Biggest Single Retail store in the Comox Valley
On July 5th, 2010, the plans for the construction of a new Costco in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, received the go ahead.
City Council has agreed to issue the necessary development permit allowing the 142,000 sq ft wholesale store and four-island gas bar to proceed in Courtenay. Although, it will be subject to a number of conditions such as storm water management, parking, landscaping and lighting.
There have been concerns made from the Vancouver Island residents of the Comox Valley in regards to noise from the Costco loading dock. In order to address these concerns, there have been arrangements made for an anti-noise wall by the loading dock and along the northern boundary of the development site located in the Comox Valley, a two-metre noise reduction fence.
Costco is planned to go alongside Crown Isle Boulevard off Ryan Road, between Home Depot and the Toyota auto dealership in Courtenay. This land is already zoned for commercial development; but detailed plans needed to be approved by the City prior to the project moving forward.
Costco will be the biggest single retail store in the Comox Valley. It is bigger than either the Nanaimo or Langford outlets on Vancouver Island and offers more full-service facilities. There will be extensive landscaping, including tree planting in and around the 687-stall parking lot in order to alleviate the appearance of the building.
Part of this Vancouver Island project provides for traffic signals at the intersection of Ryan Road and Crown Isle Boulevard in Courtenay.
The development director for Costco stated that a typical Costco warehouse provides jobs for 250 to 300 people, some of which are full-time and others part-time. The average wage is $19.17 an hour, with wages starting at $11.00 an hour to the top rate of $21.35 an hour. Some of the staffing for the new Comox Valley Costco will be transferred from other stores to provide experienced personnel on site; but they most likely they will be recruiting locally. The arrival of Costco to the Courtenay location of Vancouver Island will help create jobs for the unemployed in the Comox Valley.
Councillors unanimously supported the plan after asking several questions, in particular about the noise reduction.
To read more on this article see the Comox Valley Echo.
