Eden Prairie’s Costco Wholesale wants to nearly double the number of pumps at its existing gas station at 12011 Technology Drive to serve more customers and reduce wait times.
Their plan was endorsed Monday, Sept. 9, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. It now advances to city council review.
Costco is proposing to add seven pumps – each pump serving two customers at a time – to a members-only station that currently has eight pumps and has been known to generate waiting lines.
The business would also enlarge the canopy above pumps, build a brick structure for staff use, install an additional underground fuel tank, and widen Costco’s eastern entrance to better accommodate cars and fuel trucks.
City officials aren’t surprised by the expansion request. Four years ago, Costco applied for a four-pump expansion but then put the plans on hold because of the pandemic.
When Costco recently re-evaluated its needs, it decided to ask the city to approve seven more pumps instead of four, according to Julie Anderson of Barghausen Consulting Engineers Inc., who spoke on behalf of Costco at Monday’s public hearing.
She said shorter lines of cars waiting for gas will attract new members and increase overall traffic by a small amount. Customer wait times will be reduced by roughly 50 percent, she added.
No additional improvements to Technology Drive are part of the project, but city staff say the temporary traffic signal installed at the western entrance to Costco will eventually need to be a permanent stoplight.
The gas station expansion will remove 16 existing parking spaces, but city staff say Costco would still exceed the city’s parking requirements, even when snow storage is taken into consideration.
There was no testimony from the public at Monday’s hearing. Commissioners voted 8-0 to recommend that the city approve the project.
“I think this is a positive expansion for Eden Prairie,” said Commissioner John Kirk. “My Costco membership is justified by fueling at the facility. Anything that can be done to decrease the wait times is a positive. I’m very supportive of this expansion.”
Added Commissioner Phou Sivilay: “I think it’s a great addition. I’ll probably go there more now.”
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