As a result, complainants now appeal from the Decision of the LZBAA

claiming that the latter misinterpreted the Revised Zoning Ordinance in stating that
their proposed project is not one of the allowable business under the zoning
ordinance of the City of San Jose del Monte. They claim that they have complied
with all the conditions for the proposed gasoline station. It was further claimed that
the opposition by certain residents on safety issues in relation to the operation of the
gasoline station were more imagined than real.

We find the appeal meritorious.

We shall resolve the sole issue in this appeal by first examining the contents
and relevant provisions of the current Zoning Ordinance No. 2016-84-04 of the City
of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan which the Sangguniang Panlungsod has adopted on
April 18, 2016 and, simultaneously with the City’s updated Comprehensive Land
Use Plan (CLUP) covering the years 2014 to 2024, was later approved or ratified by
the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Bulacan sometime in
_____________ pursuant to the mandates of the Local Government Code of 1991,
as amended, and of E.O. No 72, series of 25 March 1993.

It must be recalled that local government units (LGUs), including cities and
municipalities, while empowered under R.A. 7160 or the Local Government Code
of 1991, as amended, and, in conformity with existing national laws, are enabled to
continue to prepare their Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) by enacting them
through Zoning Ordinances which serves as the primary and dominant basis for the
future use of their land resources. These national laws upon which the preparation
of CLUPs and Zoning Ordinances LGUs must conform refers, for example, to Letter
of Instruction No. 729 dated August 9, 1978 which directed municipalities then to
submit their land use plans, enforcement systems and implementing guidelines,
including zoning ordinance, thru the HLURB for review and ratification. PD 933,
R.A. 7279 and E.O. No. 648, series of 1981, the Charter of the Housing and Land
Use Regulatory Board, empowered this Board to “promulgate” and “review,
evaluate and approve or disapprove comprehensive land use development plans and
zoning ordinances of local governments”.

The advent of the Local Government Code of 1991, as amended, and E.O.
No. 72, series of 1993 authorized the devolution of the powers of the HLURB to
approve and ratify CLUPs and Zoning Ordinances of component cities, including
the City of San Jose del Monte, to the Provinces thru the Sangguniang Panlalawigan
although still subject to the land use planning and zoning standards and guidelines
prescribed by the HLRB pursuant to national policies.

Zoning, as the term suggest, is the division of a city or municipality into

zones or sub-zones (e.g. commercial, residential, industrial, institutional,
agricultural, forest, etc.) according to their present and potential uses of land with
the aim of maximizing, regulating and directing their use and development in
accordance with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. It is embodied and enforced
through a locally enacted ordinance which provides, among others, such regulations
affecting uses of land allowed or disallowed in each zone or sub-zone, conditions
for allowing them, and procedures on evaluating deviations, if any. Zoning is also
concerned primarily with the use of land and the regulation of development through
the imposition of building heights, bulk, open space, and density provisions in a
given area of the city or municipality.

In the present appeal, records reveal that the updated CLUP and Zoning
Ordinance of the City of San Jose del Monte has divided or classified land uses in
the City into the following zones or sub-zones, to wit:

1. Agri-Industrial Zone (AIZ)

2. Buffer Zone (BZ)
3. Cemetery/Memorial Park Zone (CPZ)
4. Commercial Zone (C-1)
5. Commercial – Industrial Zone (C-2)
6. Forest Zone (FZ)
6.1 Protection Forest Sub-Zones: Forest Reserve Sub-Zone (FR-SZ)
6.2 Production Forest Sub-Zones: Forest Buffer Sub-Zone (FB-SZ)
7. General Agricultural Zone (GAZ)
a. Production Agri-Subzone/Agriculture Reform Zone (ARZ)
8. General Institutional Zone (GIZ)
9. Light Industrial Zone (LIZ)
10. Parks and Recreation Zone (PRZ)
11. Residential Zone- Low-Density (R-1)
12. Residential Zone- Medium Density (R-2)
13. Socialized Housing Zone (SHZ)
14. Solid Waste Disposal Zone (SWDZ)
15. Special Agricultural and Fisheries Development Zone/Protection Agri-
Subzone (SAFDZ)
16. Special Development Zone- 1 Agri-Tourism/Innovation Hub (SDZ-1)
17. Special Development Zone- 2 Mixed Use Development (SDZ-2)
18. Special Development Zone – 3 Transport Hub (SDZ-3)
19. Special Ecotourism Development Zone (SEDZ)
20. Utilities Zone (UZ)
21. Water Zone (WZ)

A reading of Sections 34 to 53, Article VII of the Zoning Ordinance shows

the City’s zoning or land use regulations applicable to or allowable land uses in the
various zones or zoning areas set forth above. For example, land use regulations or
allowable uses in Low-Density Residential Zones (R-1) permit the location of
single-detached dwelling units; semi-detached family dwelling units, e.g. duplex;
residential subdivisions approved under P.D. 957 standards; home occupation for
the practice of one’s profession such as offices of physicians, surgeons, dentists,
architects, engineers, lawyers, and other professionals or for engaging home
business such as dressmaking, tailoring, baking, running a sari-sari store and the like,
with certain conditions; home industry classified as cottage industry, also subject to
certain conditions; recreational facilities for the exclusive use of the members of the
family residing within the premises, etc. Recognizing the relevant provisions of the
National Building Code and PD 957 in the case of building residential buildings or
houses, certain building regulations were set forth too by the Zoning Ordinance,
including commercial, institutional and parks and recreation uses, respectively, in
this particular R-1 zone which shall allow, for example, the location of:

1. General retail stores and shops like:

a. bookstore and office supply shop
b. photo shop
c. flower shop
2. Food and market shops like:
a. bakery and baking of bread, cake, pastries, pies and other similar
perishable products
3. Restaurant and other eateries
4. Personal service shops like:
a. beauty parlour
b. barber shop
5. Commercial housing like:
a. Pension house
b. Dormitory or boarding house
6. Clinic
7. Messengerial services
8. Janitorial service
9. Dressmaking shop
10. Tailoring shop
11. Commercial job printing
12. Typing and photo engraving services
13. Repair of optical instruments
14. Repair of clocks and watches
15. Repair shops like:
a. house appliances repair shop
b. home furnishing shops
16. Plant nursery

1. Nursery/Elementary School
2. Chapel/Church
3. Special schools such as performing arts school, speech clinics, schools for
the handicapped and schools for self-defence

1. Parks and gardens

2. Land Use Intensity Control Ratings

Land use regulations within City limits intended for medium residential zone
(R-2), which is characterized mainly by low-rise single attached, duplex or multi-
level structures/residential buildings for exclusive use as multi-family dwellings,
permit all uses that are allowed in an R-1 zone. Within this R-2 zone, apartments,
boarding houses, dormitories, museums, libraries, high school, vocational school,
etc. are likewise permissible. Another land use regulation introduced is Socialized
Housing Zone (SHZ), which is a city area designated for housing [programs and]
projects covering houses and lots or home lots only undertaken by the Government
or the private sector for the underprivileged and homeless citizens.
 Moving on to land use regulations falling under the City’s Commercial Zones
(C-1), a low density commercial area within the city intended for neighborhood or
community scale trade, service and business activities, the following allowable uses
therein are itemized, such as:

1. Retail stores and shops like –

• Department stores • Bookstores and office
• Art supplies and novelties supply shops
• Home appliance stores • Car display and dealer
• Photo shops stores
• Flower shops • Curio or antique shops
• Pet shops & aquarium stores • Jewelry shops
• Consumer electronics such as • Drugstores
cellular phones, cameras,
laptops, home appliances and
the like
2. Food market and shops like –
• Bakery, cake, pastry and • Liquor and wine stores
delicatessen shops • Groceries
• Supermarkets • Convenience stores
3. Product showroom/display store
4. Personal service shops like:
• Medical, dental, and similar • Beauty parlor
clinics • Barber shop
• Wellness facilities such as • Dressmaking and
sauna, spa, massage, and facial tailoring shop
clinics
5. Bayad centers
6. Laundries
7. Internet café and cyber stations
8. Photo/video, lights & sounds services
9. Catering services
10. Event planners
11. Water stations
12. Courier services
13. Security agencies
14. Janitorial services
15. Travel agencies
16. Photo and portrait studios
17. Repair shops like –
• House furniture and appliances • Motor vehicles and
repair shops; accessory repair shops;
• Battery shops and repair shops; • Bicycle repair shops;
• Repair shops for watches, bags,
shoes, cellular phones, cameras,
computers and the like

18. Recreational centers/establishments like

• Play courts e.g. tennis court, • Swimming pool
 bowling lane, billiard hall
• Gymnasium
19. Restaurants and other eateries
20. Lotto terminals, off-fronton, on-line bingo outlets and off-track
betting stations
21. Parks, playgrounds, pocket parks, parkways, promenades and play
lots
22. Plant nurseries
23. Vocational/technical school
24. Special Education (SPED) school
25. Short term special education like:
• Dance schools • Schools for self-defense
• Driving school • Speech clinics
• Tutorial centers
26. Libraries/museums
27. Financial institutions/services like:
• Banks • Stand-alone automated
• Insurance teller machines
• Foreign exchange • Money lending
• Pawnshops
28. Offices
29. Parking lots/garage facilities
30. Parking buildings (aboveground/underground)
31. Engraving, photo developing and printing shops
32. Printing, publication and graphics shops
33. Manufacture of insignia, badges and similar emblems except metal
34. Construction supply stores/depots
35. Commercial housing like:
• Hotel • Apartment
• Apartel • Boarding house
• Dormitory • Pension house
• All uses allowed R-1 Zones

36. Customary accessory uses incidental to any of the above uses such
as:
• Staff houses/quarters • Parking lots/Building
• Storerooms and warehouses garage
but only as may be necessary • Pump houses
for the efficient conduct of the • Generator houses
business

Further examining the land use regulations under the Zoning Ordinance,
mostly within its Commercial Zone (C-2), a medium to high density commercial
area intended for trade, service and business activities performing complementary/
supplementary functions to the CBD, it is evident that all uses allowed in C-1 Zone
are equally permissible in this Commercial Zone (C-2). Other allowable uses in C-2
are as follows –

“2. Wholesale stores

3. Wet and dry markets
4. Shopping centers, malls and supermarkets
5. Recreational center/establishments like:
• Movie house/hectare • Stadium, coliseum
• Tennis courts & sports complex • Billiard halls, pool rooms
• Sports clubhouses and bowling alleys
• Other sports and recreational • Exhibit halls
establishments: bars, lounges, • Convention centers and
sing-along, bistros, pubs, beer related facilities
gardens, disco, dance halls • Radio and television
• Business Process Outsourcing stations
services
6. Transportation terminals/garage with and without repair
7. Display for cars, tractors, etc.
8. Motorpool
9. Hauling services and garage terminals for trucks, tow trucks and
buses
10. Auto sales and rentals, automotive handicraft, accessory and spare
parts shops, marine craft and aircraft sales yards
11. Boat storage
12. Vehicle emission testing center
13. Machinery display shop/center
14. Welding shops
15. Machine shop service operation (repairing/rebuilding or custom job
orders)
16. Medium scale junk shop
17. Glassware and metal ware stores, household equipment and
appliances
18. Signboard and streamer painting and silk screening
19. Printing/typesetting, copiers and duplicating services
20. Recording and film laboratories
21. Gravel and sand stores
22. Lumber/hardware
23. Paint stores without bulk handling
24. Gardens and landscaping supply/contractors
25. Manufacture of ice, ice blocks, cubes, tubes, crush except dry ice
26. Lechon stores
27. Chicharon factory
28. Biscuit factory—manufacture of biscuits, cookies, crackers and
other similar dried bakery products
29. Doughnut and hopia factory
30. Other bakery products not elsewhere classified (n.e.c.)
31. Shops for repacking of food products e.g. fruits, vegetables, sugar
and other related products
32. Manufacture of wood furniture including upholstered
33. Manufacture of rattan furniture including upholstered
34. Manufacture of box beds and mattresses
35. Metal Fabrication
 36. Auto repair, tire, vulcanizing shops and car wash (with garage/
parking area)
37. Commercial condominium (with residential units in upper floors)
38. Commercial housing like:
• Motel
• Condotel
39. All uses allowed in R-1 and R-2 Zones x x x”

All the foregoing land use control and zoning regulations for the City of San
Jose del Monte under its Zoning Ordinance almost follow from top to bottom the
prescribed zoning and land use control standards and guidelines of this Board which
govern the preparation of land use plans and zoning ordinances of local government
units, except for one specific allowable use that plays consistently and conforms to
the standards of use regulations for general commercial zones or C-1 and C-2 areas
under the Model Zoning Ordinance1 of this Board, but was palpably excluded or
overlooked in the adoption of the use regulations for C-1 and C-2 zones in the City’s
Zoning Ordinance: “gasoline filling stations/services stations”.

For this essentially allowable use – gasoline filling/service stations in C-1 and
C-2 zones under this Board’s model zoning standards and guidelines in preparing
land use plans and zoning ordinances of LGUs – to be visibly excluded or excepted
in the C-1/C-2 zones conceived in the City’s Zoning Ordinance is basically odd and
deserves another hard look considering its undesirable direct and indirect impact on
other primary land uses and development activities that are essentially allowed under
the ordinance to be located in the C-1/C-2 zones.

Here lies the heart of the appellants’ locational clearance application for a
PT&T gasoline filling station which they planned to locate and operate on their real
property situated 50 meters on both sides of San Jose-Marilao Provincial Road and
falls within a Commercial-Industrial Zone (C-2). Not surprisingly, the exclusion or
omission of gasoline filling stations/service stations as an allowable land use within
C-1 or C-2 zones of the City has triggered the denial of the appellants’ application
before the City Planning & Development Office and of their appeal before the
LZBAA even though the proposed gasoline station was a permitted or allowable use
under the national standards and guidelines in preparing land use plans and zoning
ordinances for general commercial or C-1 and C-2 zones.

Zoning principles and land use guidelines applicable to general commercial,

C-1 or C-2 zones recognize gasoline filling stations/service stations as an allowable
use in quasi-trade, business activities and service industries for they broadly perform
complimentary and supplementary functions to use and activities that are principally
intended in commercial zones. For example in C-1 and C-2 zones as defined in the
City Zoning Ordinance, allowable uses and activities therein includes parking lots
or garage facilities, parking buildings, pump houses, generator houses, shopping

The said Model Zoning Ordinance is also Volume 3 of this Board’s Guidebook to Comprehensive
1

Land Use Plan Preparation and the prescribed standard or guidelines for dividing land in the local
government unit into different zones or sub-zones as well as the template for allowable uses in the various
zones.
centers, malls and supermarkets, recreational center or establishments,
transportation terminals/garage with and without repair, display for cars, tractors,
etc., motorpool, hauling services and garage terminals for trucks, tow trucks and
buses, auto sales and rentals, marine craft and aircraft sales yards, boat storage,
vehicle emission testing center, machinery display shop/center, machine shop
service operation (repairing/rebuilding or custom job orders), auto repair, tire,
vulcanizing shops and car wash (with garage/ parking area), construction supply
stores/depots, or commercial housing like hotel, apartment, apartel, pension house,
etc.

In order to strategically locate and successfully operate the foregoing land

uses or types of industry and trade activities, plain business logic or economic and
social necessity dictates that gas/diesel filling stations/service stations be accessible
to or within their reach in order to serve their complimentary and supplementary
functions for the direct and indirect needs of the industries that rely on their services.
For how may the above uses and activities run their gasoline/diesel-powered motors,
engines or generators and, eventually, manage their investment, business operations
and other relevant or support trades to thrive and flourish within C-1 and C-2 zones
if the complimentary functions of the subject locational clearance is denied from the
appellants and even others who are similarly-situated and qualified to operate
gasoline filling stations in their C-1 or C-2 located properties.

Assuming arguendo that in the commercial areas of the City other gasoline
filling stations/service stations already exist and/or operate under similar or different
commercial brands, thus, makes the proposed gasoline station of appellants in excess
of the requirements of the LGU, following the provisions of the local zoning law to
its logical conclusion will unavoidably and compulsorily make these otherwise
allowable uses or existing gasoline stations in the City suffer the identity of “non-
conforming uses and buildings”. Section 65 and 66 of the City’s Zoning Ordinance,
states, as follows:

“Section 65. Notice of Non-Conformance. Upon approval of this

Ordinance, the Zoning Administrator shall immediately notify owners
of known existing non-conforming use to respectively apply for
Certificates of Non-Conformance. Within one month upon receipt of
this official notification, the owners involved shall secure a Certificate
of Non-Conformance from the Zoning Administrator. Failure on the
part of the owner to register/apply for a Certificate of Non-
Conformance shall be considered in violation of the ORDINANCE and
is subject to fine/penalties.

“Section 66. Existing Non-Conforming Uses and Buildings. The

lawful uses of any building, structure or land at the time of adoption or
amendment of the ORDINANCE may be continued, although such uses
do not conform with the provision of the ORDINANCE, provided:

1. That no such non-conforming use shall be enlarged or

extended to occupy a greater area of land than that already occupied by
such use at the time of the adoption of the ORDINANCE or moved in
 whole or in part, to any other portion of the lot or parcel or land where
such non-conforming use exists at the time of the adoption of the
ORDINANCE;

2. That no such non-conforming use which has ceased operation

for more than one year be again revived as non-conforming use;

3. An idle/vacant structure may not be used for non-conforming

activity;

4. That any non-conforming structure, or structures under one

ownership which has been damaged maybe reconstructed and used as
before provided that such reconstruction is not more than fifty percent
(50%) of the replacement cost;

5. That should such non-conforming portion of structure be

destroyed by any means to an extent of more than fifty percent (50%)
of its replacement cost at the time of destruction, it shall not be
reconstructed except in conformity with the provisions of the
ORDINANCE;

6. That no such non-conforming use maybe moved to displace

any conforming use;

7. That no such non-conforming structure may be enlarged or

altered in a way which increases its non-conformity, but any structure
or portion thereof may be altered to decrease its non-conformity; and

8. That should such structure be moved for any reason to

whatever distance, it shall thereafter conform to the regulation of the
district in which it is moved or relocated.

Evidently, under the existing zoning law, the current crop of gasoline filling
stations or service stations in the City which lawfully uses any building, structure or
land at the time of the adoption of the ordinance, while they may continue although
their uses do not conform with the provision of the law, shall gradually suffer
business restraints, restricted capital expansions or improvements that may dampen
their competitive edges. The zoning controls adopted in their wake are designed to,
among others, disallow their use and activity from enlarging or extending to occupy
a greater area of land than that already occupied by their use, move (in whole or in
part) to any other portion of the lot or parcel of land where their non-conforming use
exists, alter their non-conforming structure in a way which increases its non-
conformity, etc. Again, although the general pattern and policy of uses for gasoline
filling stations/service stations are compatible with and allowable in C-1 and C-2
zones, the relevant provisions of the ordinance contravene this national standard and
planning guideline and in the process exclude would-be qualified business proposals
or restrict the growth or expansion of existing gasoline filling stations in C-1 and C-
2 zone in the City which are branded as non-conforming uses or buildings therein.
 Finally, another odd aspect of the zoning regulation under review is found in
the Administration and Enforcement of the Ordinance, particularly in Section 57 on
the Processing Fees for Locational Clearance.

While the use regulation for gasoline filling stations or service stations was
not only excluded but also unmentioned in any of the divided or classified land uses
of the City, particularly in commercial zones where such use is generally allowable,
the administration part of the ordinance in the processing for locational clearance
surprisingly prescribes a certain sum of fee for special locational clearance for such
uses as gasoline station, cell sites, slaughter house, treatment plant, etc. Where the
project cost is P100,000.00 and below, the fees for special locational clearance is
P1,400.00; and when that cost is above P100,000.00, the special fees are P1,400 +
50% of 1% of cost in excess of P100,000.00. Evidently, as in the case of the present
appeal, whenever gasoline filling stations are proposed to be located or operated in
the City, the local zoning regulation that applies to such use or activities are those
that suits instances of variances/deviations considering that only special locational
clearances are the available remedies for applicants. Hence, although gasoline filling
stations are planning-wise allowable uses in general commercial areas, C-1 or C-2
zones, this particular use along with cell sites, slaughter house, treatment plant, etc.
is treated and classified to be a variance situation in the ordinance requiring a special
locational clearance.

Unfortunately, the local land use control or zoning policy for this specific use
will make the rules for deviation or variance as the general rule than the exceptional
or unique cases for which they apply. The use of special locational clearance through
variance or deviation, while by itself a valid remedy, is however susceptible to some
misuse or abuse, while also fostering spot zoning by local zoning authorities, a subtle
practice that is frowned upon by land use planning laws and guidelines. Considering
that gasoline filling stations was unmentioned as an allowable use in any of the zones
or land use classifications described by the ordinance, it will not be inconceivable
for such excepted use or activity to be located not only in C-1 or C-2 zones but also
in other zones or areas of the City, such as agro-industrial, residential, industrial, etc.
zones, by the simple expedience of resorting to a special locational clearance and the
requirements of the variance or deviation provisions of the ordinance.

WHEREFORE, based on the above premises, the instant appeal is hereby

GRANTED and the DECISION of the Local Board of Zoning Adjustment and
Appeals of the City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan is SET ASIDE, and a new
judgment is hereby promulgated declaring the proposed gasoline station or service
station of the appellants as an allowable or conforming land use within their property
located along the San Jose del Monte-Marilao Road in Bulacan; and, directing the
Zoning Administrator of the City of San Jose del Monte to, upon payment by the
appellants of the required fees for the evaluation and processing of their application
for locational clearance, receive and evaluate the application for Locational
Clearance, including all supporting documentary requirements previously attached
or to be attached thereto, and to process the issuance of the said Locational Clearance
after finding all requisites for such issuance to be complete and in order.

No costs.