Elk Grove City Council Has Big Night Ahead, Will Decide on Costco Incentive, RV Parking

April 12, 2017 |  

Suen could recuse self from Costco proceedings | 

If having a lengthy agenda were not enough to make for a marathon meeting, tonight the Elk Grove City Council will be deliberating two topics that have generated substantial public interest.

Those two issues are the proposal over residential recreational vehicle (RV) parking and an $8 million economic incentive sought by Sacramento-based Pappas Investments for their proposed development of a Costco outlet.

The RV issue, which has generated substantial interest on social media, has been kicked around for the last several council meetings. The City Council decided to consider loosening residential RV parking standards after one constituent complained about discovering she was unable to park a recently purchased RV in her driveway. 

After considerable backlash on social media condemning any changes to the standards, at their last meeting the City Council indicated they would not be willing to modify the standards. The item will be on tonight's agenda, and the council members will vote on whether or not to make any changes.

The other item of interest will the $8 million economic incentive being sought by Pappas Investments. The Sacramento-based developer claims without the sales tax rebate incentive it will not be feasible to proceed with the development.

In his staff report, Elk Grove's Economic Development Director Darrell Doan is recommending approval of the incentive. Among Doan's reasons for granting the incentive is the possibility Pappas Investments will not proceed, and the loss of Costco's sales tax base will hurt city finances. 

Complicating matters during deliberations is the likelihood Council Member Darren Suen, who owns more than $10,000 in Costco stock, will recuse himself. During last year's proceedings where the Costco was approved, Suen recused himself citing the stock ownership, which he still possessed as of December 31, 2016, as a potential conflict of interest.   

Tonight's meeting starts at 6 p.m.