Board of Supervisors approves Costco gas pumps

Drawing of gas pumps

The proposal to add an 18-pump gas station to the Richmond Highway Costco received final approval from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The gas pumps will be located off of Ladson Lane in an area currently used for parking. Once completed, the gas station will take up about .98 acres of Costco’s 11-acre site.

The six lanes of the station will be able to accommodate up to 24 vehicles at once. There will be a canopy and a booth for an attendant, and the members-only station will close one hour after the store closes.

“This application involves provident an amenity for both current and — hopefully — future Costco members,” Costco representative James Houston said.

In his remarks Houston noted that the project had the support of the Fairfax County Planning Commission and a number of community groups. He said the company had met “several” times with residents of two communities that will be adjacent to the new station, the Audubon Estates mobile home park and the Avery Park townhouses.

“[W]e’re not aware of any opposition from them,” Houston said.

During the hearing Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay praised Costco for working with the county and neighboring communities to come up with a design that ultimately proved to be uncontroversial. The Lee District Land Use Committee voted unanimously to support the station, and the New Gum Springs Civic Association, Avery Park townhomes and Audubon Estates mobile home park were also supportive, McKay said.

A number of designs were looked at, and impacts on traffic — particularly on Ladson Lane — were taken into account, McKay said.

“I appreciate all the work that [Costco] has done and certainly appreciate the time that the community has put into making this application better, particularly Avery Park,” McKay said.

The president of the Avery Park homeowners association, which represents the townhouses located on the south side of Ladson Lane across from Costco, was the only member of the public to testify at Tuesday’s hearing. He said that while the homeowners were supportive of the plan for the gas station, he hoped that issues with speeding, out-of-state parking and trash would be closely monitored going forward.

“Talking to the [homeowners] in our neighborhood, the primary concern we do have is traffic,” James Meyers said, adding that he had been unsuccessful in getting VDOT to address speeding on Ladson Lane, which is the only access point for the townhouses and the mobile home community.

Meyers said trash is another issue, and that street parking is often monopolized by people who don’t even live in the neighborhood. Meyers said that if the traffic and other conditions persisted and worsened, he hoped Costco and the county could work together examine the problems.

McKay asked Houston if they would agree to meet with neighbors again in the future, and he agreed.

“Yes, we have told Mr. Meyers that previously, and for the record, yes,” Houston said.