(a) Subject to subsection (b), after notice and public hearings, the Commissioner shall establish for each island a numerical limitation on the licenses for gasoline stations to take effect five years after the effective date of this section, and to be reviewed thereafter annually after notice and public hearing. The Commissioner shall make the determination based on the feasibility study mandated in Act No. 8427, Section 2.
(b) The Commissioner upon the effective date of this section shall impose a five-year moratorium on the issuance of business licenses for gasoline stations throughout the Virgin Islands. The sole basis of the moratorium is to ensure that the number of gasoline stations within these confined areas do not negatively compromise the public’s health, safety or welfare. This subsection does not apply to proposed gasoline stations that were issued a permit for the construction and operation of a gas station by the Department of Planning and Natural Resources before the effective date of this section.
(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to deny or revoke the license of an established, licensed gasoline station established in the Territory before the effective date of this section.