{"id":323499,"date":"2026-05-19T21:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/323499\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:59:14","slug":"fresnos-northwest-costco-proposal-could-face-more-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/323499\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno\u2019s northwest Costco proposal could face more litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A massive Costco<\/a> proposed for construction at Herndon Avenue and Riverside Drive would be like none other in the Fresno area.<\/p>\n

It would be the largest Costco in town and among the largest in the world. Its 219,000-square-foot main building would come with 24 truck bays along the outside and a 47,000-square-foot \u201cmarket delivery option\u201d \u2014 a distribution center-type space from where large items would be loaded onto box trucks and delivered to Costco members.<\/p>\n

That distribution space is a main reason the project\u2019s legal opponent, a community group that successfully blocked the Costco plans in court last year, is likely to reignite litigation against the city. The group\u2019s environmental lawyer, Daniel Brannick, describes it as an industrial operation that, if allowed on a commercially zoned site without an amendment to local law, would set a \u201cproblematic precedent\u201d in Fresno.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be back in court, whether it\u2019s a whole new complaint or whether it\u2019s, \u2018Hey, the city hasn\u2019t complied with the existing judgment,\u2019\u201d said Brannick, who represents the Herndon-Riverside Coalition for Responsible Planning and Development.<\/p>\n

The coalition sued the city shortly after it first approved the project in 2024. Last year, Fresno County Judge Jonathan Skiles ruled<\/a> the project\u2019s environmental analysis was inadequate because it was based on a 2021 pollution-reduction plan that had itself been thrown out in a separate court case, and that the city had also failed to prove that its own laws allow the distribution space.<\/p>\n

The analysis now cites<\/a> a 2014 pollution-reduction plan instead, which the city says is just one on a list of environmental standards the project will adhere to. Planning documents also now include a section<\/a> that cites Fresno\u2019s Municipal Code to justify the project\u2019s distribution space. Brannick says neither move is likely to satisfy the court ruling.<\/p>\n

Fresno\u2019s City Council is scheduled to again consider the project on Thursday. Some officials are eager to re-approve the project, calling it a crucial investment that could leave Fresno if delays continue. They expect the new Costco, a $98 million project that would replace the aging store on Shaw Avenue, to generate millions in local tax dollars each year.<\/p>\n

Though the Herndon-Riverside Coalition has been accused of trying to kill a growth project, Brannick said the city\u2019s response to his group\u2019s lawsuit serves as another example of the city \u201cworking for who is at the development counter\u201d rather than concerned residents.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Fresno Bee, the city said: \u201cBy definition, the role of the counter is to process applications submitted to the City by who is at the development counter or online.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A A tractor works in a large empty lot across from businesses in the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center in northwest Fresno. The lot has been designated to be Fresno’s largest Costco but zoning and environmental analysis setbacks have delayed the project. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com Why doesn\u2019t Fresno amend city zoning law to allow distribution center?<\/p>\n

The city describes the proposed northwest Fresno Costco as a \u201clarge format retailer\u201d \u2014 a category that includes warehouse clubs and other large stores. Fresno law says these stores are allowed to have \u201cintegrated delivery services,\u201d which the city has previously approved for Walmart in a commercial zone.<\/p>\n

Even if it weren\u2019t considered an integrated part of the store, city law would allow the distribution space as an accessory use to the retail warehouse because it is associated with the store\u2019s primary function, city documents say.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs is evident to anyone who has visited or shopped at a large-format retailer or grocery store, modern retail uses incorporate both opportunities for in-person shopping and delivery to customers,\u201d the city says in a planning document.<\/p>\n

But to Brannick, Fresno\u2019s Municipal Code simply does not allow the type of distribution space proposed in the Costco project \u2014 one with two dozen truck bays, which he said is far more than any big box store on Shaw Avenue has.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see two dozen truck bays on warehousing and fulfillment projects,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see them on commercial retail projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brannick said the Costco proposal could abide by the city\u2019s current zoning law if its distribution space is removed or if the project site is rezoned to light industrial. Or, he added, the city could amend its zoning law to allow the distribution space with additional permitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that would need to go through a legislative process,\u201d Brannick said.<\/p>\n

The city said it has not pursued a code amendment because it is processing the application it has received.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City has not received an application to modify the municipal code,\u201d the city said.<\/p>\n

\"A A tractor works in a large empty lot across from businesses in the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center in northwest Fresno. The lot has been designated to be Fresno’s largest Costco but zoning and environmental analysis setbacks have delayed the project. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com Would new Fresno Costco proposal set a \u2018problematic precedent\u2019?<\/p>\n

To Brannick, approving the Costco with the distribution space but no rezones or code amendments would allow city departments to push through potentially harmful projects proposed by developers and industrial landowners in the future without a public process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they\u2019re saying it\u2019s an accessory use, it would be something that could happen as an administrative approval,\u201d Brannick said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a director sign-off.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that means some projects would be pushed through without reviews based on the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, and without public hearings.<\/p>\n

In its planning documents, the city called Brannick\u2019s claims \u201centirely speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing in the City\u2019s determination implies that a standalone MDO (distribution space) would be allowed in a commercial zone,\u201d the documents say.<\/p>\n

The city added in its statement to The Bee that any use \u201ccalled out as administrative must comply with CEQA during the processing of a specific project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Erik Galicia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea\u2019s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert. Erik\u2019s work is supported through the California Local News Fellowship program.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive Costco proposed for construction at Herndon Avenue and Riverside Drive would be like none other in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-323499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}