A local developer is appealing the approval of a new Costco warehouse to be built in north Brentwood.
The Brentwood Planning Commission on June 20 gave the green light for the proposed new store south of Lone Tree Plaza and east of Heidorn Ranch Road. The approval would have been final had West Coast Home Builders, an Albert D. Seeno III company, not filed the appeal, requesting the City Council reconsider it.
The council will hear West Coast Builder’s appeal at its regular 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall.
Under the appeal filed June 28, attorneys for West Coast Builders argue that the environmental documents the city used for the project are outdated and the proposal should be denied or at least continued for further environmental review.
In an earlier letter to the Planning Commission on June 20, the developer’s attorneys noted that the city approved the environmental documents for the area’s specific plan in 2018 and then adopted an addendum, changing the land-use designation for the 19-acre parcel from transit/mixed use to regional commercial in in 2022. The project, they say, is “not consistent with the development standards” of the new version and it will have site-significant effects not previously reviewed.
The attorneys, in their letter, further argued that the proposed warehouse, tire shop and gas station will have environmental effects that were never previously studied. They say the proposed gas station and improvements to the parcel are “likely to cause environmental damage or substantially and unavoidably injure fish or wildlife or their habitat as well as create potential public health hazards.”
The city, meanwhile, has asserted that the proposed project is consistent with the land use designation and densities that are mapped out in the area’s specific plan for which an environmental review was certified.
“CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) law allows a streamlined environmental review process for projects that are consistent with the densities established by existing zoning, community plan or general plan policies for which an EIR was certified,” City Manager Tim Ogden said in an email.
City staff has recommended denial of the appeal, he said.
The Costco warehouse project would be built on two vacant parcels, with nearly 20 acres being developed and the rest undeveloped at this time. The warehouse would include a bakery, pharmacy, optical center, hearing aid testing center, food court, alcohol sales, and tire sales and installation center.
West Coast Builders, meanwhile, hopes to erect hundreds of single-family homes at the end of Sand Creek Road just south of the planned Costco project. The plans are currently under review.
Check back for updates.