The more than 200 vocal residents who converged Feb. 18 at a neighborhood information meeting could have an impact on Costco Wholesale Corp. landing a second store in Collier County.

The majority of the crowd at the meeting at Florida Sports Park opposes the project and lives in Hacienda Lakes off Rattlesnake Hammock Road, near where the Costco membership store and freestanding gasoline pumps are planned just north of Physicians Regional Medical Center-Collier Boulevard. Traffic from an estimated 4,500 daily cars is the main concern because the 158,316-square-foot store’s only entrances would be off Rattlesnake Hammock.

A sticking point for Costco is the county’s land development code requirement that lots with automobile service stations be separated by 500 feet. Costco’s proposed lot with a fueling station is only 132 feet from the 7-Eleven convenience store with gas pumps on the northeast corner of Rattlesnake Hammock Road and Collier Boulevard.

A waiver from the county would be necessary even if Costco moves the proposed location of the gasoline pumps from the northwest corner of the property to elsewhere on the more than 20 acres because the 500-foot stipulation measures from property line to property line.

“They could move them, but it doesn’t make the requirement for the waiver go away,” said Jaime Cook, director of development review for Collier County government, who attended the meeting. “Honestly, if they could do it that way, they probably would have done that and none of us would be here right now.”

The fact that the neighborhood information meeting was held, though, shows that Costco has progressed beyond an initial exploratory phase and intends to move forward with a store on that property. Costco plans to continue discussions with the county about the new store, said Brad Wester, vice president of land use and planning for Jacksonville law firm Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow, who represented Costco at the meeting.

The county’s Growth Management staff still will need to review Costco’s site development plan and other specific details for the project.

“Once they complete all the staff reviews, it would be scheduled for hearing,” Cook said. “Typically, these items like these waivers go to the hearing examiner. He’s appointed by the board [of county commissioners] and his decision is typically final and it stops there.”

Based on the number of people opposing the project at the neighborhood information meeting, county staff may recommend that the matter be ultimately decided by the county commission, Cook said. According to county code, commissioners can pull any item that they feel they should hear, and based on the meeting turnout and vocal opposition, that is liable to be the case with this issue, she said.

The meeting’s turnout was orchestrated by Frank Cipolla, a resident of Hacienda Lakes’ Esplanade community.

“We don’t think they grasp the gravity of putting a monstrosity of a big-box store at this corner; there are two neighborhoods back here,” Cipolla said.

Bill Kutner, president of Hacienda Lakes’ Azure homeowners association, expressed concerns about local traffic and safety issues because of additional projects within the Hacienda Lakes planned unit development.

“We have 2,700 apartment buildings being built, and the Naples Fire Department is straight down this road, which will also cause a delay in services,” Kutner said. “I can tell you that my community is vehemently against this Costco being placed here for a myriad of reasons.”

The crowd in attendance at the public information meeting grew increasingly louder when some of their questions went unanswered. Cipolla said members of their community are not anti-growth. They just ask Costco to find a more suitable location for a new store.

“We understand Naples is growing and we appreciate the hard work the city and county are doing to manage that growth. We also understand that Costco wants to serve the growing communities of East Naples and Marco Island,” he said. “We wonder, however, with the major intersection of Collier Boulevard and Route 41 not more than two miles south of the proposed site and home to many businesses large and small, including Lowe’s and soon Home Depot, as well as being closer to Marco Island, that there is not a more suitable site which would not be on an already busy corner, right next to a hospital, and easier for Marco Island residents to get to.”

A new store obviously would provide relief for the chain’s busy longtime location on Naples Boulevard in North Naples. That’s why Costco zeroed in on a second home in the Naples area.

“When they know the other facility is at its maximum load capacity and it’s older and there’s an emerging, growing population in this area, they decide what the value of the properties are, what’s the right size property for us,” Wester said.
Although Costco does not own the East Naples property yet, the company has the exclusive right to buy it because last February the company entered into an option to purchase the real estate from Hacienda Lakes of Naples LLC, according to a property ownership disclosure form filed with Collier County Growth Management. The anticipated closing date for the real estate transaction is Aug. 20, 2025, records show.

Costco expects the entitlement and permitting process to extend through this summer and fall, Wester said. Then, Costco takes about a year to build a new store, he said.

“The reality of it is, we don’t have public hearing dates set yet for what we’re doing right now,” he said. “So, we have to go through this comment response period and all these requests and applications we have in queue with the county.”

WINK News contributed to this report.