Customers driving around Costco’s busy parking lot on Cypress Lake Drive in south Fort Myers could get some relief down the road — literally.
The owners of property near the corner of Metro Parkway and Colonial Boulevard are seeking a zoning change for a new Costco location. Fort Myers City Council will vote April 7 to advertise for a public hearing April 21.
“The parcels are currently vacant with the potential of being developed as a Costco Wholesale store with various outparcels to be developed at a later date,” according to the city’s planning staff report.
Carcione Family Partners LLC and Cois Family Partners LLC are seeking to rezone nearly 37 acres next to the CarMax auto dealership at 10451 Metro Parkway, south of Colonial Boulevard, west of Plantation Road and east of Metro Parkway.
Bradley Wester, of Driver McAfee Hawthorne & Diebenow PLLC, is representing the owners. The parcel was approved for Metro Business Park, a commercial/industrial complex, in January 2014 but never was built.
The Fort Myers Planning Board approved the rezoning request 5-1 on March 5 after a lengthy discussion about traffic and pedestrian safety, according to the staff report.
The planning staff is recommending approval for the zoning change.
Wester sent a letter to Planning Division Manager Nicole DeVaughn in December 2023 asking for the rezoning for a Costco Wholesale store and gas facility, as well as other commercial, retail and office uses compatible with the area.
Wester said the city and “the local surrounding community will benefit from the proposed new Costco Wholesale development as a relocation to replace the older outdated Costco Wholesale location.”
The new location would have the most recent store layout, more gas pumps, technology, vehicle lines and better access than the current location, according to the letter.
The development also would help the city’s tax base, he said.
Wester said the owners are working with homeowners about their concerns. Three members of the public spoke at the planning board meeting about the potential impact on traffic and noise, but more were in attendance, he said.
He will unveil the owners plans to City Council at the April 21 public hearing.
The current store opened in the 1990s and has outgrown the southwest corner location at Cypress Lake and U.S. 41. Where a bigger store should be built has become a popular conversation among Costco shoppers.
The second Lee County Costco location is in Gulf Coast Town Center.
Costco is seeking to build a second store in Collier County at the corner of Rattlesnake Hammock Road and Collier Boulevard. Residents there have spoken out about the location and the traffic problems it would create.
