Above: Costco’s presentation on its analysts’ findings about traffic impacts was postponed. (images of company logo and from submitted traffic study)
In my last update on the proposed Costco project, I shared the Planning Board’s schedule for the public hearing. That had slated the presentation of Costco’s traffic analysis for this past Monday night.
As I wrote on Sunday, the Planning Board’s agenda indicated that wouldn’t be happening on schedule.
[Editor’s Note: If you are somehow unfamiliar with the big retail project proposed for construction at 21 Coslin Drive, click links for find all of my past coverage and an overview of the application to the Planning Board.]
In the board’s October 19th meeting, Town Planner Karina Quinn updated that the applicant wasn’t ready to present, so asked for a continuance.
Rather than pushing the topic to their November 16th meeting, the board voted to insert a new date in their schedule — November 2nd. The hearing will open at 6:30 pm.
To read more about Costco’s traffic analysis, and other submitted info on the project, read my September 17th update here.
Before the votes on the dates, member Tom Truong asked if Costco would be ready for that night or just ask for another continuation without testimony.
Quinn responded that it was always a risk, but there are other applicants also seeking to close out their projects (including Valvoline’s hearing for 361 Turnpike Road). She noted that it gets harder to add more meetings in November and December because of the holidays.
In the meeting, the official deadline for the Costco project decision was also pushed out. Their new deadline to act is December 18th. But no one expects the board to actually make a decision by then.
For large/complicated projects, those dates tend to be repeatedly extended in coordination with applicants. And the original schedule planned to continue addressing issues in 2027.
Based on Monday’s meeting, the updated timeline is currently:
- Traffic Analysis – Presentation by Costco — 11/2/26
- Traffic Analysis – Nitsch Engineering Peer Review — 11/16/26
- Landscaping/Lighting — 12/14/26
- Stormwater/Sanitary Sewer/Water/Utilities — TBD 2027
- Specifics/Fuel Facility/Parking & Loading/Accessibility/Walkways/Retaining Walls/Revisit of Prior Topics — TBD 2027
- Revisit of Prior Topics (Traffic/Landscaping/Stormwater) — TBD 2027
