Plumas Lake: Long wait for Lally Mart

The Lally Mart gas station and convenience store coming to Plumas Lake is long awaited by residents there, but it's also been a long time in the planning.

Pami Lally, whose family already owns gas station/mini marts in Linda and Olivehurst, said she began looking at potential sites off and on in Plumas Lake a few years ago.

"We just had some other projects going on at the time," said Lally, who hopes to begin construction by March and open the store and station by July or August. "It just wasn't the right time then."

When it opens, Lally Mart will have a car wash in addition to gas pumps, and the store will serve fresh and packaged food items, she said.

Residents Daniela and James Feldhausen said they were overjoyed to hear there would be a gas station nearby. Now, many residents drive north to Olivehurst to fill up on gas before commuting south to jobs in Sacramento or Roseville.

"I've been trying to figure out how to get some money together and open one myself," Daniela Feldhausen said with a humorous tone. "Now we need a pizza stop and a pedicure salon and I'll be set."

She and her husband said the Walgreens in Plumas Lake, where they were picking up some snacks on Monday, is probably the most profitable in Northern California because they and their neighbors have nowhere else close to shop.

Lally and county officials said they hope Lally Mart opening up draws other business owners who think it's a good time to invest in Plumas Lake.

But based on her experience, Lally said, the county's got to make it easier.

"The permits weren't hard," she said. "But if they want to get businesses out there, they need to get the fees down."

— Ben van der Meer