service-only stations are required by law to accommodate disabled drivers who cannot pump their own gas.

Arlington has actually never allowed self-service at the pumps in its history. In Massachusetts, Milford, Upton and Weymouth also prohibit self-service, while Holbrook and Mendon recently removed bans.

At the state level, New Jersey and Oregon outlaw self-service.

The self-service gasoline article is second on tonight’s agenda, assuming articles are taken in order. Tonight’s Town Meeting session starts at 8 p.m. in Town Hall.

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Should Arlington’s 252 Town Meeting members lift the ban on self-service gasoline? Let us know by posting a comment below.