Fresno City Council unanimously approves plan for new northwest Costco location
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno City Council voted unanimously approve a plan to build a new Costco in northwest Fresno.
The new location at the corner of Herndon Avenue and Riverside Drive.
The new Costco will be nearly 220,000 square feet, feature a 32-pump gas station, and even have a car wash.
There will also be nearly a thousand parking spots for customers' cars.
All that traffic has been a big concern for neighborhood residents and councilmembers alike.
Last month, the city council pressed pause on the project and asked Costco to make several changes to the proposal.
On Thursday, Costco came back to City Hall to announce those changes.
"To ensure that our truck traffic remains off the Riverside Drive entrance... We've made the decision to convert that to a right-in only to keep any potential trucks from entering," explained a Costco representative.
Costco will also add a new traffic light near the parking lot.
They'll expand some lanes on North Riverside Drive, and even add a new turn lane.
Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi adds that the city and Costco are also working with the Central Unified School District.
All those changes were enough to win over the council's support.
However, for longtime neighbors like Debby Dailey, they feel like it's not enough.
"It doesn't change the fact of all the air pollution that it's going to put in to the school kids, to our elderly, and to our neighborhood," said Dailey.
Karbassi tells Action News the new Costco would also draw in shoppers from Madera County and bring more jobs to the city.
"High value jobs for the community," said Karbassi. "But it's also going to be accessible for shoppers in the neighborhood and abroad."
But neighbor Sandra Velazquez doesn't agree.
"It's just a relocation," said Velazquez. "So, they're not bringing in new jobs. Yeah, they're probably going to have a car wash, and they're gonna bring in more people. But I don't think they're going to bring in more jobs for this."
Both Dailey and Velazquez say they're not against Costco and they're not against the growth in the area, but the new Costco should be built somewhere else.
Costco representatives told council members that construction would begin this fall, and they said the new store would open next summer
The new location would replace the Costco on Shaw Avenue when that warehouse's lease ends next fall.
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