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Costco conditional zoning at Sand Hill Road

At a glance

  • What: Amended conditional zoning for a Costco warehouse store with fuel station (about 168,000 square feet, 32 fuel pumps) on about 25 acres at 264 and 274 Enka Heritage Parkway and 1455 Sand Hill Road, a brownfield site.
  • Where it stands: Approved unanimously by council on October 13, 2026, after Planning and Zoning review on October 7.
  • Next: Technical Review Committee approvals through next spring; applicants hope to break ground next summer and open the following spring.

Proposal and modifications

  • Replaces the 2023 plan for three speculative warehouses (one of 136,000 square feet already built).
  • Tree canopy preservation at 13% instead of 15% (the site also has about 241 added landscape trees; including trees across the county line the applicant counts 16%).
  • Less ground-floor window area than commercial expansion requires; sign dimensions set in the plan; sandwich board up to 72 by 48 inches (added at the meeting).
  • Up to 950 parking spaces (914 shown) and 50 bicycle spaces; 10-foot multimodal path and a landing area at the Enka clock tower.

Concerns

  • Urban Forestry Commission members opposed the canopy reduction as a precedent for other developers.
  • Two area residents opposed the site because of traffic at Sand Hill Road and Smoky Park Highway and the nearby schools.
  • Council: NCDOT improvements are required outside the site and exit 44 work is under way; the city attorney said a deviation sets no legal precedent.

Applicant claims

  • 225-250 jobs at opening, 400-plus at full buildout; no tax or economic development incentives.

Sources

Discussion time

About 50 minutes across 2 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting Minutes
2026-10-13 - City Council (formal meeting) 43
2026-10-08 - Council Agenda Briefing Worksession 7

Log

  • 2026-10-08 - Council Agenda Briefing Worksession - Pre-hearing briefing: Council Member Turner asked for a side-by-side of the first round versus the current plan; Council Member Roney asked about sewer, stormwater and state road barriers; planning staff agreed to prepare a comparison. No vote.
  • 2026-10-13 - City Council (formal meeting) - Public hearing; Sam Starbomb presented; Derek Allen and Renee Rutherford for Costco; four public speakers; approved unanimously including the sandwich board size.

2026-09-22 - City Council

Public comment: a neighborhood coalition speaker said the revised plan was not sent back to the Technical Review Committee and objected to a condition waiving the tree canopy fee-in-lieu payment, saying it sets a precedent. The mayor asked for the comments in writing.