Costco Project Delayed
By Robin Vinci at October 30, 2023 | 6:30 pm | Print
City to Lose Thousands of Dollars Due to Lawsuit
Mayor Erin Stewart said this week that a lawsuit filed by City resident Elaine Lechowicz preventing Costco to move forward will delay construction and cost the City thousands of dollars.
Courts originally dismissed the complaint and an appeal, but a second appeal has yet to be decided.
A state law states that construction beginning after Nov. 15 must include the covering of all soil to protect the soil underneath from frost each night. The golf course is a large piece of land and Costco has decided to hold off construction until next Spring.
“Costco is respecting the judicial process,” said Stewart. “Construction will not begin until winter is over. The schedule will be pushed back.”
But Stewart said the bigger effect is that because of the appeal the City has lost a full growing season for the new course.
“We are going to have lost revenues for next year because we will go through a whole season with only 18 holes instead of 27,” said Stewart. “We were only anticipating to go through half a season with 9 holes down. We will have to accommodate for that. It is extremely frustrating on our part. We just want this done and over.”
Stewart said the appeal has been shot down twice and the state departments are moving forward.
“This complaint is doing nothing, but hurting the residents of our City who would have the opportunity of these (220) jobs faster,” said Stewart. “It is doing nothing but doing damage to our golf course.”
Stewart said Costco will still be coming and residents should not be concerned that they will leave.
“It is just delayed due to the lawsuit,” Stewart said.
Lechowicz did not return phone calls from the City Journal.
Costco broke ground on the project in September. The first lawsuit by Lechowicz was filed that day.
“This project shows what people can do when they work together,” said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman at the groundbreaking. “Besides the 220 jobs Costco will bring, there will also be construction jobs. It’s great for the City of New Britain to have more jobs and people working right now.”
Costco will build the store on 15.49 parcels of land on Hartford Ave. Three holes on the Stanley Golf Course would be moved to a part of Newington that the City purchased. That will change the Red Nine part of the golf course.
Residents in the area fought against the destruction of the golf course land throughout the project.
Opposition also arose as the City gave Costco a $2.1 million tax abatement. The City will still receive over $10 million in taxes from the company in the next 10 years.
Forbes magazine places Costco at No. 3 on its top 10 places to work list.
To purchase goods at Costco, a membership is needed; they start at $55 per year. The company says it has more than 50 million members. Other locations in Connecticut include Waterbury, Milford, Enfield, and Brookfield. The company started in an airplane hangar in California in 1976.
It has over 206 locations and generates $16 billion in annual sales.
Since the project began over three years ago, Costco is $2 million over budget.
Stewart said she is pleased that Costco did not leave the project due to costs and the long time it took to get contracts signed.
