More than a year after the warehouse retailer first applied to develop property in Asheville, a vote on Costco’s proposed Enka Commerce Park location is coming to City Council.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, council members will decide whether to OK conditional zoning for Costco. That rezoning, which got unanimous support from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 7, would allow the company to build a more than 168,000-square-foot store and a 32-pump fuel station on the roughly 40-acre site off Enka Heritage Parkway.
Costco’s path to this point has been bumpy. The retailer faced multiple delays to city hearings early this year, then withdrew its initial application, citing higher than anticipated costs. Following extensive negotiations with city officials
and the N.C. Department of Transportation, Costco resubmitted its application in September.
The updated plans are broadly similar to those Costco submitted in 2025. The project would still preserve the historic Enka clock tower, include a multimodal greenway path, and construct a new road for vehicle access.
However, the proposed building’s footprint is slightly larger than before, and Costco is now proposing 914 parking spaces, up from an initial proposal of 818. Chris Collins, Asheville’s assistant director of planning and urban design, told Council during a briefing that most of the other changes were “primarily centered around how roads and access are built.”
The conditional zoning would also exempt Costco from a number of Asheville development requirements. The retailer would have to provide a minimum of 50 bike parking spaces — less than the 91 required by city code — and provide 13% tree canopy coverage, less than the normally required 15%. Costco would be exempt from any fee-in-lieu requirement for tree preservation.
Derek Allen, the attorney representing Costco through the application process, told Asheville’s Planning and Zoning Commission that the project would exceed the tree requirement if it was allowed to count portions of the site that are outside of city limits. He also noted that Costco’s landscape plan called for planting over 740 new trees on the property.
If Council approves Costco’s plans, the store will still face a final review by Asheville’s Technical Review Committee, which makes sure projects comply with city rules. According to a staff report, Costco will need to provide more information about NCDOT changes to Smoky Park Highway and Jacob Holm Way, as well as clarify how it will meet open space and stormwater requirements.
No date has yet been set for that TRC meeting.
Daniel Walton is the City Government Watchdog Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at dwalton@citizentimes.com, and connect with him on social media through Facebook, Instagram, or Reddit.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: After delays and setbacks, Costco plans head to Asheville City Council
