Redwood Valley Residents File CEQA Lawsuit to Block Gas Station
They are requesting a judge order a full Environmental Impact Report
Three Redwood Valley residents have filed a legal challenge against the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors’ May 19 approval of a new gas station proposed by Faizan Corporation.
The petition, filed June 22 in Mendocino County Superior Court under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), raises four claims: that the county failed to prepare a required Environmental Impact Report; that the environmental review was inadequate; that required mitigation was improperly deferred; and that the mitigation measures adopted were not sufficiently specific and enforceable to satisfy the law.
CEQA, California’s landmark environmental law, requires state and local agencies to identify significant environmental effects of proposed projects and adopt measures to reduce or avoid those impacts.
A decade of opposition
The petitioners — Christine Boyd, Frances Owen, and Patricia Ris-Yarbrough — are Redwood Valley residents who raised environmental concerns about the project during the county’s public review process. They filed without an attorney and said they are still searching for legal representation. They are asking a judge to set aside project approvals and require the county to comply with CEQA.
The project is a 10-pump gas station and convenience store at 9621 North State Street proposed by Faizan Corporation and 898 Main Street LLC, both controlled by Mahmood Alam. State records show 898 Main Street LLC has been suspended by the California Franchise Tax Board since May 1, 2025 — more than a year before the board’s vote. A suspended business entity is not authorized to conduct business or enter into contracts in California. The board approved the project on a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Ted Williams casting the only no vote. Alam did not respond to a request for comment by the time the story was published.
Redwood Valley residents have opposed the project for the last ten years. The Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council voted against the gas station five times, expressing their opposition to the BOS in a letter each time (2016, 2017, 2023, 2024, and 2026). The Mendocino County Planning Commission denied the permit in January 2024 before the board reversed that denial on appeal in May.
“It felt like a fait accompli,” Ris-Yarbrough said about the May meeting. “We were given time to speak but the decision had already been made.”
Highway work unresolved at the time of approval
Central to the legal challenge is the claim that required highway improvements had not been designed — let alone approved — before the board voted.
The project requires closing a median on Highway 101 and constructing acceleration and deceleration lanes, modifications that require a Caltrans encroachment permit that is granted through a process known as QMAP (Quality Management Assessment Process). The closure also requires modifications to the 1983 Freeway Agreement between Mendocino County and Caltrans.
Jesse Robertson, a senior Caltrans transportation planner, said the next step is for Faizan Corp. to apply for an encroachment permit. As part of the application, Faizan will have to certify they have undergone an environmental review. If the encroachment permit is beyond the scope of the area studied in the environmental document, a Caltrans environmental team can determine if further CEQA analysis is needed, including a supplemental study. If required, the additional review would be done by the Mendocino County, Robertson said.
Williams, who said he supports the decision of the majority of the board of supervisors, said the sequencing of reviews concerns him. CEQA prohibits piecemealing a project — breaking it up into smaller pieces or segments — to minimize environmental impacts.
Williams raised concerns about piecemealing during the May meeting but in a different context. At the time, he was concerned that the applicant was getting around the county’s formula store ordinance by not identifying who would run the convenience store adjacent to the gas station.
“We’re seeing an application that is piece meal,” Williams said at the time. “We’re being asked to approve a project without the pertinent information.”
What’s at stake
Faizan Corporation and Mahmood Alam have a documented history of environmental enforcement actions at gas stations the company operates across California. In January 2023, a court entered a $500,000 judgment against Alam and Faizan Corporation in a civil enforcement case brought by seven California district attorneys — including Mendocino County DA C. David Eyster — over violations at stations the company operates in six counties. The judgment includes a permanent statewide injunction requiring independent environmental oversight of the company’s operations.
In February 2019, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup and abatement order against Alam after workers at station he owned at 390 East Gobbi Street in Ukiah discharged contaminated groundwater into an open excavation during underground storage tank removal, according to the order. Both the 2019 order and the 2023 judgment were submitted to county planning staff before the December 2023 Planning Commission hearing. County planning staff said it did not consider the enforcement history in its recommendation, noting that a conditional use permit “regulates land, not individuals.”
“Here we are at the north headwaters of the Russian River and they could be polluting it for the next 40 years,” said petitioner Christine Boyd.
MendoLocal.News has requested comment from all five members of the Board of Supervisors, county planning staff, District Attorney Eyster and Mahmood Alam. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Read our coverage of the proposed Chevron gas station in Redwood Valley:
Seven California DAs Sued a Gas Station Operator, Including Mendocino County’s David Eyster. Then County Supervisors Approved His Next Station (June 16, 2026)