Q: Any credibility to the “news” that the plans for a new Costco down on Collier Boulevard have fallen through? —Tim Hausler, Naples

A: No news may not be good news when it comes to the proposal to build a Costco Wholesale store in East Naples, but the inactivity doesn’t necessarily mean anything at this point.

Not much has changed since the site plan became public early this year for a 158,146-square-foot commercial building with fueling stations on the southeast corner of Rattlesnake Hammock Road and Collier Boulevard, immediately north of Physician Regional Medical Center-Collier Boulevard.

“Costco’s at step zero,” said Rick LoCastro, the Collier County commissioner for that district, but social media reports are unfounded that the national big-box membership retailer abandoned a proposal for a second store in the Naples area.

“There is so much misinformation out there about Costco,” LoCastro said. “There’s a lot of bad misinformation on social media by people who don’t know what’s going on.”

Costco corporate representatives met with county development staff in January about a proposed big-box warehouse store with gasoline pumps in the Hacienda Lakes master planned unit development. County staff and the fire district gave the company a list of issues regarding its plans to build there, LoCastro said.

“What they normally build won’t fit on that property,” he said. “They had nine months to take a look at our feedback and then come back to the county. The nine months passed, and we never heard from them. That doesn’t mean it’s dead; it just means if they come back to us in nine months and one day, they have to pay an additional fee to reopen the planning request.”

While the proposal may not be dead, it’s still not a done deal either, regardless of what some cashiers at Costco in North Naples have told some members, LoCastro said.

“News flash: Costco hasn’t even bought that land. They have a deal with the landowner that, subject to county approval for construction, they will then buy the land. We are pretty far away from any type of approval,” he said. “But we know Costco didn’t walk away. The feedback we gave them was so detailed that I’m sure their chain of command is so thick that they have to go back to their architect and engineers.”

Local residents are mixed about the prospect of Costco opening a store at 8392 Collier Blvd. to provide some relief to its longtime busy location on Naples Boulevard in North Naples.

“One thing I’ve had to tell citizens is that land is already zoned for something commercial and something large,” LoCastro said. “I’m not saying it’s an automatic for Costco, but if Costco can downsize and fit their plans and have all of the agencies involved well before county commissioners — fire district, water, sewer, traffic, FDOT, the county Growth Management team — if they submitted something that got approved, that fit, that met all the parameters of permitting, it would never come to county commissioners.”

That’s because commissioners approved the commercial development there 13 years ago.

Hacienda Lakes MPUD was created in October 2011 when more than 2,260 acres of mostly agricultural land was rezoned by a supermajority vote of the county commission. The project was permitted to include 1,760 homes, 327,000 square feet of retail space, 70,000 square feet of professional and medical office space, 135 hotel rooms, 140,000 gross square feet of business park or educational facility and a school. Hacienda Lakes of Naples conveyed a tract of land to the Collier County Public Schools for a future elementary school.

Across Rattlesnake Hammock Road to the north, FL Star Development already is developing multiple projects, including the 2,200-home Hacienda Lakes development, the Hammock Park Apartments with 265 luxury units and the Hammock Park retail center. Proposed to front Costco on more than 32 acres along Collier Boulevard are at least four outparcels ranging from 2.2 to 1.3 acres. The ball is still in Costco’s court.

“If they color a little bit outside the lines and they want to ask for approval for something that is a little bit controversial, then it could come to commissioners. If it did come to commissioners, it wouldn’t be until next year,” LoCastro said. “Costco is in the request phase. They’re floating a proposal for a possible build on a piece of property they don’t even own, and none of that has changed. They have first right of refusal with the owners of that property to say, ‘We want to exhaust every possible option with the county, but if it looks like we’re banging a square peg in a round hole, boom, we’re gone and you can put the for sale sign back.’”

Some of LoCastro’s constituents have told him to stop this project and other developments.

“I don’t have the authority, the legal authority, to stop somebody from building something because it’s not popular,” LoCastro said. “People send me emails, ‘Nobody wants Costco.’ Well, you know, I tell you, I got an awful lot of emails from people — some that live right near where it could go — who do want it, but it’s not a popularity contest.”

Onyx update

Q: What’s the story with the former Onyx development on Santa Barbara? It’s been vacant for more than three years, although some of the initial buildings have been torn down recently. — Gary Tincu, Naples

A: The 8.7 acres on Santa Barbara Boulevard formerly planned for the Onyx multifamily residential community has new owners and new plans.

Polly Ave LLC of Miami Beach sold the East Naples real estate to Boca Raton-based Naples Preserve Villas LLC for $5.22 million on Jan. 23, a property deed shows. The new owner plans the 48-unit Santa Barbara Place Villas, according to development plans filed with Collier County Growth Management.

“It was sold, thank goodness,” said Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro. “The new owner tore down all the structures that were built by the previous person because they sat for so long. They had mold, they had issues, and it’s not what the new owner wanted to build anyway. The new owner is proposing townhomes, but nothing’s been approved yet. He still has to apply for all the permits and we have to look at the design and everything.”

The original owner started construction on two of the eight two-story townhome buildings and the Onyx clubhouse, but construction stopped more than three years ago. The county leaned hard on the new owner to tear down the stalled development, which looked like a ghost town, LoCastro said.

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.