The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied an appeal from the city of Ridgeland regarding the ongoing Costco development, but despite the ruling, the project will proceed with a slight tweak.
The original plans for the big box store’s location on Highland Colony Parkway included a gas station next to the Costco, but zoning ordinances do not allow for such a development.
Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee disagrees with the Court’s decision, he but says that construction on the site will continue. The only difference is that the gas station will now be built on a plot across the street. While there was public pushback to the initial development, McGee says that the location of the gas station was the only thing holding the development up.
“The Costco development is continuing to move forward with construction,” McGee said. “This would have allowed us more control over the development aesthetically, and it would’ve made this development better. Unfortunately, that’s not what the Supreme Court said we could do, so they’re moving across the street.”
After the public’s opposition to the project, a lawsuit was eventually filed against the city claiming that the original zoning ordinance for the property on Highland Colony Parkway did not allow for a store of Costco’s capabilities to be located there. However, while the Court ruled against the city, that ruling is based on the design with the gas station present.
“It needs to be pointed out that the property has always been zoned properly for a Costco retail store or any other retail store. The only question was whether or not they could have their fuel station there,” McGee said.
While the development will still move forward, McGee expressed his disappointment with the Court’s decision to deny their appeal.
“We strongly believe that the decision that was made was a very bad decision, not just for the city of Ridgeland, but we think it’s a bad decision for economic development statewide,” he said.
McGee went on to say that a tentative completion date is set for early 2019.
