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The building of a Costco Wholesale store in Roseburg is coming closer to reality, thanks to a public process that has made supporters and detractors alike happy.
The Roseburg City Council made a wise move in approving the first reading of an ordinance necessary for the store construction to move forward. We encourage further approval when the second reading comes about at the council's Sept. 14 meeting.
The addition of a Costco store is clearly something Douglas County residents want, and the Issaquah, Wash.-based company has given every indication that it wants to be in our county. Its persistence in finding a new Roseburg site after previously sought locations didn't pan out demonstrates the company's commitment to our area.
More significant was the company's willingness to apply for a zone change and annexation into the city of Roseburg for the 29 acres of property on which it plans to build on Northeast Stephens Street. That was a key component in advancing the development. Requesting the land-use change meant the company had to present its case during public hearings before the city's Planning Commission, City Council and community residents.
Those public hearings gave the public and local agencies an opportunity to weigh in on the effects of placing a 148,000-square-foot membership warehouse store and 16-pump gas station on land next to the county's nonprofit campus. It's best that a development of this magnitude — construction costs are estimated at $25 million to $35 million and traffic is expected to increase by 13 percent in the vicinity of the store — is given a thorough examination in an open government process and the zoning is appropriate for the use.
It's particularly important that a plan is on record for Costco, the city, county and Oregon Department of Transportation to share in the $1.09 million in needed traffic improvements to ensure safe travel into and out of the development while minimizing congestion.
We're pleased to see Costco has remained firm with its commitment of $700,000 toward those improvements and now has added $300,000 toward additional road construction. That should limit the amount taxpayers are forced to contribute toward a commercial endeavor.
Getting those costs and plans for the development out in the open was the primary goal of former Douglas County Commissioner Joyce Morgan, who had appealed the project when it was headed for county approval without a public hearing.
Seeing the public process take place has satisfied her, though she said she still believes there would have been better sites in Douglas County for the store to locate.
Winchester resident Bud Smith, who is an owner of one of the two parcels Costco is buying for the project, joins Morgan in being pleased with the public process.
“I'm especially pleased with the positive, can-do attitude that both the county and city government staff has shown throughout this entire process,” Smith said. “They've been helpful and I know they sometimes don't get the acclaim they should.”
While this project is taking longer to come to fruition than many residents would have liked, we're pleased to see that it's taking the shape of a winning proposition. We look forward to seeing county residents — many of whom have been driving to Costcos in Eugene or Medford — keep their dollars in the local economy. The jobs that will be created in constructing and operating the store will be another positive development in our community.
The Roseburg City Council made a wise move in approving the first reading of an ordinance necessary for the store construction to move forward. We encourage further approval when the second reading comes about at the council's Sept. 14 meeting.
The addition of a Costco store is clearly something Douglas County residents want, and the Issaquah, Wash.-based company has given every indication that it wants to be in our county. Its persistence in finding a new Roseburg site after previously sought locations didn't pan out demonstrates the company's commitment to our area.
More significant was the company's willingness to apply for a zone change and annexation into the city of Roseburg for the 29 acres of property on which it plans to build on Northeast Stephens Street. That was a key component in advancing the development. Requesting the land-use change meant the company had to present its case during public hearings before the city's Planning Commission, City Council and community residents.
Those public hearings gave the public and local agencies an opportunity to weigh in on the effects of placing a 148,000-square-foot membership warehouse store and 16-pump gas station on land next to the county's nonprofit campus. It's best that a development of this magnitude — construction costs are estimated at $25 million to $35 million and traffic is expected to increase by 13 percent in the vicinity of the store — is given a thorough examination in an open government process and the zoning is appropriate for the use.
It's particularly important that a plan is on record for Costco, the city, county and Oregon Department of Transportation to share in the $1.09 million in needed traffic improvements to ensure safe travel into and out of the development while minimizing congestion.
We're pleased to see Costco has remained firm with its commitment of $700,000 toward those improvements and now has added $300,000 toward additional road construction. That should limit the amount taxpayers are forced to contribute toward a commercial endeavor.
Getting those costs and plans for the development out in the open was the primary goal of former Douglas County Commissioner Joyce Morgan, who had appealed the project when it was headed for county approval without a public hearing.
Seeing the public process take place has satisfied her, though she said she still believes there would have been better sites in Douglas County for the store to locate.
Winchester resident Bud Smith, who is an owner of one of the two parcels Costco is buying for the project, joins Morgan in being pleased with the public process.
“I'm especially pleased with the positive, can-do attitude that both the county and city government staff has shown throughout this entire process,” Smith said. “They've been helpful and I know they sometimes don't get the acclaim they should.”
While this project is taking longer to come to fruition than many residents would have liked, we're pleased to see that it's taking the shape of a winning proposition. We look forward to seeing county residents — many of whom have been driving to Costcos in Eugene or Medford — keep their dollars in the local economy. The jobs that will be created in constructing and operating the store will be another positive development in our community.
