East Lyme — A proposal for a Costco big-box store near Interstate 95's Exit 74 cleared two major hurdles this week that will enable the developers to remain on track to break ground in September.

The Zoning Commission, in a 3-2 vote Thursday with one abstention, approved architectural changes Costco requested to the planned big-box store with a gas station.

The Costco store would serve as the initial phase of the retail component of Gateway Commons, a 200-acre site between exits 73 and 74. The developers already have built 280 apartments near Exit 73, with plans for more. 

The Gateway developers, from Simon Konover of West Hartford and KGI Properties of Providence, also announced that the state on Thursday approved a permit for the temporary roadway infrastructure by Exit 74 that is necessary to open the store. The state is planning a long-term project, beginning in 2021, to fix the Exit 74 interchange.

The master development plan for the Gateway site, approved by the commission in 2008, allows the commercial component to contain up to 425,000 square feet of retail, with one big-box "anchor store" and five "junior anchor stores."

Although plans for the store had been dropped last November, the developers recently announced that Costco had changed course and again was interested in a store at the site, with an expedited groundbreaking and an opening anticipated for November 2019.

A Costco spokesperson said the company's policy is to "not comment regarding future Costco warehouses until we are ready to share details about the new location," which is typically two to three months in advance of the opening.

Costco already has approval, granted by the Zoning Commission in 2016, for the site plan for a big-box store with a gas facility as the "anchor store" at Gateway. But Attorney Theodore Harris, who represents the Gateway developers, told the commission on Thursday that Costco is requesting architectural modifications to cut costs and build the store in an expeditious fashion. He explained that costs have escalated over time, not only overall but also due to the permitting required and to additional roadway improvements mandated by the state.

The architectural changes to the exterior of the proposed Costco building include removing two decorative turrets and replacing a mansard roof on the entrance with a flatter roofline over the entrance, according to the plans. More vegetation also would be added to serve as buffers, Harris said.

Harris said the utilities, which originally would have been located outside facing the highway, will be inside the building under the new plan but the public space won't change. John Mancini, principal of BL Companies, the project's permit engineer and civil engineer, said Costco is requiring all new stores to have utilities inside the buildings to extend their lifespan.

Mancini said some of the changes include more attention to detail on the entranceway and the replacement of some of the masonry with materials, such as metal panels with a textured sandstone surface and split-face block. He said the building is still an enhanced version of Costco's standard stores.

The new plan shrinks the canopy for the gas station, to add about 40 parking spaces for a total of about 680 spaces, the developers said. The gas station will have double-walled underground tanks and monitoring wells.

Zoning Commission member Terence Donovan thought the entranceway looked better in the original plan and said the big-box store was intended to set an example for the smaller retail stores expected later.

He asked if Costco would pull out if the commission didn't approve the changes. While he didn't have a problem with some of them, such as removing the turrets, he said he finds it hard to believe that Costco would back out simply because it was required to keep something minor like the decorative roof.

Harris said Costco needs to cut costs and has presented the revised design as necessary for the store to be feasible. He said the future "junior anchor stores" still would have to adhere to the regulations for the Gateway district in the town's zoning regulations.

Zoning Commission Chairman Matthew Walker said he thought moving the mechanicals inside the building is an enhancement but found the revised entrance to be "a little disappointing." However, he said the modifications are not "a game changer," especially when taking into account that the commission is not just looking at a façade but a project that is the linchpin of Gateway's commercial phase. He said it is an appropriate use of land near I-95.

The commission approved the requested changes, along with the addition of more trees along the I-95 side of the development that the commission requested. Commission Member Norman Peck III had suggested the additional trees as a buffer, and Zoning Official William Mulholland said they will shield the building from I-95 and help provide a green corridor along the highway.

James Liska, Walker and William Dwyer voted in favor of approving the developers' requested modifications, while Donovan and Anne Thurlow opposed and Peck abstained.

k.drelich@theday.com