A forthcoming Costco Wholesale has been approved for the second time following an appeal by a local Bay Area developer.
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Brentwood City Council unanimously approved the 154,852-square-foot Costco warehouse Tuesday after West Coast Home Builders, owned by local developer Albert Seeno Jr., filed a motion on June 28 to prevent “environmental damage” to wildlife and “potential public health hazards” that the warehouse could cause, according to records reviewed by Bay Area News Group.
At the Tuesday hearing, law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP, which is representing West Coast Home Builders, submitted a 159-page document that argued against the proposed Costco, but the document was not reviewed by the council ahead of the meeting due to its late submittal. In the lengthy document, which was reviewed by SFGATE, Hanson Bridgett LLP stressed its concern about the Costco fuel station and tire center expected to open on-site.
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“Here, the proposed warehouse retail center, tire sales and installation, fuel facility, and other proposed uses will have environmental effects that were never studied in the PA -1 Specific Plan EIR [Environmental Impact Report] (or the Addendum),” the document read in part. “Indeed, the EIR anticipated that the Project Site would be designated as part of the transit Village portion of the PA -1 Specific Plan Area; service stations are prohibited in the Transit Village land use designation. The EIR never evaluated any of the site-specific or use-specific environmental impacts associated with a large-scale retail or gasoline service station at the Project site.”
Mayor Joel Bryant proposed a motion to review the document no later than Aug. 8.
“I will say that as frustrating as this is, I’m sure to a lot of the community and the public that have resoundingly responded to their thoughts on this potential motion … I really want to make sure as we move forward that all of council and all of the community is apprised of all the information,” Bryant said at the council hearing.
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Last month, the Brentwood Planning Commission unanimously approved the new Costco at two vacant parcels south of Lone Tree Plaza Drive and east of Heidorn Ranch Road. The warehouse is expected to feature a food court, a bakery, a pharmacy, tire sales and more. It would also have fuel stations. In-N-Out, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks and MOD Pizza will be neighboring businesses.
Costco has multiple stores across the Bay Area, with sites in Antioch and Concord, which are near Brentwood. According to Bay Area News Group, West Coast Home Builders also plans to construct 266 homes south of the proposed Costco site, which is under review.