MONTPELIER, Vt. -- After a nearly decade-long battle with local fuel retailers, Costco can finally add gasoline pumps to its Vermont warehouse club.
Costco Wholesale Corp. first raised plans to add gas pumps to its store in Colchester, Vt., in 2007, as part of an expansion of the site, according to Vermont news site VTDigger.org. But the Issaquah, Wash.-based chain quickly ran into opposition from residents concerned about the environmental impact to nearby wetlands, and local fuel retailers worried about the competitive threat.
R.L. Vallee Inc., St Albans City, Vt., which runs the Maplefields convenience-store chain, and Timberlake Associates, Burlington, Vt., which also has a gas station near the Costco site, sued to stop the retailer from installing fuel, citing increased traffic and the threat to the wetlands. However, in August 2015, the state environmental court approved the addition of 12 pumps as long as Costco helped pay for the upgrade of nearby intersections, met certain environmental protection requirements and revamped its stormwater system.
R.L. Vallee and Timberlake then appealed the court’s ruling to the state Supreme Court. But this past week, the state’s highest court upheld the 2015 ruling from the environmental court.
Mark Hall, an attorney for law firm Paul, Frank + Collins who represents Costco, said the retailer does not comment on litigation. However, he told reporters afterward that he was happy with the ruling.
“We’ve been vindicated. So has the town and the Act 250 commission and everyone else,” Hall said, referring to the state’s development control law.
John Anderson, an attorney for R.L. Vallee Inc., said, “We’re disappointed with the result, and we’re studying the decision carefully.”
Timberlake Associates’ attorney declined to comment on the case.
R.L. Vallee and Timberlake Associates have 14 days to ask the court to rehear arguments, but this type of filing is typically made only if the court’s decision contains obvious factual errors. The fuel retailers also could file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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