A hearing scheduled for next month could pave way for Costco to start operating the pumps it began constructing years ago. But local opponents say the permitting process has played out improperly.
Vallee, through his attorney A.J. LaRosa, has filed to become a party to an Act 250 permit amendment application that he claims is being improperly reviewed by the District Four Environmental Commission in Chittenden County.
Costco obtained an Act 250 permit in 2013 to construct the gas station. Under the permit, the company cannot start pumping gas until the Vermont Agency of Transportation completes traffic improvements on Mountain View Drive — improvements the state’s transportation agency bundled with a larger traffic calming project along the Route 2/7 corridor in Colchester.
VTrans plans to install a “diverging diamond” interchange at I-89 Exit 16 in Colchester that will send left-turning traffic to the opposite side of the road. That exit has been designated a “high-crash location” by VTrans.
That project has been delayed as Vallee’s company R.L. Vallee, Inc. and Timberlake Associates, owners of nearby gas stations Maplefields and Champlain Farms, filed an appeal this July of the state environmental court’s decision to uphold VTrans’ permits for the project.
The pair also filed a federal lawsuit against the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration claiming the project violates the National Environmental Protection Act, the Milton Independent reported last month.
Although the filling stations were constructed last year, Costco can’t start pumping gas until the traffic improvements have been made. On July 24, Costco filed an application to amend its Act 250 permit to receive permission to open the gas station during off peak hours, claiming that this would have minimal disruption for traffic.
“It is accurate to say that Costco never contemplated that it would be delayed years beyond its own permit appeals,” the corporation’s attorney Mark Hall in a cover letter accompanying the application.
Once Costco provided additional application material, the District Four Environmental Commission provided notice to adjoining landowners on Dec. 20 of an Act 250 hearing scheduled for Jan. 10.
In a letter last week to Chittenden County Act 250 coordinator Rachel Lomonaco accompanying a request for party status, Vallee’s attorney A.J. LaRosa claimed that it is “troubling” that the commission did not provide Vallee, who was a party to Costco’s initial application to build the filling stations, notice of the company’s request for a permit waiver.
“It suggest (sic) an uncomfortable level of coziness with an out of state multi-national corporation,” LaRosa wrote.
He goes on to allege that it was “prejudicial” for the commission to schedule a hearing so shortly after sending out the notice, leaving parties with limited time over the holidays to review hundreds of pages of technical documents. “The course of dealing in this amendment suggests a desire to push this amendment through without meaningful public comment and review.”
LaRosa also alleged that Lomonaco may have a conflict of interest in reviewing this application as she consulted for VTrans in a recent position with engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin. Because Costco has suggested that VTrans supports its request for a permit amendment, LaRosa suggested that the commission’s attorneys review whether it is appropriate for her to review this case.
Lomonaco could not be reached Friday afternoon for comment.
