California town wrestles with policy preventing Costco from opening as residents seek cheaper gas

This California town wants to reverse its woke policy on new and expanded gas stations so it can attract a Costco store, lawmakers signaled last week.

Windsor in Sonoma County passed the law in 2022 to fight climate change, but as a repercussion, it also stymies cheaper-gas retailers like Costco from setting up there.

The move comes as Costco furiously expands across the US and California. A new Costco in the Windsor area would be the third in Sonoma County. Lawmakers want to make it happen.

“We want to signal to the Costcos of the world to say we’re open,” councilmember Mike Wall told the Press Democrat.

The new store could also help the town stop “retail leakage,” it is experiencing.

“Our retail leakage is a big problem,” councilmember Sam Salmon told the Press Democrat. “Can we get a Costco here in Windsor to help us lower this leakage? Because it is major.”

The solution that could get them their Costco? A new ordinance creating an exception to the rule to allow large retail businesses with gas stations to build new fueling stations in town. Wall suggested an exemption for “stores with a certain amount of square footage” to have gas stations “for the health of the town.”

Costco’s gas is generally up to 30 cents cheaper than other gas stations, according to US News.

Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, told The Daily Mail lifting the ban would assist people searching for lower prices.

“A Costco gas station would offer far lower prices, which I am sure is something most people in Windsor would welcome, just as they have welcomed it across the country,” Saunders told the Daily Mail. 

Wall said it would be worth it to have Costco in town for the added tax revenue.

“I don’t think we’re looking at potential revenue from gas stations,” Wall said. “But gas stations would be the unnecessary evil to have Costco in town, which would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue” over time.

Some local advocates don’t want the Costco, even if it will lessen the cost burden on consumers.

Woody Hastings, a founder of the Sonoma County-based Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations, said the town should stay with its 2022 rule.

“Please take no further action,” he said. “We need more bikes on the road and less cars.”

It’s unclear if Costco is even interested in adding a location in Windsor. Windsor Economic Development Manager Tim Ricard told the Press Democrat that the town has not had any conversations with the retailer and all they have “heard is secondhand and thirdhand interest.”

A local businessman, Rich Carnation, told the Press Democrat he had a conversation with a Costco representative who called the local gas ordinance a “non-starter.”

“Their question was whether the Windsor Town Council would be willing to lift the ban so we could have a fuel station. I told them, ‘I would assume so because everyone in town wants a Costco.’”

California has the most expensive gas prices in the nation. The average price per gallon of regular fuel in California on Saturday was $6.14, according to AAA.

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