Neighbors welcome changes to plan for new Costco store

Oct 09, 2009 (North County Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Neighbors of Costco Wholesale Corp.'s San Marcos store embraced plans Thursday for a replacement store, after learning the company had moved a proposed gas station farther from their homes and tweaked the construction proposal in other ways.

"I think they listened to the neighborhood, and they made good changes that are good for everybody," neighbor Mike Bajema said, after the changes were explained during a public workshop at City Hall.

His Palomar Drive home is just north of the Costco store off Nordahl Road.

"I think (the revised plan) is functional for them, and it's functional for us," Bajema said. "It's just nice to see a company the size of Costco listen, and it's a good project."

Costco owns and operates a chain of warehouse stores across the country. Each sells discounted food, clothing and other merchandise to people who buy annual store memberships.

Most of the stores include pharmacies, tire shops and food courts; many also have gas stations.

The San Marcos Costco opened in 1984, has 134,818 square feet and employs 310 people. Company officials told the city this summer that they want to replace the existing store with a new, 148,283-square-foot one.

The plan calls for the new building to go up on the site of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop now behind the existing Costco. The motorcycle shop's owner has agreed to sell his property to Costco and move his business somewhere else in San Marcos.

The existing Costco store would be torn down once the new one is ready to open.

Thursday's workshop was the second the company has held for the project. Fewer than 20 people attended an initial session last month, with most of them identifying themselves as residents in the Vallecitos neighborhood, which is separated from Costco's property by a relatively narrow buffer area to the north.

The neighbors all said they liked the idea of a new and bigger Costco store.

They voiced strong opposition, though, when company representatives said the plan included an eight-pump gas station and a possible car wash in the northeast corner of the existing store's parking lot.

The revised plan shows the gas station closer to the store. Costco representatives also said they turned the car wash -- which the company has not decided whether to build yet -- so its loud end would face the store rather than the neighbors.

An 8-foot sound wall was also added along the northern property line, the size of a planting area along that edge of the property was nearly doubled to 18 feet, and the addition of trees and hedges meant to block noise and neighbors' views of the store and its gas station were some of the other changes made.

Company officials also ran down a list of changes they said will alleviate issues people raised at the first meeting in regard to the existing store. Most of the complaints were noise-related, such as nighttime lights and alarm bells, the power-washing of an outdoor food court and shopping carts, and alleged after-hours partying by employees among concerns singled out by the neighbors.

Mario Omoss, a vice president for Costco, told the group his company is committed to being a good neighbor.

"We want everybody in the community to be happy," he said.

Palomar Drive resident Patricia Bransford told Omoss that she and the other neighbors appreciated Costco officials' response to the residents' concerns. Speaking after the workshop ended, Bransford's husband, Bill, said the group plans to continue following the project, which is scheduled to go to the city's Planning Commission on Nov. 2 and to the City Council on Dec. 8.

"It's a good beginning," he said. "They're listening to us, which is always surprising when a company that size listens to you. So we're satisfied with the progress."

To see more of the North County Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.nctimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, North County Times, Escondido,
Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints,
email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send
a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee
Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index