Town Meeting Keeps Ban on Self-Service Gasoline

In an unexpected turn of events Monday night, the Town Meeting member who proposed the article that would have lifted Arlington’s long-standing ban on self-service gasoline asked his colleagues to vote against it.

Carl Wagner, of Precinct 11, said his proposal needs more work.

“I ask you to resoundingly vote ‘No,’” he told Town Meeting.

Less than 10 minutes later, his fellow Town Meeting members adhered to his wishes and shot down the article convincingly by voice vote.

Wagner said after speaking with a number of people leading up to Town Meeting, he now believes his article would have had unintended consequences – it could have led to self-service-only stations and “mega stations,” he said.

Wagner said he would still ultimately like to see self-service in town.

Arlington has never allowed self-service 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.