ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A proposed Costco store in West Asheville cleared its first procedural hurdle Monday as city staff conducted an initial review of the project during a Technical Review Committee meeting.

The plan calls for a 160,000-square-foot warehouse with a 32-pump fuel station and tire center on Enka Heritage Parkway, on property off Smokey Park Highway. The site sits near recreational facilities, residential neighborhoods and the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Enka campus.

City planner Clay Mitchell walked committee members and the project team through the early-stage review, emphasizing the proposal requires a new conditional zoning request because the development differs significantly from previously approved plans for the site.

“This is the very beginning of a long legislative process,” Mitchell said. “A conditional zoning petition is essentially a full rewrite of the zoning requirements for a specific parcel and project.”

Mitchell said the project will need to resolve several compliance issues, including building design, fenestration requirements, pedestrian access, greenway connections and parking. The current plan includes 834 parking spaces — beyond the city’s maximum — and a largely windowless façade that does not meet Asheville’s commercial design standards.

Traffic impacts, stormwater design, roadway ownership and fire access also remain under review. Transportation staff said the city does not plan to assume maintenance of a new internal road proposed for the site, meaning the road would likely remain private.

Representatives for the applicant, including architect Jeff Check and project manager Nettie Boyle, said they expect to request several modifications to city ordinance requirements and will work with staff to determine what is feasible.

Emergency access, hydrant spacing, landscaping, tree canopy rules and water service will all undergo more detailed scrutiny after city council considers the zoning request.

Despite the long list of unresolved issues, TRC members voted to advance the project under a status of “administrative revisions required,” meaning the application can continue toward review by the Planning and Zoning Commission without another full TRC meeting.

The Costco proposal has been in discussion since a pre-application meeting in July 2025, followed by a neighborhood meeting in August.