West SJ residents continue to fight proposed Costco plan ahead of city council vote

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A recent opening of a North Bay Costco brought along celebrity appearances, giveaways and lots of excitement. But the possibility of a new warehouse store in the South Bay is being met with much different emotions.

Shuttered storefronts in West San Jose may soon be demolished and revitalized.

The San Jose city council will vote Tuesday to turn part of the WestGate West Shopping Center into a brand-new Costco.

But hundreds of neighbors have written letters in opposition.

"This is just a nice neighborhood area," Wesley Lau said. "Traffic is already bad as it is. And I think this area is not meant to be a commercial district."

The city says the Costco will bring in about $2 million in sales tax revenue annually and 250 to 300 jobs.

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To help with congestion, much of the parking will be located on the roof of the building.

Currently, the closest Costco's are about 6 miles away from this proposed site.

"For me, Costco coming to this area would be great because it would be convenient," Greg Henderson said. "I live right nearby and I can just come over here and do my shopping."

It's a positive for many, but residents still have concerns.

Marc Pawliger with Save West Valley says stores that became neighborhood favorites had to close, there's sound level concerns for nearby homes and then there's the safety worry with Prospect High School across the street.

"There's just rivers of kids that come across the intersection and there's been four injury accidents -- fortunately no one died, but certainly broken bones, just over the last year," Pawliger said.

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He worries congestion from Costco may only make things worse.

"It's going to bring 4 million car trips per year just to this little area that has never had anything approaching that," Pawliger said. "It's going to be traffic hell, to be honest."

Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei is the councilmember for this district and is in favor of the Costco development - with conditions.

They include: building a wall behind the store to reduce sound for neighbors, enhancing the pedestrian crossing at Lawrence Expressway and commissioning a traffic study to identify impacts.

But Pawliger says he still worries for the community.

"We really need to make sure that they take care of the students, kids, the neighbors and businesses around here if they're going to go ahead with this," Pawliger said.

The city council will vote on the Costco plan at their Oct. 22 meeting.