Carson Costco construction delayed pending appeal

Close of escrow for Costco and the construction on its Carson City warehouse was delayed Thursday pending an appeal to the planning commission's February decision to give Costco a special use permit.

A deal between Gene and Judy Lepire, owners of Comstock Country RV Resort, and the city fell through Thursday after months of negotiations.

That means the improvements agreed upon by the city and the Lepires are null, and city supervisors will hear the Lepires appeal to the planning commission decision June 15.

Details kept the agreement from being signed. The Lepires said they are making decisions one step at a time and will focus on the planning commission permit appeal before deciding what to do next.

Supervisors will hear only arguments presented to the planning commission to determine the legitimacy of the Lepires' complaints, Community Development Director Walt Sullivan said.

If the Lepires don't agree with the supervisors decision on the appeal, the next step is court. However, the lack of an agreement does not affect Costco's desire to build in Carson City.

"We don't see that a lawsuit would keep us from commencing work," said Tony Unan, Costco corporate counsel. "We're not going to slow things down."

City Building Official Larry McPhail said Costco's Roberts Managing Contractor picked up the building, grading and soundwall permits Thursday.

Construction on the property is contingent to the supervisors' hearing on the planning commission appeal and an early entry agreement to be considered Thursday, June 15.

Unan said if all goes well, construction will begin in two weeks.

An April agreement between the city and the Lepires would have cost the city $207,300 in improvements to the RV Park and Clear Creek Road. Money for the improvements would have been taken from the $3.7 million sale of about 16 acres of city-owned land to Costco. Improvements included:

- $55,000 for a soundwall on the southern boundary between Clear Creek Road and the RV Park

- $50,300 for a driveway into the RV park

- $87,000 in sewer and water connections

- $30,000 in revenues that will be lost during construction this summer

- The Lepires would have paid the city $15,000 for a 1.9 acre parcel of land bordering Clear Creek Road and Highway 395.

The Lepires share a property line with the Costco site and the proposed 148,385 square-foot warehouse is along the same edge as the RV park. The Lepires contended delivery trucks will cause excess noise and fumes.

Delivery hours were limited to 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. as long as the property remained an RV park. Costco also tried to mitigate noise concerns by moving the proposed building west 70 feet, giving more than 100 feet of space between the RV park and the store as well as putting soundwalls around their delivery area and an eight-foot soundwall on a four-foot berm on the property line between Costco and the RV Park.

Engineering changes to the site including the placement of a drainage pond near the property line caused some concerns to the Lepires that the proposed soundwall would be inadequate.

To tie up the deal, the city and Costco offered to build a wall with landscaping -estimated around $300,000 - at any height the Lepires wanted.

The Lepires countered with an offer to eliminate the berm and landscaping, build an 8-foot wall, and the city would pay the Lepires the difference in the cost from their proposal and the original wall.

The Lepires requested $145,000. In return, they would sign a release to hold the city and Costco harmless from sound, fumes, vibrations and dust.

"We had no interest in satisfying all of (the Lepires') interests and paying $145,000 as well," City Manager Jon Berkich said.

Because the wall was a condition of the planning commission permit, Costco must build the soundwall, Sullivan said. The location on the Costco property and size will be at his discretion, Sullivan said.

Judy Lepire also contended that the state permits necessary for the improvements on Highway 395 and Old Clear Creek were contingent upon a signed agreement, which the city doesn't have.

Berkich said the Nevada Department of Transportation issued the permits on three conditions, which he said the city intends on meeting. One is that the city must construct the new driveway apron from Clear Creek Road onto the Lepires property. Right of way not needed for road improvements will continued to be occupied by the Lepires. If the city damages any of the RV parks leach lines or septic system, the city must connect the RV park to the city's sewer system.