The Vermont Supreme Court upheld a 2015 Environmental Court ruling last week paving the way for gasoline to be sold at Costco’s Colchester store.
The warehouse retailer’s plans to build a 12-pump facility on the property near Interstate 89 and U.S. routes 2 and 7 were launched in 2007. The owners of two nearby gas stations lodged concerns about traffic and a nearby wetland, delaying the project on appeal ever since.
R.L. Vallee Inc. and Timberlake Associates, which operate convenience stores near Costco, sued to block the arrival of gas pumps at Costco. The big box store is expected to offer gas prices below the regional average.
Costco’s attorney in the case, Mark Hall, with the firm Paul, Frank + Collins, said his client has a policy not to comment on litigation, but Hall said he was pleased with the outcome.
“We’ve been vindicated. So has the town (of Colchester) and the Act 250 commission and everyone else,” Hall said.
John Anderson, an attorney for R.L. Vallee Inc., said, “We’re disappointed with the result, and we’re studying the decision carefully.”
An attorney for Timberlake Associates said he was not authorized by his client to comment on the case. A representative for the company could not immediately be reached.
The nearby gas station operators have 14 days to ask for arguments to be reheard in the case pursuant to Rule 40, but typically such a filing is made only when there are clear factual errors in the court’s decision.
Appeal could also be made to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Hall said he believes it would be unlikely that court would choose to hear such an appeal.
