Brentwood denies Seeno’s appeal of Costco project

Seeno lawyers submitted 11th-hour documents, but council members would not postpone hearing

A local developer’s 11th-hour attempt to derail Costco’s plans to build in Brentwood fell on deaf ears Tuesday, with the City Council unanimously upholding the Planning Commission’s earlier approvals for the project.

Though the commission on June 20 gave the green light for the proposed new store south of Lone Tree Plaza and east of Heidorn Ranch Road, West Coast Home Builders, an Albert D. Seeno III company, filed an appeal on June 28. Attorneys for the Concord developer argued that the environmental documents the city used for the project were outdated and asked the council to reconsider.

But a little more than an hour before the council meeting was to begin, attorneys for the builder dumped a 159-page document with more arguments against the Brentwood Costco project, which city staff said they did not have time to thoroughly review before the meeting.

The city’s legal counsel said that receiving the documents at such a late hour made it impossible for staff to analyze the information and advised the item be continued to Aug. 8, so it could be digested properly.

“I will say that as as frustrating as this is – I’m sure to a lot of the community and the public that have resoundingly responded with their thoughts on this potential motion – but I really want to make sure as we move forward that all of Council and all of the community is apprised of all the information,” Mayor Joel Bryant said.

Bryant moved to continue the item, but the motion died for lack of a second as council members were eager to hear the appeal as were dozens of residents, many who had come out to show their support of it.

The Contra Costa Climate Action Coalition had also tried to file an appeal in late June, but since it was already in the appeal process, it was denied, staff noted.

The big-box giant plans to construct a 154,852-square-foot warehouse just south of Lone Tree Plaza Drive and east of Heidorn Ranch Road near the Antioch border. Its parking lot will have room for 864 vehicles and its gas station will have 16 fueling dispensers, each with double hoses.

Also planned are five vehicle accesses, with the main entrance at the existing intersection at Lone Tree Plaza Drive and Cañada Valley Road. The Costco developer is also working with the city of Antioch to improve Heidorn Ranch Road and Lone Tree Way, Jennifer Hagen, senior planner for the city, said.

West Coast Home Builders, meanwhile, plans to erect hundreds of homes just south of the Costco site and west of Highway 4. Dubbed Bridle Gate, the now 266-home plan, which required a rezone, has been met with opposition over the years and is currently under review.

Attorneys for the home builder said in a letter that the Costco project is “not consistent with the development standards” of the new version and it will have site-significant effects not previously reviewed.

Ellis Raskin, attorney for Hanson Bridgett LLP, representing West Coast Builders, said the reason the appeal should be continued was that key documents were missing from the public record, including appendices of a traffic memo and a final version of environmental site assessments.

“We have to be able to come down to City Hall to be able to review them,” he said via zoom. “We were never given access to them.”

Later in the nearly three-hour discussion, staff made copies of all the records for councilmembers and the public.

Raskin also questioned the environmental reviews done earlier for the specific plan, which he said was originally envisioned as a transit village.

“We want the city to make sure that a project is consequential and of this magnitude in this part of the city is properly studied and evaluated,” he said.

Senior planner Hagen, however, told the council that the staff continues to believe that the project is consistent with the general plan, specific plan and code requirements and that “all associated impacts were adequately evaluated.”

Carrie Holliday, Costco real estate development director, said the warehouse giant had chosen to locate in Brentwood because the nearest stores – in Antioch and Tracy – were “heavily impacted.”

Nearly 50% of Brentwood residents are Costco members, she said, adding that locating there will mean they won’t have to travel as far. Another benefit are the 200 to 250 jobs the store will bring, she added.

During public comments, most of the speakers supported Costco, touting the benefits of shopping local, bringing tax dollars to the city and saving on gas that would have been spent shopping farther afield.

“The item here is to decide whether or not Seeno can appeal and that’s it,” Danny Dohrmann said. “We’re not talking about building Costco, not talking about whether or not they should have solar panels, whatever, it’s simply to determine if Seeno can overturn the decision you guys have already made. It’s that simple.”

Dohrmann said the builder’s last-minute open-comment letter shouldn’t hold much weight and “has the same legitimacy” of residents’ comments.

“If you allow an open comment to force a postponement, then everybody will be able to do the exact same thing.”

Andrew Becker of Antioch, however, was not supportive of the project, saying it might be convenient for residents but hardly paid a living wage.

“Yes, for the convenience of Brentwood residents, it’s great that you shop at Costco, and Costco has other opportunities in other zones of Brentwood, but this zone was intended for transit,” he said.

Mayor Bryant, however, said the area was always intended to include some commercial retail and is currently zoned for such use.

Councilmember Jovita Mendoza also supported the project, saying the city had already reviewed all of the traffic demands for commercial, mixed use and transit stations in the area.

Councilmember Pa’Tanisha Pierson also supported the Costco and was irritated by the builder’s last-minute submission of a large document.

“It takes no consideration for the public and takes no consideration for this council,” she said. “And I absolutely perceive this as a tactic to delay a process for which people have had a substantial amount of time to go ahead and respond.”

The council later unanimously agreed on a 5-to-0 vote to deny the appeal and uphold the commission’s earlier approvals for the project.

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