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location out in the community. Vice Mayor Foust stated the importance of the community coming out to both meetings. She further stated that the Planning Commission, City Council and all boards, committees and commissions, and staff have worked very hard to create a vision based on input from residents over the past 5 or 6 years. The vision and guiding principles are a pure reflection of the community and residents so it is very important for the community to be a part of the process. John Sigona, Jr. of Sigona's Farmers Market, stated that the business has been operating for 21 years in Redwood City and he along with his brother have been residents for 18 -19 years. He agreed that Costco brings big business and tax revenues to the City which is very important but that their concern centers on the gas station proposal. He expressed support for Costco's new building but that 16 gas pumps and closing of Charter Street, while opening up Willow will cause a lot of congestion for the business. Art Hislop, owner of a gas station in Redwood City, stated the addition of the Costco gas station with the main issue being traffic and the school children in the area. If the Charter Street entrance is closed and Willow opened, a stoplight is proposed for Willow. He stated his belief that it would create gridlock and make it rated worse than its "F" rating. He stated that a conservative estimate is that a million gallons a month will be pumped which translates to 3,300 vehicles a day at the pumps. Not only does this create additional traffic, but a safety and environmental concern. He also stated the belief that the tax revenue generated by the gas station will actually decrease the sales tax revenue for the city because these gallons pumped by Costco are not new gallons but existing gallons that stations in the area are currently pumping. He encouraged support of the Costco project without the gas pumps. Ray Krug spoke in opposition to the Costco gas station for many of the above reasons such as the revenue loss from other stations and the reminder that small local businesses pump a lot more money into the economy than large businesses in terms of hiring of employees. He stated his concern with the proximity of the school in the area and that Costco estimated that 70 more vehicles per hour may be prejudicial and that he is anxious to see the EIR. He stated that the Sunnyvale Costco had a 30- minute wait at that time which is not such a concern there because it is next to the freeway on a frontage road. More information is available at redwoodvillage.info. Rod McChesney, speaking on behalf of Redwood Village Association, stated he has lived in the area for 14 years. Major concerns in addition to traffic, are air quality and safety. He emphasized the belief that there will be many people coming only to get gas and quickly figure out the ability to cut through the neighborhood to bypass the Middlefield and Woodside mess. Safety issues include the location of the school and park being less than 500 feet away with field use during the times that Costco is proposed to be open. Emergency responders will have a more difficult time in the already narrow streets. He emphasized not being against the Costco expansion, but only concerned with the gas station, realizing it is early in the process. JOINT CITY COUNCIUREDEVELOPMENT AGENCY APRIL 24, 2006 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 3 MINUTE BOOK NO. 61 Page No. 152