This Costco location in northwest Fresno will relocate to the El Paseo Marketplace possibly next year. Google Street View photo

This story was originally published by Fresnoland, a nonprofit news organization.

Six weeks after delaying a vote to relocate the Costco Warehouse in west Fresno, the City Council unanimously approved plans allowing the Costco to relocate, following a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday fleshing out new traffic and parking requirements.

Costco plans to relocate its current warehouse store on West Shaw Avenue to West Herndon Avenue and North Riverside Drive after the lease on its current location expires next year.

The planned 219,000 square-foot Herndon facility will be outfitted with a 32-pump gas station and additional services, including a new car wash, and a dedicated food delivery service. Costco also presented backup plans should the carwash fall through, including converting the area into additional parking or leasing the property to a third party.

In March, Council Vice President Mike Karbassi, who represents the district where the Costco will be moved, said he couldn’t support the project without more “traffic-calming measures” for the surrounding roads.

Karbassi, again, stressed the importance of probing the proposed move by bringing up the original agreement approved in 1985. The council at the time approved the Shaw location without a grasp of the problems seen today. 

“When the council back then approved the Costco in West Shaw…they made a decision, I guess in good faith, and then we’re dealing with the cluster we have today,” Karbassi said. “This is why there is so much scrutiny, especially on traffic, during this hearing. We want to ensure that 30 years from now, when this Costco is still here, the taxpayers aren’t going to have to come in and bail out this project with money we may not have.”

Pari Holiday, a real estate development director for Costco and Lynette Dias, the president and founder of Urban Planning Partners, gave a presentation during the meeting illustrating key proposals they’ve created that are in direct response to comments made by council six weeks ago.

Costco committed to prohibiting all trucks from using North Riverside Drive, including vehicles associated with other vendors, and instead use Arthur Avenue — a soon-to-be-constructed street that will run along the east side of the warehouse. 

The new 32-pump gas station was also a concern for traffic congestion, but Dias noted changes that should help alleviate those concerns. The pumps will have a longer operating schedule than the store.

“The studies have really shown that it distributes the traffic out, and we don’t end up with peak times,” Dias said. “And so it actually works a lot better.”

The Costco gas pumps currently located on the West Shaw location will also remain operational after the warehouse moves locations. 

“We’re not expecting nearly as much traffic here for fueling as it’s going to be divided between the Shaw location and this location, depending on where our members are coming from,” Dias said.

Dias also said that the company had met with Central Unified School District to make sure they felt comfortable with a new shopping hub and increased traffic so close to their neighboring schools.

In response to concerns from local residents on future property value, Dias and Holiday said that Costco doesn’t regularly collect property data. They, however, found that “homes closest to Costco increased in value at a greater rate than homes appreciated in the area generally.” 

Their presentation cited data collected from homes surrounding the Clovis Costco location. In three years after the Clovis location opened, home values within ¼ mile of the Costco increased 40.4%. By comparison, in three years after the Clovis Warehouse opening, home values within 1 mile of the Costco increased 34.4%, the company said.

Costco also worked along with the Fresno Economic Development Corporation to assess the financial impact the new Costco would have on the community. The new warehouse is expected to generate approximately $13 million in tax revenue, with about $3 million staying in Fresno County.

Jennifer Clark, Fresno’s planning director, also identified that Costco had the noise mitigation option to choose between paving the portion of Riverside Drive that runs west of the warehouse with rubber asphalt, or to erect a sound barrier “taller than the 6-foot cinder block wall” currently on West Spruce Avenue and West Herndon Avenue. 

Though Costco has currently chosen to pave Riverside Drive with rubber asphalt, Karbassi encouraged the company to engage in public outreach to make sure neighboring residents are comfortable with the new warehouse taking up much of their view. Anna Shimko, a land use attorney for Costco, noted that the request may be impractical. 

“If you consider what it would take to increase the height of the walls on private properties…we would need to go out and talk to all of those people, deal with access agreements, figure out whether the wall could be heightened, liability insurance,” Shimko said. “It’s not too surprising that Costco would choose, instead, the one simple solution to use the rubberized asphalt.

“I’m sure we would be willing to go out and talk to people, but that is not Costco’s preferred option.”

Karbassi acknowledged the potential difficulties, but hopes the group will still make an effort to reach out and give residents some input in the final decision.

“I’m not going to ask for anything specific, I’m going to leave it up to you to make the decision,” Karbassi added. “I strongly encourage you to at least try to work with the neighborhood to see if they want the option to have a higher wall or not, and it’s up to them really.”

The deal reached Thursday will also require Costco to foot the bill for road improvements on the westbound portion of Herndon Avenue, which Karbassi noted had “pretty significant erosion” on the middle lane. 

“I feel pretty uncomfortable approving this item without funding identified, or a guarantee that this road when the Costco opens will meet the standards of the[other lanes],” Karbassi said, also noting that the city will be strapped for funds as it heads into a budget deficit year. 

Public Works Director Scott Mozier noted that Herndon was originally a two lane road that was extended as a part of a widening project, and the eroded lane is a remnant of the old road. However, Mozier added that Costco has had discussions about taking on the responsibility of updating the road as a part of the project. 

“We are aware of the request, and Costco is willing to take on the repairs of the middle lane on Herndon,” Holiday said.

Karbassi also successfully lobbied to add an additional 20 accessible parking stalls on top of the planned amount. Though the current amount meets the state’s requirements, he anticipates the amount of stalls being in high demand for the new shopping center. 

The warehouse is expected to create 37 new full-time jobs. Costco also touted their commitment to investing in the community through local charities, by citing multiple examples including donating over $9 million to the Valley Children’s fundraising campaign in May 2023. 

Miguel Arias noted that Valley Childrens benefitted from Costco through funds from the company acquired through customer purchases and some voluntary payroll deductions from staff. He requested the contact info from the executive at Costco who are responsible for choosing and vetting charitable donations that Costco supports in light of the recent controversy involving executive pay. 

In Other News…

The Fresno City Council also unanimously approved the appointment and reappointment of members to multiple city boards. 

 The Disability Advisory Commission saw the appointment of Ronald Sheppard and the reappointment of Frances Reyes Acosta. 

Bard Hardie, president of RH Comunity Builders and a member of the city’s Planning COmmision, was approved to join the Civil Service Board. 

The council also approved the reappointment to the Housing Authority of Paul Idsvoog.