Brentwood Planning Commission Approves Costco

On Tuesday, the Brentwood Planning Commission unanimously approved to build gave thumbs up to Costco which includes a gas station.

According to the application, Costco Wholesale would construct a warehouse and a fuel facility just south of Lone Tree Plaza Drive and east of Heidorn Ranch Road. It would require two parcel re-configuration’s and require both a 19.04 acre parcel and a 4.02 parcel and break them into four smaller parcels:

Parcel A 17.79 acres (Costco retail warehouse)
Parcel B 1.66 acres (Costco fuel station)
Parcel C 1.38 acres (to remain unimproved and zoned TV/MU)
Parcel D 2.23 acres (to remain unimproved and zoned TV/MU)

The approval came with concerns from resident who cited traffic as the store anticipates more than 15,000 vehicles going in and out of the area with around 7,400 specifically to Costco.

However, the extension from Sand Creek to Heidorn Ranch Road is expected to be completed by the time Costco is open which per the traffic study would reduce traffic flow on Lone Tree by 38%. By having Costco in Brentwood, the city anticipates approximately $1 million in new tax revenues.

The project will now move forward unless someone on the Brentwood City Council opts to review the planning commission decision within 10 days.

Project Notes (see full staff report & application)

The proposed Conditional Use Permit (CUP 22-001) application is to operate the fuel facility.

The proposed Design Review (DR 22-002) application is for the development of a 154,852-square-foot Costco retail warehouse with a 5,368-square-foot entrance canopy on Parcel A, and a fueling facility with an 11,500 square foot canopy over 16 fueling dispensers, which allows for 32 fueling positions situated on Parcel B. Associated parking lot, landscaping, and access and circulation improvements will also be included on the two parcels.

Finally, a Master Sign Program (MSP 22-001) is proposed for Parcel A and Parcel B, consisting of building mounted signage for the Costco retail warehouse and Costco fueling station.

The Brentwood planning commission unanimously approved all five resolutions.

Meeting Timestamps from June 20

Perry Holiday, real estate development director for Costco assigned to development of the Brentwood store who noted it would bringing shorter drive times, 250-300 employees along with competitive fuel prices. She also stated they have a significant amount of members who travel to other Costco out of the area. In terms of philanthropy they donate 1% of revenue to local charities—would do that in Brentwood. They also contribute to sales tax revenue
1:39:30– spoke on truck delivery plan
1:48:50 — spoke about EV charging stations – will not be open at time of opening Costco, ready for charging station to be installed in the future. 2% of Costco members drive EV vehicles and as it grows, Costco will increase.
1:50:30 – any procedures for cleanup of fueling stations – Costco says they have a decommission process in place.
1:53:23 – bike path concerns + improvements. Costco says no plans to eliminate bike paths along frontage roads. The addition of new turn lanes is able to be incorporated to maintain that service.
1:56:20 – Solar + renewable energy
2:01:20 – Sand Creek Extension / Heidorn / Costco – staff explained Costco has worked with the City of Antioch on improvement which Antioch has provided letter they are supportive of project with suggested intersection improvement—no agreement or timing at this time, but agreement in overall scope of project. No bike lane additions but would not eliminate bike lanes.
2:03:30 – Brentwood Traffic Engineer has read the traffic study who said “you can’t build this without Sand Creek road” and they listened. Will be an increase of traffic but Sand Creek Road extension is not going to help just Costco, but In-n-Out, Home Depot, coupled with Laurel Road opening, he didn’t think this was going to be as bad as people think. Called it a good job addressing concerns he had come up with—assumption was 10% would use Sand Creek Road, he think its going to be 30-40%. Since its in Antioch, they went with 20%. He urged those worried about traffic that “this is going to work fine”. People will figure out when a good time to go, and when not to go. Engineer said he didn’t believe his phone would ring any more than it does now.
2:06:00 – anything you would do to improve circulation? Engineer said the speed bumps were not placed by the city, they were all private. One of the first things I told the consultant was to takeout the first speed bump because it bumps everyone up into Lone Tree Way – Costco does not have the power to remove this. Accomplished modifying In-n-Out to stop the backup onto Lone Tree way. Said Costco has done their homework and thanked Antioch for going along with it. Said this is something both Antioch and Brentwood both need and this project was as good as your are going to get in terms of traffic.
2:15:20 – Zeigler requested extending fence on the property
2:18:00 – Planning Commission Vote

Project Proposal

Retail Warehouse

The proposed retail warehouse includes approximately 152,000 square feet of gross lease area that would include:

bakery
pharmacy
optical center
hearing aid testing center
food court
alcohol sales
testing/samples,
tire sales and installation center,
as well as a 5,368-square-foot open air canopy at the entrance.

The planned retail warehouse hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. It should be noted that while these are the hours as proposed by the applicant, since operation of the warehouse retailer is a permitted use, they can be modified at the applicant’s discretion in the future.

Retail Tire Center

The 5,275 square-foot tire sales and installation facility with five installation bays would be incorporated into the retail warehouse footprint. A promotional vehicle may be on display at the entry to the building. This vehicle is only to promote online or off-site vehicle sales; no vehicle sales would be permitted on-site.

Site Plan and Access

The Costco site would have a total of five vehicle access points. The main access point would be the existing intersection at Lone Tree Plaza Drive and Cañada Valley Road. Four additional driveways will be provided along Lone Tree Plaza Drive. The driveway to the west of the main access and two to the east would primarily be used for delivery trucks. The fifth access point would also be constructed along Lone Tree Plaza Drive and traverse through the outer vacant parcels to provide access to the southwest of the Costco site.

Pedestrian circulation would be accommodated by sidewalk improvements along the two Costco parcel frontages on Lone Tree Plaza Drive, with a connecting path running east and west through the center of the development to the entrance of Costco, as well as a sidewalk and path of travel running north and south connecting to the Mokelumne Trail. This connection is consistent with the vision of the PA-1 Specific Plan, and specifically Goal LU-5, to provide a 10- foot wide multi-use trail connecting the Mokelumne Trail to the project site, as well as the northwestern portion of the Specific Plan area.

Note: Parking – The Costco project would create 864 parking spaces to serve the retail warehouse and fueling station

Other local Costco locations include: City of Antioch, City of Concord, City of Danville, City of Livermore, City of Tracy.

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