The new year means continued legal wrangling over the Ridgeland Costco.
Contractors were doing site prep work last week on the Costco Wholesale, which will be located on Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland.
Meanwhile, opponents were still trying to block the international wholesaler from coming to the location through the court system.
Last week, opposition appeared in Madison County Chancery Court to overturn a permit issued to developers by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
And on Wednesday, a motion hearing was expected to be heard in a case before the Madison County Circuit Court, asking a judge to overturn Ridgeland’s decision to allow the store to build a gas station on land across from the store proper’s site.
MDEQ in granted developers a water quality permit and storm water certification for the project in 2016.
The permits were needed because of the potential impact the development would have on the nearby Purple Creek and approximately 14 acres of wetlands.
The chancellor ruled that the permits could be appealed but would have to be done so through the MDEQ Permit Board. Opponents are expected to appear before the seven-member panel on May 14, according to Attorney Steve Maloney.
“This property had wetlands and a stream. For the government to allow construction, they (the developers) have to prove that this was the only place they could build it,” he said. “They would have never picked this site unless the city let them have a fueling station there.”
The warehouse will be part of the third phase of Renaissance at Colony Park.
It will be located on the south side of a roughly 45-acre site on the parkway south of the Old Agency Road roundabout near Christ Life Church of the Highlands.
The permit required developers to construct a weir and add a flood storage basin along the creek to capture runoff.
Maloney asked that the permit be nullified following last year’s high court ruling that the city’s rezoning of the property was illegal.
In 2016, the Ridgeland mayor and board of aldermen approved amending the city’s C-2 zoning ordinance to allow gas stations as part of large master plan developments.
Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down the amendments, saying they were made specifically to benefit the developer.
“Now that the zoning has been (changed back) the permit should be revoked,” Maloney said.
The project is being built by Andrew Mattiace and H.C. Bailey. Mattiace couldn’t be reached for comment.
Under Ridgeland’s current zoning ordinance, gas stations are allowed on commercial property as long as that commercial property is zoned C-3.
Following the high court’s ruling, Costco announced that it was still coming to Ridgeland and would build the gas station on a site zoned C-3 located across from the store’s main property.
The mayor and board approved plans for the fueling center last summer.
That decision sparked another lawsuit, with opponents arguing the city illegally blocked another developer’s request to build a storage facility at the site, specifically to benefit Costco.
Six residents filed suit in the case: Gerald Beard, Charles Michel, Harold Byrd, Nils Mungan, George Shepard Jr., and William Aden.
The six argue that the gas station should be disallowed, in part, because two aldermen Wes Hamlin and Chuck Gautier, have conflicts of interest.
Both aldermen deny the accusation.
