Costco's Mega Gas Station Plan Sparks Outrage In CA

Costco is known for more than just bulk paper towels and its famously cheap rotisserie chicken. It's a one-stop shop for groceries, electronics, pharmacy, a travel department with car rental services, and, in many locations, fuel for your vehicle. With worldwide sales now totaling in the hundreds of billions, the warehouse giant opened its first gas station in 1995 and now offers regular, premium, and in some locations, diesel fuel. Not every Costco store has a gas station — it reported 719 gas stations and 905 warehouse stores in a 2024 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Gas sales accounted for about 12% of its total net sales in that year.

Costco gas stations are popular with customers for several reasons: they're convenient and often offer lower prices than other gas stations nearby. Why then are the residents of Novato, California, so upset that the existing Costco warehouse store plans to add a gas station? 

Costco plans to develop a one-acre site adjacent to its existing store in the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center in Novato. A 10,000-square-foot canopy will cover 14 fuel dispensers, with 28 pumps in total. The project will include three 40,000-gallon tanks stored underground. Rather than celebrating the addition of discounted gas in a region that typically sees prices well above the national average, many residents are opposing the new station. It all has to do with the city's recently adopted Climate Action Plan, an increase in the amount of anticipated traffic, and the location of the proposed gas station.

Some residents believe the new gas station shouldn't be allowed at all. In 2022, the city of Novato banned the construction of any new gas stations, attributing the move to combating climate change and the fact that California had mandated that all new car sales must be electric by 2035 (a mandate that may be dead in the water). However, this ban doesn't apply to the planned Costco station because the project underwent the city review process before the ban took effect.

Novato also recently adopted a Climate Action Plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by the year 2030. The city's study found that more than 60% of local emissions are the result of transportation, and a new gas station will certainly not alleviate that problem. The new location is expected to add about 4,600 new daily trips into the area, which more than doubles local traffic. Those calculations don't account for potential new Costco members who are seeking discount fuel, so the true amount could be even higher.

Some residents are also upset at the location of the gas station, which will be very close to a pediatric clinic and near vulnerable wetlands. Finally, a local climate activism group called 350Marin also questioned the logic of building a gas station in an area where 40% of newly-registered vehicles are electric and clearly won't benefit from such a commodity. The local planning commission already accepted a draft Environmental Impact Report and must vote on the final report before construction can begin.