‘Need to keep’ Costco in Fresno, officials say as disputed northwest store nears approval
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Planning Commission approved revised Costco plans after an environmental lawsuit setback.
- New plans will be considered by Fresno City Council soon.
- City officials say they want to keep Costco from leaving Fresno over setbacks.
After a setback and revisions caused by an environmental lawsuit, plans for the construction of a massive Costco center in northwest Fresno are headed for another approval by the City Council.
Costco began looking for a new Fresno location in 2018, and city officials have indicated that the company could take its plans — a $98 million investment — elsewhere if they don’t move the project forward soon. That would mean a major economic loss for Fresno, said northwest City Councilmember Mike Karbassi.
“What’s really important is that it remains in Fresno,” Karbassi said Wednesday.
Fresno’s Planning Commission approved the new Costco plans with revised environmental and zoning documents Wednesday. Mayor Jerry Dyer’s office announced Thursday that the City Council will hear the proposal May 21.
The new store would relocate the aging Costco on Shaw Avenue to the intersection of Herndon Avenue and Riverside Drive, near the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center.
The plans were first approved in 2024, but the city quickly faced a lawsuit from the Herndon-Riverside Coalition for Responsible Planning and Development. The community group argued the area’s zoning does not allow a distribution center included in the project and that its environmental impact report was inadequate.
Fresno County Judge Jonathan Skiles agreed last year. He ruled the city had failed to show how a distribution center considered an industrial use was legal in a commercially zoned site and that the project’s environmental analysis was based in-part on a legally voided 2021 pollution-reduction plan.
The city’s new plans cite Fresno law to argue that the distribution center will function as an integrated part of an overall retail operation. The new environmental report now references a 2014 pollution-reduction plan, among other environmental standards that the city says the project adheres to.
To Herndon-Riverside Coalition attorney Daniel Brannick, the revisions still do not correct the findings in Skiles’ ruling. He told planning commissioners Wednesday that the city would have to amend its zoning laws or rezone the project site as industrial for the distribution center component to be legal.
Jobs, tax revenue, resources at risk in Costco delays, Fresno officials say
After Skiles’ ruling blocked Fresno’s Costco plans last year, Madera County Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff indicated on social media that the wholesale club could look north for a new location and business-friendly environment.
“If it were to jump the river to Madera, all those jobs would leave us,” said Karbassi, the northwest Fresno councilmember. “People that conduct business at Costco, that tax base would leave us too. And that is a lot of money.”
In a 2024 presentation to the city, Costco said a northwest Fresno store had the potential to generate almost $13 million annually in local, state and federal taxes. The city now estimates it could generate $15 million a year.
Planning Commissioner Gurdeep Singh Shergill shared Karbassi’s sentiment during his comments at Wednesday’s meeting. He appeared confident the project’s traffic control measures will adequately address safety and congestion concerns from neighbors in the area.
“We do need to keep that Costco in Fresno,” Singh Shergill said. “It’s convenient for the community members.... It’s a good thing for the consumer.”
Fresno’s Shaw Ave. Costco too small. What will new location feature?
Lynnette Dias, of Urban Planning Partners, the company planning the project for Costco, said the wholesale club’s location on Shaw Avenue was built in 1985.
“There’s not enough parking,” Dias said during Wednesday’s meeting. “There’s not enough fuel pumps, so the cars back up.”
The new location in northwest Fresno would feature 32 gas pumps, a car wash and more parking space. Its main building would be 219,000 square feet — far larger than the 134,000-square-foot Costco on Shaw.
Dias said Costco will also be making several road improvements on Riverside Drive and Herndon Avenue, including pavement resurfacing and signal improvements. She added the project has been designed to keep large trucks off of Riverside Drive.
