Henrico supervisors approve Costco expansion

At its June 11 meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved a proposal from the Costco Corporation to expand its store on West Broad by demolishing several offices on neighboring property. Costco also will address concerns about traffic on Stillman Parkway by studying potential changes to the Stillman entrance and will partner with Henrico to fill the longstanding gap in sidewalk coverage along Springfield Road (State Route 157), subject to approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The store will expand by 15% to 150,000 square feet, and onsite fuel pumps will be upgraded, with more added. Pumps also will move from their current location to the southwest corner of the expanded site, facing West Broad Street. Additionally, the western entrance on West Broad will move east and align with a central driveway across the property. Construction will be limited to the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Brookland Supervisor Dan Schmitt praised the agreement to build a sidewalk.

“This completes the package allowing residents to walk safely along Springfield to Broad Street to the bus stop," he said. “Every single day, we see and hear incidents and close calls with residents, pedestrians, vehicles.”

Ben Edwards, president of the Springfield Woods Townhouse Association, reiterated the concerns about additional traffic on Stillman but noted that the neighboring Tesla dealership had stopped parking their cars on one side, easing congestion.

Henrico Public Works Director Terrell Hughes explained that the county will investigate restricting parking and installing speed cushions along that portion of Stillman to reduce the risk of congestion and accidents. Schmitt added that the county also will investigate driver visibility when exiting Costco at Stillman.

“I would like to make Stillman as unattractive to them as possible,” Schmitt said.

In other matters, the board approved $128 million in budget amendments, including:

• $90 million for eight public works projects, all coming from funding sources outside the county, such as the Central Virginia Transportation Authority;
• an additional $14.3 million towards the replacement of Jackson-Davis and Longan elementary schools (Henrico Budget Director Justin Crawford noted that both projects have incurred major shortfalls);
• $23.7 million in general spending.