The exhaust will also directly affect the students at Stephen Knolls School, which teaches MCPS with disabilities, including respiratory ones.

So let me get this straight....all the Kensington NIMBYS killed the first gas station placement, and as a result they now have a worse one?

There is one word for that "Suckkas"

In the end if you arent careful, COSTCO will buy out the pool, bulldoze the lot, and put the gas station there. This would make me smile.

TaL is just a troll. This is in Wheaton, not Kensington. There's already cheap gas in Kensington and Wheaton--Freestate and Econoway. And the new Costco proposal should be seen for what it is--a Hail Mary pass. Those don't work for the Redskins, and they won't work for Costco.

The mall is in Wheaton, but the homeowners are in Kensington technically. I don't think this makes a difference on the substantive gas issue, though.

MocoLoco-
The people objecting prefer to refer to themselves as "Kensington" technically the sub-division is "Kensington Heights" and they are in the 20895 zip. I'd say they are in Wheaton, but the 200k difference in property values says they are not.

Ah! Wonderful to see you again crazy mucus, Now you're complaining in about a town you don't live in isn't that wonderful! In this case I all agree with you, But only for the children at stephen knolls Those poor kid have to deal with enough already without being gagged by fumes.

Dear Joe, please provide your definition of progress. According to Wikipedia, progress is:

"the idea that the world can become increasingly better in terms of science, technology, modernization, liberty, democracy, quality of life, etc."

Danila-
"Quality of Life"
The less I have to spend on gas (or goodies) means the more I can have of both. Which In my world equates to a higher quality of life.

Dear TaL, we all live in the same world and like to save on gas, but what about quality of air? Shouldn't that factor into your quality of life equation? After all, it is hard to enjoy the "goodies" if they come at the price of your health.

Tal -- The operative word in your "quality of life" definition is: *I*. We can no longer afford to live in a world in which what *I* want trumps all else. Yes, *I* would like cheap gas. But *I* do not want it if the availability of cheap gas ala Costco seriously degrades *your* quality of life (which it would in this case) or threatens the health of *your* disabled child (which it would). Has life become that cut-throat in MoCo? Wow; how sad.

Joe I am a Kensington resident but relatively new to this issue. I sense an anger at 'Ktown people' but don't understand why. Is there some historic hatred between your town and Kensington or what is the story?

Donna & Danila-
Ok, lets take the "I" out of it and put it to a vote of the mid-county residents...

Cheap convenient gas on one side and Eco concerns on the other.

You lose 2 or 3 to one would be my bet

Danila, You are totally missing the purpose of tax incentives and enterprise zones. The idea is to spur neighborhood improvement by attracting businesses into those neighborhoods. They then bring in customers who attract new businesses, feed the existing businesses and create a more attractive neighborhood to live in. All of whom pay more taxes. Case in point would be Nationals Park. Why build it if all you are looking at is the tax revenue from the park itself? It would never pay for itself on those terms. But the end result is a massive revitalization of the surrounding neighborhoods.

On a different note, there are 6,500 parking spaces at Westfield Wheaton. At most there might be 50 cars at any one time waiting for Costco gas. I seriously doubt the fumes that they emit will make much of a difference given the thousands of cars that are already driving to and fro there.

Dear Joe, what revenue?! According to the Washington Business Journal, it will take nine years for the County to just recoup the $4 million of taxpayer's money Westfield got for the Costco development project. That's not counting the millions in tax credits they are receiving because Wheaton is an Enterprise Tax Zone both for County and State. So please explain what revenue you are talking about, so we can all understand where you are coming from.

Danila--Just to clarify, the Washington Business Journal article does take into account the tax credits: "The mall's redevelopment is expected to generate $458,000 per year in real estate and property taxes, in addition to $350,000 in impact fee revenues. But thanks to an Enterprise Zone Property Tax Credit that will yield an average $245,960 per year for the Westfield Group over the next decade, the county is not expected to recoup its $4 million contribution for nine years."

Also, although some people would rather have had the mall razed, Westfield has attracted a fair number of nicer shops since Costco agreed to come. If the mall had disintegrated like some of the Wheaton strip malls (I think the one on Gerogia and Blueridge has lost a florist, jeweler, and Baskin-Robbins), we'd be in worse shape all around Wheaton.

Joe I don't mean to pick on you but its hard for me to understand your genuine concerns and priorities which seem to be masked by sarcasm. Is increasing county tax revenue important to you or not? I honestly can't tell. I guess my interest is I am trying to learn about the issue and the different views of my neighbors but its hard for me to really understand some of your points.

Commentous, thank you for catching my mistake, but the revenue figure in question remains the same - it will take the County nine years to recoup the $4 million. You then changed the subject from County revenues to Wheaton's greater good, but your premise in this new argument is tenuous at best - either $4 million for Costco or disintegration of the mall. Sounds unreasonable to me. Unlike the strip malls you mention disintegrating, Wheaton mall is owned by Westfield - the largest retail real estate property holder on Planet Earth.

I'll be there to fight for Costco.

I can't say for sure, but the Patch seems to have indicated that there were construction issues that arose, and others commented that they had heard there were problems with the floor that need to be fixed before Costco is allowed to open.

Nicolle-
My understanding is they ran into the same shoddy cement work as happened at the Silver Spring transit center.....they started loading the shelving and the floor cracked all over the place. Once they are sure that we wont all fall into the basement they should be opening

Joe I'm sure you would agree that for most people, providing for family includes protecting their health and caring whether they get exposed to high risk carcinogens. You may not be aware of the serious health consequences of living, sleeping and playing near even normal-sized gas stations. If not, you are not alone. There needs to be a greater effort getting that information out there but some progress has been made. For example, you might have seen the health warning stickers on each and every gas pumps in Maryland. Hopefully the special exception process takes human health into account in these siting decisions.

Linda,

That is all very true except for the fact that, except for the rare 85+ year old holdout, every homeowner in the affected area freely chose to locate their family next to a major regional shopping mall with parking for 6,500 cars. It sounds cold, but I feel it is the same with the school. If you are truly concerned about high risk carcinogens, why would you choose to raise your family/teach your children next to one of the highest concentrations of carcinogen emitting vehicles in the County? The Mall was there first by decades, and given the already existing huge volume of vehicles going there for other reasons, I view it as the perfect location for a major gas station. Overall we'll probably lower the emissions in the County due to the already existing convergence of vehicles there.

Great questions, Commentous. I hope Danila has the answers for you. I have one question I'd like to add: Will the fire department weigh in on how they will respond if cars are backed up on the ring road and in the parking lots?

Dear Commentous, I uploaded some images above that should answer most of your questions. At 12,000,000 gallons in projected annual sales, this will be by far the busiest gas station in Mongtomery County. An average station pumps about 1.5 million, so this will be truly a MEGA operation.. Have you seen around here 75 vehicles idling in queue at any other gas station? Ever?
More importantly, the point is that Costco's Special Exception application for this monstrosity is being unfairly fast tracked through the process without giving our community the time it needs to plow through the many hundreds of pages before the January 15th deadline. Do you support due process?

Thanks for the photo. Is that the current planned location-125' from the closest homes, 350' from the Kenmont pool, and 850' from Stephen Knolls School? I guess we don't know where the car lines would be exactly, which would be interesting too.

I don't think many people are against due process (I'm not), though I'm not sure it's always a focus in our county.

Deb,

Your concern is the already existing high volume of traffic, but you have always been in favor of the Costco. Did it ever cross your mind that the volume of traffic will dramatically increase once Costco opens? There are lots and lots of places to buy all of the things that Costco sells - under your logic, why do we need Costco at all, much less Costco gas? It is all economics - cheap staples and cheap gas. If we are lucky, maybe some of the ugly gas stations on Connecticut Avenue will go out of business and be replaced with something more attractive.