Costco site plan to be presented, residents will be able to comment

Latest Costco preliminary site plan for Eckel Junction Road and State Rt. 25 in Perrysburg.

Latest Costco preliminary site plan for Eckel Junction Road and State Rt. 25 in Perrysburg.

For the first time, Perrysburg residents will get a chance today to comment on the proposed Costco near the southeast corner of Eckel Junction Road and State. Rt. 25.

The city planning commission will review the preliminary Costco site plan and special use permit request at its 7 p.m. meeting in the municipal building.

Costco, a membership-only warehouse store chain with groceries and other products, proposes to purchase 28 acres and put a 154,300-square foot store and accompanying gas station. The site plan shows one road entrance off of St. Rt. 25 and two entrances and an exit on Eckel Junction. The store would be located alongside I-475/U.S. 23, adjacent to its northbound exit ramp to St. Rt. 25.

In recent weeks, Costco has made some minor changes in its originally submitted preliminary site plan, accommodating some suggestions from Mr. Walters. It now shows the west entrance from Eckel Junction as having access only from a right turn in and no exit. Also sidewalks are now marked in the parking lot.

The planning commission could approve the preliminary site plan today, and if it is approved, the final plan likely would be reviewed by the commission at its December or January meeting.

"We will only be dealing with items on the preliminary site plan and the features it has and where they are located," said Brody Walters, city planning and zoning administrator. "When we look at the final site plan, the commission will look at building materials and finer details of the plan."

He is expecting a large crowd at the meeting, which he said may not end before 9 p.m.

Costco also needs a special use permit, which is needed for a retail project larger than 60,000 square feet.

The commission can support or oppose a special use permit, but the City Council is the body that determines that issue. Such a permit requires a public hearing before council, and that has been set for 6 p.m. Dec. 17.

The planning commission is comprised of chairman Greg Bade, Byron Choka, Tom Forquer, Seth Hudson, Therese Witt, Chris Carry, and Mayor Nelson Evans. 

This Costco, if approved, would be the second in the Toledo area. The first opened several years ago on West Central Avenue at Secor Road in Toledo.

Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.