Doug: And what's wrong with Costco? We have Home Depot, and that doesn't seem so bad. Besides sales tax revenue, a Costco here would create jobs for people in this community, especially for our younger citizens fresh out of high school. They could contribute to local charities too. The city should allow it on the condition that a greater percentage of its employees hired are Herculeans. Give up the idea of Hercules as a quiet bedroom community; it never really was anyway with I80 cutting right through, and with its constant noise and pollution, a Costco next to it would hardly matter. This is the kind of thinking that is the reason why Pinole has Trader Joe's and we don't. We need more variety besides Lucky's. Face it, the cat's already out of the bag, with most of the major fast food chains here already.

Costco would get a lot more traffic than our Home Depot does and the way the freeway off-ramp is, there would be a lot of congestion trying to get off the freeway heading eastbound on I-80. The added noise and pollution noise would be from the constant stream of (mostly idling due to the inevitable backups) cars and trucks driving along Willow/Sycamore/San Pablo to get to the Costco on the Hilltown site.
I would trade Home Depot for a smaller hardware store, plus the 5 other reasonably sized stores that could fit in their huge warehouse, any day.
Costco is the apotheosis of "Big Box" and all the evils that go with it. They would drive out of business (or make it impossible for new ones to establish) any local competitors. You can kiss any existing or future grocery, clothing, furniture, electronics, etc. stores in Hercules (as well as the proposed Waterfront and Sycamore developments) goodbye if Costco sets up shop down the street.
I don't want a quiet bedroom community. I want a dynamic, unique community that doesn't allow its potential for being exceptional get swallowed up by big box chain stores through a narrow-minded drive for quick and easy sales tax revenue. If it is just money we are after, lets re-structure our tax system rather than selling out our community.

As far as jobs for locals, I don't think Hercules has the legal ability to compel Costco to refuse employment to anyone simply because they don't live in Hercules. That would be discrimination. They would hire whoever was most qualified, like the law allows. Besides, any retailer that sets up shop in Hercules would potentially hire residents here – it doesn’t have to be a Costco. It would be the 10 stores that already exist (or would open) in Hercules as long as Costco never comes.

Douglas,
Ok, So I suppose a Super K-Mart is out of the question.
Oh,
And congratulations to you Myrna on becoming our new Mayor. You have your work cut out for you along with the rest of the council. So, please, keep your seat and stay awhile.

Jerry,

How can we get the other Hercules school on board at the JOhn Swett Unified School District?

Lee,
Don't pass out! I agree! I'd love to see a Costco here. I understand the location is the former site where the tanks were located? That location (referred to as Hill Town in the plan) is privately owned apparently. Surely we have room in Hercules for the Waterfront, Costco and maybe even, gasp, an upscale Safeway on the former Sycamore South location? We are in a prime location - where two major highways meet and on the water near the river. We need to grow but in a smart way. Sure, we're in a mess now, but we still need the long-range planning Myrna spoke about in her speech.

I hear where you both are coming from. If Costco was located in a remote part of Hercules, far away from the (planned) small businesses of the Waterfront/Sycamore developments, then I would not think of them as a threat. But Costco can undercut any business that dares to open up shop in those developments. Wal-Mart posed the same threat and the people correctly fought to keep them away. We are shooting ourselves in the foot if we allow Costco to be situated so close to these developments. I know mom and pop businesses are thing of the past. I have nothing against chain stores. My problem is with hulking, big box, eye sores that drive other businesses away and retard the establishment of new ones. Old Town Pinole, downtown Danville, downtown Pleasanton, downtown Martinez, Albany, downtown Berkeley, Rockridge, etc. etc. etc. are allow cities and neighborhoods that have said "no" to region-serving (i.e. big box) stores and "yes" to neighborhood-serving (i.e. smaller) businesses. These communities are thriving. This isn't shangri-la - this is right in our backyard. It would 5-10 years before Caltrans could add a lane to the I-80 eastbound off-ramp we have now. Develop Market Hall, Sycamore North, and the Waterfront, but I'd like to keep Hilltown open space. I like to see grass and trees on the hills overlooking our city, rather than the blemish of warehouses and parking lots.

Douglas: Well I don't know. Some small businesses who have came and went here in Hercules had ample time to establish locally long before proposals of big box stores, but one wonders why they haven't. Yes, there are a few locals who have kept their businesses running strong all of these years, and hats off to their hard work, but their few numbers cannot provide the tax revenue to this city that one big box could. Could, or has this city provided incentives to promote local business? Yes, probably. I am not a business owner here so I couldn't tell you. Richmond said yes to Costco, and Pacific East with its Ranch 99 Market just blocks away thrives (a Ranch 99, or a fish market of the like would be a boon here). There are also a lot of local businesses along nearby SanPablo Ave. in El Cerrito and Richmond which don't appear to suffer from Costco nearby either. My point in a prior comment was that a Costco here could serve as a magnet to draw more people into the area who would patronize our local businesses after a break from shopping. Costco, afterall, doesn't have everything that money can buy, and I think that if a local business learns what they don't have, then they could fill that niche.

Julian,
Thank you for understanding the message of reconciliation. The Council needs the collective support from its citizens or the looming challenges cannot be solved.